In The Fabulous Four, a group of friends travel to Florida to be bridesmaids in a surprise wedding of their college girlfriend. Source: Australian Catholics.
This movie is targeted towards a certain older demographic, has a couple of laugh-out loud lines, occasional truths and is a bit of colourful froth and bubble.
It tries hard with its cultural ticks – or tics – such as TikTok newbie (Midler) posting addictively at #WamBamThankyouNan. There are lots of nods to Ernest Hemingway, but the film also lands hard on jaded tropes such as the older single woman as a mad cat lady (Sarandon).
Essentially, the story is about four college friends who reunite in Key West, Florida (although filming actually took place in Savannah) for the nuptials of Marilyn (Midler), who is getting married again, six months after the death of her husband of 48 years.
Her friends Alice (Mullally) and Kitty (Ralph) have plotted to get the other friend, Lou, a heart surgeon (Sarandon) to come along on the pretence that Lou has won a six-clawed cat in a competition they entered her into. She and Marilyn have been estranged and this is the only way they can get the four of them back together.
Bette Midler is Bette Midler playing the character we are all used to – always talking, centre-of-attention, jokey, hiding behind that big smile, doing silly things for a laugh. The schtick still works and we can never not like her.
However, much as this is a comedy, there were moments that went too far for this reviewer. Perhaps I am showing my age (I am of that certain demographic) but the stripper scene and his grinding torso was unnecessary and the surfeit of drinking like undergrads seemed to make the older ladies seem a bit desperate and dateless.
Joan Didion’s reference to living her life without making any adjustments whatsoever to ageing seems to be at the heart of this film.
Age does not stop love or adventure or fun. Perhaps, there is a little too much emphasis on ageing disgracefully. We can still rock’n’roll but we don’t have to keep up with the kids in the kitchen.
Review by Ann Rennie, Jesuit Media via Australian Catholics.
The Fabulous Four: Starring Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, Timothy V Murphy. Director: Jocelyn Morehouse. 99 minutes. Rated M.
FULL REVIEW
The Fabulous Four (Australian Catholics)
