★

★

★

☆

☆





Substantiated by decades of toe-curling features, it’s pretty much par-for-the-course that feature films based on British comedies take a nosedive in quality the moment a larger budget looms into view, but Absolutely Fabulous mostly emulates the style and spirit of the original show, albeit with more visual sheen and a helping of French Riviera. Our dismal duo thankfully remains as egocentric as ever: both actresses could probably do it in their sleep by now (by the looks of it, Lumley’s already put in some practice), and with Saunders still on writing duty, it merely looks like the pair tripped into a more expensive studio. Twenty-four years since the first episode was broadcast, the mere sight of Lumley lighting another cigarette in the background of almost every shot remains an undiminished oasis of barely-contained giggles, after the more in-your-face comedy stylings dry up.





Alongside a cavalcade of celebrity cameos (Gwendoline Christie, Joan Collins, Jon Hamm, Lulu and a five second check-in from Graham Norton to name but a few), the supporting cast of the show turn up too: Julia Sawalha is still picking up the pieces as Saffron, and Jane Horrocks reliably stumbles about as numbskull PA, Bubble, who gets a great cutaway gag involving the works of Nietzsche.





Sure, it’s not as laugh-out-loud funny as the series’ heyday, but, as with something like the first Inbetweeners movie, there’s enough goodwill towards the established characters that we’re quite content to muddle along in their wake (and while we’re still on the Inbetweeners analogy, sequel plans would be a big mistake). Despite the jarringly fast pace – contrasted to the extended dialogue sequences of the TV show – Edina and Patsy’s trademark bickering stays the course. Perhaps to try and keep up with more Hollywood-style comedies, the film adapts a see-what-sticks approach that throws about visual punchlines, quips, sardonic satire, slapstick and even one or two background jokes (June Whitfield as Edina’s mother receives a great “blink and you’ll miss it” moment with a revolving door). It’s an admirable effort, but a sizeable chunk of the gags fall flat, especially in the increasingly convoluted finale that attempts to gleam a laugh too many from drag humour (once slipping uncomfortably close to transphobia).





Yes, it's burdened with more cameos than it knows what to do with, and yes, it’s completely all over the place structurally, but let’s be honest, here: expecting cinematic perfection from the Absolutely Fabulous movie is a bit like complaining that your mum’s cooking isn’t Michelin Star quality. Being a self-serving, shambling mess, plastered in too much make-up and celebrity obsessed to a fault, it’s a near-perfect reflection of the two characters we love so much…it could just do with a little liposuction and tightening around the edges.

Veteran British TV director Mandie Fletcher brings this much-loved sitcom starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as meandering middle-aged neurotics to the big screen. Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Lumley) are on the run when the weight-obsessed PR guru and her drawling accomplice send Kate Moss tumbling to her death from a balcony at a glitzy fashion event (a sequence, incidentally, that makes for a far sharper showbiz satire than the entirety of).