M, 99 minutes
2 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
Yeah, yeah, yeah? Nope, there is really only one ‘fab four’ and that supergroup came and went a long time ago. While this movie with a title it doesn’t earn would like to take on some celebrity lustre and become a centrepiece for the girls’ night out crowd, it is just a feeble attempt at feel-good for older women. Apart from taking in the holiday vibe and the coastal views around Key West, Florida, where it is set, this celebration of mature age friendship has little going for it, despite having veterans Bette Midler and Susan Sarandon on board.
Watching Sarandon in action is usually a rewarding experience, and she is far and away the best thing about this comedy light on laughs. It might be sheer coincidence that her character here, a salty-tongued heart surgeon called Louise, reminds us of the salty-tongued waitress she played opposite Geena Davis’ naive and trusting character in Thelma & Louise. Ridley Scott’s feminist-leaning road movie was a bolt out of the blue in the early 1990s, and we have had some real advances in the representation of woman on screen since then.
The Fabulous Four is a step backwards, however, with plenty of moments to cringe at, particularly any involving Marilyn (Midler at her most over-the-top). Where we have female seniors in teen mode, making horny remarks and passes at young men, shrieking with laughter after chewing cannabis gummies, capturing every moment with a selfie. All except Lou, mocked as the sober, sensible and uptight one, who is probably the only one to act her age. This seriousness, bookishness and reserve is finally unleashed in a scene which nearly upends the whole silly enterprise, before she is taken in hand by a local doctor and Ernest Hemingway lookalike who takes a fancy to her.
Horny remarks and passes at young men, popping cannabis gummies, capturing every moment with a selfie
Over a thankfully short running time, it’s a relief when Louise’s presence is in the frame, and tough going when she isn’t. It leaves us largely in the company of Marilyn, her old BF from college with whom she shared an apartment in New York, a widow who is about to marry again. It was during those bachelorette years that they became close to their neighbours, organic cannabis producer Alice (Megan Mullally) and singer Kitty (Sheryl Lee Ralph), a cougar type who keeps rocking on.
Barely six months a widow, Marilyn is about to the tie the knot again with a guy she has met in her new home of Florida. She summons her old friends to be her bridesmaids for the traditional ceremony she envisions. The full bit with a massive, frothy white wedding gown.
It will be tricky enticing Lou to join them because the two women haven’t seen each other since they fell out over the guy who Marilyn first married, but the other two, Alice and Kitty, decide that it’s time Louise let bygones be bygones. They trick her into flying to Florida to collect a new cat. A polydactyl descended from a pet once owned by Ernest Hemingway, whose former home cum museum, is located there. Lou, a cat lover and a fan of the Old Brute aka Hemingway, even knows that To Have and Have Not and The Snows of Kilimanjaro were written there. Who knew?
The point is surely quality not quantity
The best that can be said of The Fabulous Four is that it adds to the quantity of roles for older women on screen. At least, three of the foursome have had careers and they don’t feel like retiring or settling into assisted living. The worst, it must be said, is that the point is surely quality not quantity. Who wants to see performers like the terrific women in this ensemble cast, who are aged between 65 and 78 years, behaving like they were in their teens?
It is hard to figure what it was about the screenplay by Ann Marie Allison and Jenna Milly that attracted such a talented and skilful director as Jocelyn Moorhouse, with films as good as Proof and The Dressmaker to her name. If the thought was that she could compensate for poor material characterised by lazy, weak dialogue and recycled plotting with performances from four leading ladies of the cinema and TV screen and stage who could rise above it, it’s clear that she was hoping for too much.
First published in the Canberra Times on 3 August 2024. Jane’s reviews are also published on Rotten Tomatoes