ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS - THE MOVIE

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 2:20am

The long awaited big-screen of "Absolutely Fabulous", opened last Friday.  The film provides many cameos, many laughs and some surprises.  Almost all of the original cast have returned from the film and they don't really act like they have missed a beat.  Going to the first screening on Friday afternoon was surprising well attended and was met with applause.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 11:50am

Thanks for posting.  It has snuck  into my city with no advertising/promotion.  Playing at only two theaters.  One, a food & drink theater, which I never patronize or a chain that has no discounts for matinees. I will see it I suspect at the chain, since I don't want the servers distracting my view at the other.

Updated On: 7/24/16 at 11:50 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 12:40pm

I'm surprised at how few theaters it's playing at here in NYC. I saw it yesterday morning at around 11am and it was a pretty packed house of gays and REALLY old people. I had the best time and everyone else seemed to love it also. This show is always weird (like most sitcoms) when you take away the laugh track, they really lose something. But honestly, the timing was so precise with this I didn't miss that at all. All I can say is that I can't wait for the sequel!

[DAME]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 1:08pm

I saw it last night in a packed theater in West Hollywood .  I had a great time.  

[fflagg]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 1:49pm

Not a good film. Strained. Lumley is sublime as usual. It's an episode stretched to 95 minutes. 

Instead of Kate Moss, it should have been Adele. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 2:19pm

I don't really understand people who criticize the movie. Were you expecting an art film? It was exactly what it should have been and I thought it was really cute and fun. We had a blast!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 2:43pm

It is not supposed to be Citizen Kane people.

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 7:17pm

Just saw it today at a matinee in an Atlanta art house-- not very crowded, but the vast majority were middle-aged gay men like me (surprising how nearly all of them were bears with beards-- who knew that's the rule in Atlanta?)

Anyhew.... the thing was funny for the first 15 minutes, REALLY funny from the moment the Richest Woman in the World showed up onscreen all the way till the well-wrought ending, but for me CRASHINGLY BORING during the very long middle reels. I'm sure recognizing well-loved cast members from the tv show who are now 15-20 years older must have given great joy to the dyed-in-the-wool fans of the show all around me, but as a merely casual fan of the old show, much of this movie REALLY tried my patience. 

Oh, and about the presence of gay men in this movie-- those were the swishiest draggiest bunch of nelly queens crammed into a movie since... maybe since that horrid gay wedding in the 2nd Sex and the City film featuring Liza Minelli's rendition of "All the Single Ladies". Must every gay man in the Ab Fab universe be either an old school drag queen or Chris Colfer? I would expect that from Ben Stiller's Zoolander universe, but our AbFab girls I thought would shoot for something higher.

 

Updated On: 7/24/16 at 07:17 PM

[hork]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 7:30pm

Why do people think that anyone who dislikes a movie was expecting an art film or Citizen Kane? Can't movies just be bad on their own terms? Should only art films be subjected to criticism? Are we supposed to like everything?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 8:18pm

Hey, I enjoy a really good bad movie as much as the next guy. All I was saying was that people were expecting more from it than it could ever deliver.

[hork]

Posted: 7/24/16 at 9:38pm

And all I'm saying is that your and TotallyEffed comments seemed odd, considering the only person who criticized it on here was fflagg, and all he said was that it wasn't good.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/25/16 at 3:04pm

Here's a breakdown of how it did opening weekend. It opened a few weeks ago in foreign territories.

Total Lifetime Grosses

Domestic: $1,880,000   8.5%

+ Foreign: $20,255,399   91.5%

= Worldwide: $22,135,399 

Domestic Summary

Opening Weekend: $1,880,000

(#14 rank, 313 theaters, $6,006 average)

% of Total Gross: 100.0%

> View All Weekends

Widest Release: 313 theaters

In Release: 3 days / 0.4 weeks

[DAME]

Posted: 7/25/16 at 4:14pm

Was the foreign opening in limited amount of theaters as here?

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 7/25/16 at 8:11pm

Not sure, Dame...but proportionately I believe the opening in the UK, at least, was bigger.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 7/27/16 at 7:46pm

Me and a friend saw this today.  He is a big ABFAB fan.  We both thought it was awful.  The 90 minutes just dragged and dragged.  Other than a few laughs, we both thought it was a bore.

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 7/31/16 at 9:18am

Big fans of the show, my daughter and I saw the film yesterday. Although Joanna Lumley had us in stitches with every little look or glance, we were disappointed overall. Our thoughts were that too much of the film focused on atmospheric things like the plethora of supermodels, Cannes (Bubble's house, give me a break) and a way too long dopey car chase. While it was great to see Saffy back (she looks EXACTLY the same) it bothered us that she didn't rush and hug her missing daughter after finding her in Cannes. And that was our basic problem with the film, the little things. We wanted more interaction and sassy dialogue between the characters, and more physical comedy, less scenery.

Updated On: 7/31/16 at 09:18 AM

[ArtMan]

Posted: 7/31/16 at 9:43am

Stage Door Sally, Joanna Lumley's facial expressions, especially at Eddy, is when I laughed the most.  It's like Patsy knows Eddy is a mess, but she's the only mess she has.  The actresses that play Saffy and Eddy's mother actually looked remarkably the same.  I can't say the same about some of the others (Bubble).

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 7:04pm

Mr Roxy said: "It is not supposed to be Citizen Kane people.

 

So much THIS! 

 

[Stage Door Sally]

Posted: 8/1/16 at 9:32pm

He's right. It was Citizen Cannes.

[darreyl102]

Posted: 8/3/16 at 5:54pm

Stage Door Sally said: "Big fans of the show, my daughter and I saw the film yesterday. Although Joanna Lumley had us in stitches with every little look or glance, we were disappointed overall. Our thoughts were that too much of the film focused on atmospheric things like the plethora of supermodels, Cannes (Bubble's house, give me a break) and a way too long dopey car chase. While it was great to see Saffy back (she looks EXACTLY the same) it bothered us that she didn't rush and hug her missing daughter after finding her in Cannes. And that was our basic problem with the film, the little things. We wanted more interaction and sassy dialogue between the characters, and more physical comedy, less scenery.

 

"

But her daughter wasn't missing- Saffy knew she was with Edina and Patsy.

 

I saw the film Monday night at a 11 PM showing. They were only showing the film in three theaters here (I live in KC,MO) and The theater was empty except for my friend and I- which we didn't mind because we could chat and make comments while we watched the film at will. We are both Big AB Fab fans (He's nearly 40, I'm in my mid 20's) and we both loved every moment of the film! Patsy and Edina are basically any gay club kids female equal- which is why I love the show, as I can relate to everything they do in the film. I can't wait to go again and for a sequel. SOOO MUCH FUN!!!

Updated On: 8/3/16 at 05:54 PM

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 8/4/16 at 2:46am

Opened wide across Australia today, saw a preview last night it was ok, nothing ground breaking. The middle section lacked , but hey it was what it was!