Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie - Film Review

by Helen Belli (subscribe)

Jennifer Saunders is considered one of the funniest women in Britain and has been well rewarded for her work with prizes galore. She gained world acclaim in 1980 with the comedy show with Dawn French, 'French and Saunders'. She is a comedian, screenwriter and actress. Joanna Lumley auditioned for the roles of Patsy Stone in 1992 and 'Absolutely Fabulous' was born. Lumley is a model, actress and author. She started her acting career in 1969 without any formal training and has had many successful starring roles in film and television.

Edina [Saunders] is a P.R. agent who moves in the fashion world. She has a flighty mother, a daughter [Saffron] who tries to reform her, a granddaughter, an ex-husband who is dominated by a wife who likes to experiment with all things 'modern' and a senseless secretary. No one seems to make any money but somehow Edina and Patsy manage to finance an expensive lifestyle that only the rich and famous can live. Patsy is a fashion director who works for a magazine but never seems to do anything but go to meetings. She is beautiful, a lush and a tramp. Together Edina and Patsy search for 'the good life'. Their comic adventures go on a roller-coaster ride as they ridicule human folly.

'I've messed up but people who do, have lived life'. [Edina]

Satire knows no bounds as the now middle-aged, hard drinking, drug taking outrageous friends go to great lengths, reducing their way of life to reductio ad absurdan [reduced to absurdity].

The plot is as usual. They are broke, Edina has lost most of her 'clients' and her book has been rejected. When Patsy hears Kate Moss has sacked her P.R. agent she rushes to Edina and the comedy moves up a notch.

In her haste to get Moss as a new client, Edina knocks her off a ledge, she falls into the Thames and Edina is charged with murder. She and Patsy have to leave the country and with usual skull doggery they manage to fly to the South of France after kidnapping Saffron's fourteen-year-old daughter Lola, because her father has given her a credit card.

Survival is their motto and as they search for the life they are born to live, they are surrounded by grandeur. It is witty, but on reflection their travels reveal 'human folly held up for ridicule' [Billy Connolly] at every turn. Much of the laughter is at the expense of the vacuous lives of the rich and famous.

All the usual characters are included, together with one liners from a host of well-known celebrities. The pop songs [for those who remember them from the sixties] sadly tell that the duo is stuck in a time warp, and they are no longer relevant. Do they accept that aging will catch up with them? Of course not. Except for the ending; the story has been revealed in the promo, so only the ending is left to the viewer. No doubt the film will be a great success. Who doesn't want to live in the fast lane with riches glore, darling, sweetie darling.

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