Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie

This film tells the story of two high profile publicists in London, who are on the run because they accidentally pushed Kate Moss into River Thames during a red carpet party.

"Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie" is purely silly but it's entertaining and glamorous. It is fun to watch the numerous cameos, and Joan Collins who is in the film for only two seconds but receives a credit! Kate Moss and Emma Bunton are both great to watch, I think how Kate lost track of time is hilarious. The locations are full of fabulousness, especially that house they live in with a huge indoor swimming pool next to the lounge!

It's a great way to spend time thinking about nothing and have a laugh.

I was looking forward to seeing this after watching the brilliant TV series years ago. I thought it would be a golden opportunity to being the characters up to date and make something really special.

However, I spent the entirety of the film waiting for it to pick up and gain the pace we are used to which made the TV series so brilliant. It felt as though the script had been stretched out to fill the allocated time.

There is nothing wrong with the acting, and all the favourite characters are in the film - but also (and probably to the film's detriment) are hoards of minor celebrities and wannabes who serve little function in the story. It seemed as though anyone who was remotely connected to the clique of luvvy land was included for no reason at all.

Another thing which I think played a role in the lack lustre end product was that Jennifer Saunder's played down Edina's character - which lacked the punch and sparkle of her original portrayal.

Overall it was an OK kind of film, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. You would be better off and get more entertainment value from watching replays of the original series.

A movie produced on the same material 25 years after the heyday of a television show will take a toll on quality. At the time, the Dawn French / Joana Lumley show traded on its subversive material and outrageous performances. Since then the world has moved dramatically toward the outpost the two established for themselves putting the show's aesthetic somewhere in the middle of the culture. So relying on the same shock value jokes from the early 90's results in the film's now mildly eye-raising but still mostly funny lines. All of the standbys from the original appear: Eddie gives her daughter poor parenting advice, her daughter lectures her to be more conservative, Lumley pulls out her "Pat Stone" routine at one point, she blacks out, etc., etc., etc. Vintage stuff if a little worn. The softness of the script benefits from a very long list of cameos although American audiences will miss many of the local British faces who didn't quite become global names. In short, like "Zoolander 2", AbFab the movie relies more on nostalgia than good writing but for hardcore fans that may be enough.

I own every DVD of every AbFab show, and I still enjoy them today as I did when they were on BBC. I wish I could rate this a 10, but I am being extremely generous rating it a 6.

What went wrong: Jennifer Saunders wrote a weak script devoid of the essence that made the show what it was in the 90s. It actually started out pretty good. It opens at a fashion catwalk show, and the stumbling duo make a funny entrance. The film kept up that tone until Kate Moss lands in the water.

Then, it's like we are watching another movie. Saunders reverts to a strong story-line, and the movie begins to go south from there on. The original show was never so much about the story as it was about the interaction between the cast members, the situations they found themselves in, (like in the Courtroom after being busted for something usually relating to drugs) as well as the slapstick antics pulled off by the fidgety, head shaking Saunders and the tramp, her pal Lumley; both were on a 24 hour buzz from the 70s, consuming every drug in the universe 24/7 to the point where walking was a full time job I felt Lumley seemed to 'try too hard' in this film, to the point of appearing nasty.

My main problem with the film is the fact that the two lead characters were heartless and cruel. They think they may have drowned Bubble while using her to find Kate moss in the Thames River. They drag her along on a rope, submerged in the river. After the rope brakes, Patsy says "Don't worry about it, they'll never trace it back to us". Edna agrees and smiles with no remorse as to the possible death of her friend and secretary. This attitude plays through the entire movie, especially with Patsy appearing completely heartless. If you can't like your lead characters, you can't like the movie. Being crazy is one thing, being heartless, and nasty is another.

Of course we can't ever forget about Bubble (Edna's PA). I haven't decided whether she was under utilized in this installment, or out to lunch. Either way, it was disappointing to me, because she was one of my favorite characters on the TV show. She's in the movie, but her role just wasn't as as funny or unique as it was in the series.

I also thought Saunders overdid the Botox. She was almost expressionless and appeared to be plastic with little of her former energy. When she fell out of her car as she did a thousand times in the TV show, we laughed. Now, it looked like it hurt, and it seemed difficult for her to do. Perhaps she was actually too fat at this point in her life, to comfortably play her fat self character Edna.

The direction by Mandie Fletcher was embarrassing to watch. The script played out so convoluted, and disjointed, it might have been directed by Barnum and Bailey. However, the HD cinematography was spectacular, colorful, and beautiful to watch; the wardrobe was glorious, and so were locations chosen for the film.

Also on the plus side, it was great to see the old gang back together again, and a special shout out to June Whitfield, who at 92 years of age, gave the best performance of the lot, and had lost none of her character's essence. Her performance, along with Julia Sawalha's surprising singing abilities, were bonus surprises that I truly enjoyed.

I really hate to see AbFab go out like this, but you reap what you sew, and Saunders fell a bit short of being a master seamstress in this attempt at a modern day AbFab. However, I'm still glad she made the film. The visuals were enough to save it.

It started very slowly, and at first I was really worried that this was nothing but a cash grab...after they "killed" Kate Moss, though, it really took off! In lieu of a "review", I've got bullet points:

*Stella McCartney was totally hilarious, but only if you know your Beatles

*It saddens me to say, but the least funny person in this film is...BUBBLE??? Let me put it this way - in "AF:tM", she is the equivalent of Jack Black in "Tropic Thunder"

*Saffy's tirade is hysterically funny...but only if you watched the series

*I recognized Barry Humphries in his 2 seconds as Dame Edna, but NOT as Charles...I didn't realize it until the credits

*I LOVED the homage to "Some Like it Hot"!!