Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

Absolutely okay-ish.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 1, 2016

My introduction to the antics of Absolutely Fabulous came courtesy of a friend who kept telling me to “wait a minute” as she watched an episode of the show, despite the fact that she had asked me over to her place to help her with something or other. I was completely unacquainted with the series, but I still remember the episode, at least in outline—Eddy (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) had taken a vacation to some exotic locale and had snorted a hefty amount of a certain white powder, and were playing table tennis off screen, with the only sound the increasing velocity of the little ball being whacked back and forth with ever greater gusto. While I was frankly annoyed at my friend for delaying whatever task she had asked me to assist her with, I was immediately struck by the lunatic delights of AbFab and became a regular viewer myself. The show always seemed to flirt openly with chaos, with events in any given episode threatening to spiral out of control. That very propensity may be one of the issues confronting Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, for the series’ loosey goosey tendencies don’t necessarily translate cogently into a feature film format. That said, those who have grown to love the absurdly self-obsessed pair at the center of the franchise will probably find more than enough to enjoy here, as Eddy and Patsy confront the twin tragedies of old (or at least increasing) age and the crumbling of their careers, not to mention the minor inconvenience of being accused of having murdered a supermodel.

The vignette that plays before the film’s credits is as good an example as any of the freewheeling approach Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie takes. Eddy and Patsy are at some kind of high fashion runway event, and their bumbling entrance leaves both designers and audience members recoiling in intolerance if not in abject horror. The two of course party hearty, leading to the first after credits sequence, which finds the two virtually comatose after getting back to Eddy’s place. They manage to pull themselves together when Eddy remembers she has an appointment that day to sign a book deal, something that may help her shore up her rapidly diminishing finances. Quick bits bring the viewer up to date with a number of supporting characters, including Eddy’s long suffering daughter Saffy (Julia Sawalha), Saffy’s daughter Lola (Indeyarna Donaldson-Holness), Eddy’s mother (June Whitfield) and the adorably daffy Bubble (Jane Horrocks), who, in one of the film’s better reveals (relatively late in the story), turns out to perhaps not be quite as dimwitted as she appears.

In a film stuffed to the gills with cameos (some of which I suspect may resonate more with British audiences than American), the film’s main plot thrust involves an unfortunate plunge into the Thames by one Kate Moss, a descent into frigid (and probably pretty dirty) waters that is of course Eddy’s fault. That mishap occurs after Eddy’s attempts to get her autobiography published are more or less scoffed at, and, with not just her legacy (such as it is) but her future completely in doubt, her PR firm on the precipice of extinction. When Patsy confides in her that Kate is looking for new representation, Eddy attempts to infiltrate—perhaps a bit too aggressively. Playing into this is Eddy’s competition with nemesis Claudia Bing (Celia Imrie).

With the assumed death of one of the world’s supermodels ascribed to Eddy, and therefore to Patsy as well by default, the two find themselves on the wrong side of the law, and without any career prospects. Soon enough another supposed death comes into play, and the two decide to hightail it to Cannes. Here a number of gender blurring events occur, including the appearance of Barry Humphries, otherwise known as Dame Edna, appearing as a male, Charlie, one of Patsy’s long line of former paramours. With a whole cross dressing scenario already playing out subtextually at least, Patsy decides to pretend to be a male in order to snag an heiress for a wife, therefore securing a steady source of income for further adventures. Suffice it to say everything becomes properly farcical, though there’s kind of a bittersweet counterpoint underlying some of the proceedings, as evidenced by everything from the focal women’s inability to suffer the slings of age and career decline gracefully, to Eddy’s ultimate confession to Saffy that she’s been a horrible mother.

There’s a lot to like about Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, at least in dribs and drabs—but there’s the problem right there. The film is so consistently frenetic that it tends to wear out its welcome pretty recurrently. Eddy and Patsy are fun to hang out with for a half hour or so, but they can get awfully tiring after awhile, and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie struggles to keep things consistently engaging, hoping that occasional guffaws may be enough to sustain the enterprise. Fans of the series will probably find enough here to enjoy, but newcomers may want to “wait a minute” before sampling this feature film, and instead concentrate on the series that started it all.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Once again the IMDb comes up short on any technical data, but your intrepid reporter has tracked down this interview with the film's cinematographer Chris Goodger, where it's stated (and actually shown in one of the photos) that this AbFab was shot with the Arri Alexa XT. There's some really interesting other information in that article concerning lenses, lighting choices as well as the use of a ½ Schneider Hollywood Blackmagic filter that may account for some of the softer focus moments when the stars are in close-up. Generally speaking, though, this is a sharp and very well detailed looking image, one that boasts the extremely vivid palette that was often exploited in the series. Some of the costume choices are intentionally over the top (see Eddy's variably pinstriped outfit in screenshot 1), but precision in fine detail is typically excellent. Even some of the darker scenes, like the party sequence where Kate Moss goes for a little dip, offer above average shadow detail and some nicely popping colors. The somewhat dour, grayish London locales contrast nicely with the bright sunny climes of Cannes, where several outdoor scenes offer some of the nicest array of hues in the picture. The transfer shows no signs of instability and offers no compression issues.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie has a fun and immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that is intentionally rowdy and even noisy at times, but which maintains consistent immersion courtesy of a glut of source cues (including a reworking of "Wheel on Fire") and good ambient environmental effects. The dialogue scenes are typically rendered cleanly, if not always clearly simply because there are frequently people talking over each other. Fidelity is fine and dynamic range very wide (especially for a comedy) on this problem free track.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 3:49)


• Outtakes (1080p; 8:03)


• On Set with Dame Edna (1080p; 14:22) offers an overly extended prelude with the good Dame just sitting there getting her make up touched up and the like. Once she gets going, Edna is her delightful self.


• Promotional Featurettes

  Have a Look, Sweetie Darling! (1080p; 13:50) is a generalist EPK with lots of clips from the film and some good interviews.

  Locations (1080p; 2:07) is brief but has some okay info on the film's shoot in London.

  Legacy US (1080p; 2:01) focuses on the history of the franchise.

  Cameos (1080p; 2:10) covers some of the guest stars in the film.

  Drag Queens (1080p; 1:39) looks at some of the cross dressing that's part of the film.

  Making Of (1080p; 2:01) is another brief EPK with interviews.

  Legacy UK (1080p; 1:55) repeats some of the very same info from the other Legacy featurette.

  Fashion (1080p; 1:59) focuses on the film's fashion setting.

  Characters (1080p; 2:59) is a brief overview of the characters.

• Gallery (1080p; 2:55) offers both an Auto Advance and Manual Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:31)

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie undeniably provides some laughs, but the film just seems as pushy as Eddy and Patsy a lot of the time, and that (as any fan of the series will know) is not necessarily a good thing. Longtime fans will probably be more than willing enough to cut the film enough slack for that comedy to land, but newcomers may find the proceedings a little boorish. Technical merits are strong and for the initiated at least, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie comes Recommended.