Debauched Duo: Absolutely Fabulous
Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley revisit the roles that made them comedic icons
Brace yourselves, sweetie darlings. Your favorite hard-partying British duo is headed back to the silver screen this week.
Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley are reprising their roles as the fabulously flamboyant PR agent Edina Monsoon and fashion magazine editor Patsy Stone as Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie hits theaters throughout the United States on Friday, July 22.
Based on the ’90s sitcom, the film revisits the same antics that endeared Edina and Patsy to TV audiences. Everything from falling out of limousines to embarrassing themselves in public to just plain stumbling around in “a chaos of drink and cigarettes and champagne,” says Lumley. “And a few illegal substances,” Saunders is quick to add.
“Back in 1990, we never imagined in our wildest dreams we would still be sitting here having done of a film of that show,” Saunders, the writer and creative force behind the series, continues. “It’s quite extraordinary, and we feel very, very lucky.”
In typical Ab Fab style, Edina and Patsy’s antics are sure to offend a number of different audiences. Political correctness flies out the window when the debauched duo are around, something Saunders says made it a little more difficult when writing the movie.
“People are much more ready to be offended these days,” she says. “Also, if you write a movie, you have a raft of lawyers telling you who you can offend and who you can’t offend, and who’s going to sue you and who won’t. So it was quite an issue, I have to say.”
In the movie, the duo’s latest hijinks include accidentally killing Kate Moss, forcing them to go on the lam to the south of France. The movie is littered with jokes referencing gays, lesbians, transgender people, drag queens, and crossdressing, culminating in Patsy assuming a male identity to take advantage of an elderly, senile heiress.
“We owe the gay community a huge deal,” says Saunders. “They’ve helped make the show popular, and we love having them as fans.”
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie opens Friday, July 22 at area theaters. For tickets, visit fandango.com.
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