Flash Movie Review: Absolutely Fabulous
The cigarette was hanging from their lips like a tired diving board. Whenever they took it out of their mouth it was only to discard the ashes on the floor with a flick of their fingernail. They were sitting across from me but I did not know them since they were part of the groom’s family. Someone told me they were a relative of some kind. I thought it was odd they were sitting at our table; but for the fact the banquet hall did not allow smoking, I figured something was up. It did not take long before I realized this person was a real character. Let me just say they were saying some things that were not appropriate to say at a table of strangers. Their conversation was sprinkled with curse words. No topic was off limits evidently because I heard about various medical procedures, their prejudices and people they had dated. I was uncomfortable as well as the other guests around the table. The wait staff was constantly being asked to bring them a drink; I am not sure how many they had since each empty glass was replaced with a full one. During the dinner portion of the evening the bride and groom made their way around the room, stopping at each table to talk to the guests. When the newlyweds made it to my table the groom apologized to his relative for the seating arrangements. It appeared there was not an open space at the other tables. Turning to the rest of us the groom asked in a joking way if his relative was behaving. What could we say that their relative would be a perfect guest for this movie? DESPERATE to meet Kate Moss the fashion model Edina, played by Jennifer Saunders (A Midwinter’s Tale, French and Saunders-TV), accidently knocked her over into the Thames River where she went missing. With the paparazzi and police hounding her Edina and her best friend Patsy, played by Joanna Lumley (The Wolf of Wall Street, Late Bloomers), came up with a plan that would take them to the French Riviera. Sitting and watching this comedy at the theater was a wild experience for me. I had never seen the television show though I was somewhat familiar with the characters. The crowd was absolutely into this film and it was obvious they knew more than I did about the characters which also included Jane Horrocks (Little Voice, Trollied-TV) as Bubble and Julia Sawalha (Venus and Mars, Lark Rise to Candleford-TV) as Saffy. The story was simple enough and the script was loaded with comments that did not fit into a politically correct world; in other words inappropriate and naughty. I enjoyed the variety of cameo appearances and could see the attraction of Patsy and Edina. However I found the script was too loose; I felt I was watching a series of similar situations. After the initial shock of the comments and scenarios I got bored. It was like being with the wedding guest I described earlier. On a certain level they can be humorous, say things that others are only thinking and maybe even be entertaining; but after it is all over there is some relief you do not have to listen anymore.
2 ¼ stars
Posted on July 28, 2016, in Comedy and tagged 2 1/4 stars, comedy, french riviera, jane horrocks, jennifer saunders, joanna lumley, julia sawalha, kate moss, paparazzi. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
I loved the BBC tv show of this BUT I am skeptical of when tv shows become movies always. It never or rarely does it justice. Your reviews are spot on accurate and I know it to be so then the wait for the home version will do me just fine as always. Cheers
Thank you for visiting
See you on the side of creativity
The Sheldon Perspective
It was my pleasure and thank you for stopping by to leave your comments. Keep up the good work you are doing on your site.
Why thank you
I will try to keep up with you
Love movies
Especially the old ones
If you liked a little bit of the movie you might like to take a peep at my fairytale comedy Unhappily ever After – 200 years on from that famous ball as Cinderella figures out how to get a divorce. A politically uncorrect book for which I, as the author take no responsibility whatsoever.
Hello Lucinda, it is a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for the comments and the suggestion; I will put it down on my to do list.