I warmed up to it upon reflection because my first impression was "Absolutely Awful."
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
Grade: C +
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Screenplay: Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous—TV Series)
Cast: Saunders, Joanna Lumley (Me Before You)
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hr 30 min
by John DeSando
Although as a critic I prize originality, I will take the easy quip bait and proclaim the farcical Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie to be Almost Absolutely Awful. Expanding on a ancient Brit TV sitcom about two social-climbing ditzes, this high-camp comedy features publicist Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and PR pal Patsy (Joanna Lumley) years later hiding out in the French Riviera after Edie pushes Kate Moss into the Thames.
The ambience is strictly low-rent glitz, from quick shots of real fashion shows to vapid, easily recognizable shots of Cannes and surrounds. The heart of the comedy, is, however these two, as Sinatra might say, “old broads” trying to get a rich husband so they can live the sybaritic life forever, Bollinger and bling for starters
After exhausting easy laughs about gays and transgenders, Edina turns on herself to lament her aging and accumulating weight: all she wants is “to not be fat and keep the party going.” Going from describing their life as “bloody good fun” to sobbing about her age and heft, Edina pretty much sinks the film into melancholy while the eternal cougar, Patsy, cross dresses and continues mirthlessly to pursue younger men.
Although Edina still talks about her past clients like Lulu and Baby Spice, with boutique vodka on the side, she clearly has not a clue about navigating the current marketing scene, so adoring it is of youth. There’s not a moment of redemption or inspiration for Edina and Patsy, just a disgusting search for another bottle of champagne and the elixir of youth. It’s the ageism that is most uncomfortable-- a few moments of verbally and visually lampooning old folks is enough. Not an entire film.
Almost absolutely awful.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
