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I have been a fan of Absolutely Fabulous since the beginning, since the show first aired on Comedy Central back in the early 1990s. It was heartbreaking when star and writer Jennifer Saunders decided to end the series, and a thrill when she brought it back for another season and a few special episodes. And since those last three episodes aired, fans have been clamoring for more, specifically a movie to put the bigger-than-life Patsy and Eddy on the big screen.
And Saunders finally did it! She wrote a big screen adventure bringing the characters up to date with PR guru Edina Monsoon (Saunders) facing the failure of her agency, and her partner in crime Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) along for the ride. The plot of the movie hinges on Eddy learning that supermodel Kate Moss is about to dumper her own PR firm, and sees this as an opportunity to get back into the game. But an incident at a party has Eddy accidentally knocking Moss into the Thames and out of sight. Has Eddy killed Kate Moss? Eddy’s rivals gleefully go to the media to say they saw her push Moss, Pats loses her job as a fashion editor just for being a part of the scheme and Eddy faces jail time. What to do? Why escape to the south of France “where everyone’s a criminal” and live the high life. But as we fans know, nothing ever goes quite as planned with these two.
Now, again, as a devoted fan I have been waiting on pins and needles for this day to arrive, counting the days, minutes and seconds until the film lit up that cinema screen. It was so wonderful to see all of the original core cast (even Eddy’s mum, played by 91 year old June Whitfield, in fine form!) together again, Eddy’s fabulous house made even more fabulous by a bigger budget (or her ex, Marshall), and all of the supporting cast members that have made the show a joy to watch — Mo Gaffney (Bo), Christopher Ryan (Marshall), Kathy Burke (Magda), Celia Imrie (Claudia Bing), Harriet Thorpe (Fleur), Helen Lederer (Catriona) and even Emma Bunton and, of course, Eddy’s number one (and only) client Lulu. The film is packed with famous faces from Dawn French to Graham Norton to Rebel Wilson to Joan Collins to Jon Hamm and many, many more (who may also be more familiar across the pond than they are in the US). Games of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie has quite an extended cameo as well.
But is the movie funny? Well, this is where I had some problems. Yes, there is quite a lot of humor, yes, Pats and Eddy are just the horrifically funny characters we know them to be, but stretching a 30 minute sitcom into a 90 minute movie just doesn’t totally work in this case. And that makes me utterly disappointed to say that. Not that I didn’t laugh a bit or chuckle, but the film didn’t give me the big belly laughs I’ve had from the series. And I don’t know why. Saunders has some great material and a fun plot, but I think maybe having pretty much self-contained 30-minute episodes affords the characters and situations to be more absurd and awful (in a funny way), whereas the film seems to teeter a bit too much between the absurd and keeping everyone grounded in reality especially when you have a plot that hinges on the death (or possible death) of a real person.
The cast, however, is wonderful, slipping into their characters once again as if they have never been away. Saunders and Lumley still make a great screen team, and Julia Sawalha as Eddy’s put-upon daughter Saffy really gets to shine in one of the movie’s funniest moments as she finally has had enough and her verbal emotional outburst shocks even Patsy, her mortal enemy (and Lumley’s reactions actually stole the scene). The film actually does start to improve as the pair get to France and scheme their way into various scenarios to get money without having to work for it since they are on the lam. On the other hand, there is a side plot with Marshall and Bo that goes nowhere (and apparently there was more filmed and not used), and I really had no idea what happened at the end when Patsy and Saffy had a bit of a stand-off.
Even though I am disappointed with the film, it doesn’t diminish my love for the characters or the series, and I’m sure I will revisit the movie at some point in the future (and hopefully the video release will include those deleted scenes). I would absolutely love to see more of Pats and Eddy, perhaps on the small screen again. It’s hard to predict how the movie will do in the states as there are a whole lot of people who have never seen the show, and this is one of those movies where you really need to have a familiarity with the characters to enjoy it. Absolutely Fabulous – The Movie wasn’t quite as fabulous as I had hoped, but I’m still happy to see Pats, Eddy and friends (and enemies) back together again, and I’d absolutely be the first in line for more.
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