Absolutely Fabulous Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely Fabulous describes the lifestyle of the characters perfectly, but not quite the film.

Starting out as a sit-com television series in 1992, and ending in 2012 after 6 seasons, Absolutely Fabulous revolves around Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders – Shrek 2, Coraline) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley – The Wolf of Wall Street, The Magic Roundabout) who consistently drive Edina’s daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha – Chicken Run, Press Gang) up the wall with their intoxicated antics and selfish behaviour.

Continuing on with the chronology as well as the same characters, this adventure follows the terrible two as they go on their potentially wildest adventure yet. Patsy’s fashion career is still going strong with her ego still perfectly in tact, despite money being low. Edina, on the other hand, is struggling with her career as a PR for celebrities. With only a few celebrities to her name, such as Lulu, Edina decides to try and expand her clientele. After being tipped off by Patsy, she races her rival to become the PR of Kate Moss, however after accidentally killing her by knocking her into the River Thames, they become public enemy number one, drawing in unwanted police and media attention. Not only do they manage to upset Saffron along the way, but also manage to involve her daughter Lola (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness).

As expected from its marketing and minimalist effort to reach a younger audience, its appeal is directed mainly towards an older audience, primarily of those who watched the television series. This is noticeable as it consists of what would be considered ‘old-school English humour’ that isn’t really present in entertainment anymore. This means that any younger audience member would have to have been raised in an ‘old-school’ household to appreciate it. It does, in places, attempt to utilise modern humour, however it doesn’t always fit in with the style and generally disrupts the flow of the moment.

As previously stated, this film is based on a successful television series that lasted 30-minutes-a-time. This is shown as it does not translate as well as it could have. This film is a perfect example that television and film are two very different things and are to be handled in very different ways. This is due to the fact that instead of feeling quite like a film, it felt like a 30-minute episode that has been dragged out to last the generic feature length, but without filling the remaining gaps.

All of this is not to suggest that it is an awful film. Whilst it is very slow paced with a very narrow target audience and hit-and-miss humour, it does have its good moments. As someone who has grown up watching older television as well as new (Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, etc) I enjoy such humour more than others of my age, however there are some timeless moments where bad language forces laughter out of you, as well as the unstoppably funny Kathy Burke. Some relief does actually come from satirical humour that deals with common concerns of modern society and the melodrama that arises from everything.  All in all it is quite a funny film, it’s just that certain moments go on for too long, slightly retracting the comedic value, additionally the jokes that aren’t quite as funny seem to outweigh those that are.

If there’s one thing that this film is, it’s full of celebrity appearances. And when I say full, virtually every shot has a familiar face in it. Some faces you may recognise are: Rylan Clark, Rebel Wilson, Joan Collins, Emma Bunton, Jon Hamm, Christopher Biggins, Robert Webb, Graham Norton, Perez Hilton, and that’s barely even scratching the surface. It’s almost as if the majority of the budget was spent on getting as many guest appearances as possible.

The thing that saves this film from disaster is the three names shown on the poster: Absoluetly Fabulous  –  The series was hugely successful and became a huge its audiences lives. Whilst I was not around to witness its uprising and popularity, I have been made aware of its appeal and seen certain episodes and it is genuinely amusing. Because of this, its legacy and place in audiences hearts may have earnt itself some forgiveness by audiences.  Jennifer Saunders  –  The focus of the film, Saunders does what she can with what she is given to bring some amusement to the screen, however the direction may not have been on her side in that aspect.  Joanna Lumley  –  As the ‘secondary-primary character’, Lumley has the freedom of being a character without the pressure of driving the narrative forwards, and as a result manages to fill and form funny situations, one-liners and reactions without forcing the film one-way or the other. Ultimately, Lumley is the backbone and saviour of the film.

In conclusion, Absolutely Fabulous is an underwhelming transition from television to film that delivers limited laughs and little relief. The cast to what they can with what they’re given (which isn’t much) and try not to drown in the hundreds of celebrity cameos.

 

4/10

Watch the trailer here: