The Fabulous Four

So..I approached this movie with an open mind, as during the past years I have watched one after the next comedy with a void script, uninteresting dialogues and seemingly 'funny' canned moments, looking desperately to find one that faintly resembles of the movies made in the 90s..by real people.

Seeing this amazing cast in a fair production, in a movie that made it to the theatres, by a writer that seems to have less experience than a film student, has me thinking that this is what a movie written by AI looks like.

I mean how do one after the next films like that, starring the creme-de-la-creme makes it to the screens?

It's a shame for the actors, as well as us, who remember them in their golden era, starring in strong-scripted quirky productions.

All these films, this one included, try to resemble the human experience but they lack the element of depth, meaning and passion; something only the human experience can recreate.

Lou (Susan Sarandon), Marilyn (Bette Midler), Alice (Megan Mullally), and Kitty (Sheryl Lee Ralph) have been best friends since their twenties. Lou is holding a grudge against Marilyn. With Marilyn having a destination wedding, Alice and Kitty trick Lou to attend as the bridesmaids.

These are four fabulous older actresses. Almost immediately, I am wondering what is going wrong. The most obvious is Marilyn's TikTok obsession. She needs to be dumber and more flighty for that comedy to work. I would prefer something more simple and heartfelt. I can feel my heart drop every time they go back to old-people-doing-social-media jokes. This is a sad attempt at comedy.

What can I say, other than everything about this movie is cringeworthy. So much wasted potential with these actresses. Bette Midler was typical Bette, making faces and shrill. Megan Mullally was a lower octave Karen from "Will and Grace" only with pot instead of booze and pills. Sheryl Lee Ralph was useless and seemed to be there only to check a diversity box. Susan Sarandon looked the entire time like she knew this movie was a mistake. The whole movie felt like a Liftetime tv movie...cheap looking, rushed, AI script, cheap jokes, terrible directing. There's not one moment where I felt like any of these characters were behaving in a realistic manner for women of their age and their place in life, completely unrealistic scenarios and actions. And I can't even begin to describe how awkward the whole Michael Bolton scene was. It seriously looked like a wax figure...he didn't move, just a blank stare into space and singing, no movement whatsoever and no interaction with anyone in the scene...extremely weird and uncomfortable. Skip this one for sure.

Using seasoned women in a comedy seems to be a genre in itself and the genre is picking up fast. As part of this genre The Fabulous Four is lackluster to films like Book Club and 80 for Brady. It might be that Diane Keaton and Jane Fonda have this genre on lock, which is strange because Sussan Sarandon is one of the hottest senior citizens out there, so this should have worked but it did not, at least not for me.

I do ponder. While the film is exploiting stars of a certain age there is very little comedy actually coming from this. We understand they are old and the movie leaves us with that and nothing else. Unlike films like Thelma in which I get a better insight of what happens to every human on the planet when they get old and that insight increased the entertainment value.

That insight is not found here as the women take advantage of their great genetics and the fact that they need not play old to tell a story about lifelong friendship, which i could have seen anywhere and have seen everywhere so The Fabulous Four is not bringing anything to the table and it shows.

Pass altogether.

My wife and I saw the trailer and really liked it. It reminded us both of the film Last Vegas. The basic storyline similarities are plentiful. The problem is the execution. The only positive I have is Susan Sarandon. Her character's storyline is the only thing worthy of admission and she delivered with what she was given. The other ladies were given nothing to display their brilliant comedic talents. The thought of seeing Broadway legends Bette Midler and Sheryl Lee Ralph on the big screen was gonna be epic. Too bad these writers and director were not up to ther task.

As I stated earlier, if you have seen the film Last Vegas, you could say this film looks like the female lead version. Fabulous Four has the powerhouse talent just the same as Last Vegas and even similar storyline arcs, but this film relies too heavily on cheap, immature, repetitive, bad jokes and not enough energy building a good script. Wait for streaming.