THE FABULOUS FOUR
US, 2024, 98 minutes, Colour.
Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullaly, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, Kadan Well Bennett, Timothy V.Murphy, Michael Bolton.
Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse.
On the one hand, a 99 minutes promotion campaign for Tik-Tok. On the other hand, a 99 minutes promotion campaign for Tik-Tok.
The title is exciting. Fabulous. And the four are old friends, definitely old, stars Bette Midler born 1945, Susan Sarandon, 1946 and Megan Mullaly and Sheryl Lee Ralph in the mid-1950s. Their friendship in this story goes back more than half a century, back to college days and shared rooms.
But, Marilyn, an irrepressible Bette Midler, audiences enjoying her irrepressibability, is now a widow, takes off for Ernest Hemingway territory, Key West, Florida, where she and her husband of 48 years used to go on vacation. Suddenly, a chance meeting, engagement, marriage again and lots (and lots) of Tik-Tok, Marilyn confessing she is Tik-Tok addict.
What follows is extroverted, ebullient, so a psychology warning. Strong extroverts will be caught up in all the hoopla. Those more introvertedly inclined may well find this too much, possibly needing some breaks, long and frequent pauses when streaming viewing.
Marilyn’s two friends, Alice, a singer, drugs, promiscuous (Megan Mullaly from Will and Grace only much more so) is hard to take. Kitty, Sheryl Lee Ralph, a botanist, with family problems. But there is the very serious Lou, Susan Sarandon, a noted heart surgeon who has strong emotional responses from being once a best friend of Marilyn, now alienated.
Most of the action takes place in a gaudy-looking Key West, plus some affluent bars and mansions.
A lot of the action is frivolous, even farcical, hedonistic and everyone having a splashy good time. But Susan Sarandon and Bruce Greenwood bring some serious dimensions to characters and the situations. Some of their quiet conversations and self-revelations can be a bit of relief for the quiet audience, but long interruptions for those who want to get on with it. And, of course, ultimately there is a move towards apologies and reconciliation.
Surprisingly, the film was directed by Australian Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, The Dressmaker). She is certainly letting her hair down here, culminating in an all-dance sequence, “I can see clearly now, the rain has gone…”..
Calling these characters fabulous is, as the Americans might say, pretty much of a stretch.
