‘The Fabulous Four’: Review

Dir: Jocelyn Moorhouse. US. 2024. 98mins

Old friends reunite to predictable effect in The Fabulous Four, a sitcom-y comedy that squanders its quartet of talented leads. Susan Sarandon comes closest to conveying depth and vulnerability as a career-driven heart surgeon tricked into attending the wedding of her estranged best friend (Bette Midler), who she never forgave for stealing her boyfriend decades earlier. Unfortunately, director Jocelyn Moorhouse quickly settles for superficial jokes about drugs, social media and horny bridesmaids, turning this presumptive party into a real drag.

 Frequently resorts to cheap gags or rehashed ideas to elicit laughs

Opening in the US on July 26 through Bleecker Street, The Fabulous Four could be effective counter-programming to Deadpool & Wolverine, a potential commercial powerhouse that hits theatres the same weekend. Older crowds will likely find the sight of Sarandon and Midler, alongside Megan Mullally and Sheryl Lee Ralph, a more appealing proposition than sitting through another Marvel film, but mixed reviews may keep this comedy from having much of a theatrical life. Small-screen prospects look more promising.

Lou (Sarandon) and Marilyn (Midler) became close in college, and soon after became pals with New Yorkers Alice (Mullally) and Kitty (Ralph). But after Marilyn stole a guy Lou liked — marrying and spending her entire adult life with him until his death — Lou ended the friendship, furious that Marilyn never apologised. Now a widow, Marilyn has found love again and invites Alice and Kitty to fly down to Florida to be her bridesmaids for the wedding. Marilyn assumes Lou has no interest in attending, but Alice and Kitty trick her into joining by saying she’s won a contest. Eventually realising she has been duped, Lou is not happy to see Marilyn, but her mood improves after meeting a sensitive local bar owner, Ted (Bruce Greenwood), who takes a liking to her.

Directing her first feature since the 2015 Kate Winslet picture The Dressmaker, Moorhouse aims for a crowd-pleasing tone in which the veteran actresses riff off one another while getting into all kinds of antics. But the screenplay, courtesy of Ann Marie Allison and Jenna Milly, hits so many expected beats while doing little to flesh out the characters. As a result, the four women are all broad types: Lou is uptight and socially awkward; Marilyn is brash and needy; Alice is confident and snarky; and Kitty is no-nonsense and opinionated. 

The central conflict, though, is between Lou and Marilyn as they hash out the disagreement that destroyed their friendship. But The Fabulous Four never really digs into this past hurt in any meaningful way, either for comedy or drama. Even more frustratingly, the film arbitrarily switches back and forth in its allegiance to the feuding characters. Occasionally, The Fabulous Four takes Lou’s side, criticising Marilyn for running off with her best friend’s fella — but then, the script will change its mind and suggest that Lou really needs to let this grudge go. A better film would weigh these duelling perspectives, letting the audience wrestle with both points of view. But Moorhouse’s clumsy handling of the conflict leaves Marilyn seeming unreasonably callous and clueless — it is impossible to believe she would be so unaware that she wounded her friend. 

Not that plausible behaviour is this picture’s strong suit — Moorhouse frequently resorts to cheap gags or rehashed ideas to elicit laughs. As soon as it is established that Kitty is a successful cannabis farmer, viewers can feel certain that The Fabulous Four’s most high-strung character will ingest drugs at the worst moment. (Alas, hilarity does not ensue.) In the spirit of the film’s Bridesmaids-esque premise, faux-outrageous jokes about male strip clubs and Kegel balls abound, and every once in a while the randy Alice will hook up with another random hot younger man. But there is no sense of liberation or delicious naughtiness in the hijinks — the comedic set pieces simply fall flat, especially when the script tries to wring humour from Marilyn’s vain desire to become a TikTok sensation. 

Sarandon manages to locate the pathos within Lou, who has always been hard-working — the model student, the accomplished surgeon — but now feels lonely and unfulfilled living in an apartment with her cats. The handsome Ted sparks Lou’s lighter side, and the Oscar-winning actress brings a grownup sexiness to their courtship. But Sarandon is as close as The Fabulous Four gets to touching on genuine emotion or comedy. Easy-to-guess plot twists and creaky musical numbers await the viewer in the final act, but the prevailing sentiment is what a shame it is to bring together such entertaining women and then strand them with material so beneath them. Why not let them be fabulous?