Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (review)
Ab Fab is by no means a bad film, but it needs fewer cameos and a sharper edge
Truth be told, I expected to hate Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie. Too many factors in its creation suggested failure. Jennifer Saunders’ beloved British sitcom about two self-indulgent women navigating the worlds of PR, fashion and celebrity has been less amusing with each iteration beyond its original 1992-1995 run, which was followed by two further seasons in the early 2000s and a number of one-off specials. None matched the glorious, incisive comedy of the original, which skewered the vacuousness and excess of the celebrity bubble, all soaked in Bollinger and coated in a layer of cocaine and cigarette ash.
Then consider that films derived from sitcoms seldom match their original source for quality, that the film is crammed with so many cameos it threatens to sink under the weight of its cast list, and that Saunders increasingly struggled to find a place for Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, the boozy protagonists of the show, in other more recent outings for the pair. Thankfully, Saunders finally seems to know what to do with her most famous creations, and that’s not only to place them in the 2010s, but on a cinema screen. The end result is far from perfect, but Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (
) is certainly passable, and that’s more than Sex and the City managed.
Saunders, who stars and penned the screenplay, focuses on the realities of Edina’s life. In the first episode of the television series, Edina produced a fashion show she believes will “go down in history” for its success. Flash forward to 2016 and things are very different. The modern world has completely passed Edina by, with social media a foreign tool, her client list (and bank account) all but dried up, her memoirs too dull to sell, and her ’90s-era way of working long since replaced by the cynicism of today.
Desperate for some fresh blood at her PR agency, Edina tries to secure supermodel Kate Moss. Unfortunately, she ends up knocking Moss into London’s River Thames, killing her in the process, and quickly becoming a social pariah. There’s only one thing to do: grab Patsy (Joanna Lumley) and escape to Cannes, hopefully securing a rich husband in the process.
As storylines go, this one is entirely inconsequential. Really, Ab Fab is just a series of set pieces — beautifully dressed, exquisitely styled, filled with gorgeous things, sweetie — designed to help tee off the next celebrity cameo or amusing throwback. Indeed, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie relies too much on crutches. The list of cameos is staggering. It’s also incredibly British, and if you’re not au fait with B-, C- and D-list British celebs, many will pass over your head. It feels as though Saunders eschewed the chance for greater character-building or a more focused narrative in favor of getting as many people as possible to appear in her film.
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Saunders is eager to skewer modern pop culture, but doesn’t always land the hit. In the first few minutes, she tackles the notion that being transgender is a “fad” and offers a great reference to the ludicrousness of Rachel Dolezal, but neither punchline is strong enough to warrant the set-up. It’s a theme that continues throughout, as Edina and Patsy negotiate ageism, gender roles, social media, “twerking,” the increasing vapidity of news coverage and celebrity obsession. While much of the satire works — such as one British journalist lamenting “Is there really nothing else worth covering?” as every news network focuses on Moss’ disappearance — other jokes fall flat. The script is filled with references and barbs aimed at the excesses and ignorances of today’s consumer culture, but in trying to fit as much into the film as possible, Saunders has lost the dedicated focus that a half hour episode can bring.
As Edina, Saunders is as slapstick, expressive and bizarrely lovable as ever. Really, though, this is Joanna Lumley’s film. Her chain-smoking, pill-popping, champagne-guzzling, crass, outspoken, intolerant Patsy has become a cultural icon, and Lumley revels in the character. Every joke, every facial expression hits the mark, and it’s Patsy who generates the most laughs.
Julia Swalha returns as ever-suffering daughter Saffy, June Whitfield is back as Edina’s slightly oblivious mother, and Jane Horrocks revives her fabulously ditzy Bubble, Edina’s personal assistant. Unfortunately, none have much to do here. Whereas the series revelled in putting the core characters in scenes together and having them engage in hilarious verbal battle (Saffy, Edina and Patsy, in particular), the film manages to feel oddly rushed, despite a 90-minute runtime. We speed through each scene, with Edina and Patsy spending as little time as possible interacting with those around them. Saunders devotes only one scene near the film’s end to a lengthy speech from Edina, but otherwise advances at breakneck pace.
And then it ends. Whereas Saunders would sometimes spend ten minutes of a 30-minute episode focusing on one exchange between mother and daughter, here, she tears through the story and then shoehorns in a quick, concise ending that smacks of not really knowing how to finish it at all. Normally length is the bane of any film based on a sitcom, but part of me wishes Saunders and director Mandie Fletcher had more time to play with, to flesh out certain scenes and give the characters leave to slow down, breathe, banter and enjoy themselves.
Certainly, there feels like something is missing here. The time has never been so appropriate for the ostentatious, extravagant escapism of Eddy and Patsy and their celebrity- and luxury-obsessed ways, but Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie can’t be bothered to try hard enough to give viewers what they want. Perhaps it’s appropriate that Edina and Patsy star in something so superficial, but we need the incisive, ruthless Edina and Patsy of old. Instead, we get a softer, less-defined, more box office friendly version, one aware of the outside world, but surprisingly insular at the same time. It’s good, but not quite good enough.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie opens Friday, July 22, at area theaters. For tickets, visit fandango.com.
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