Ab Fab a must-see camp treasure you can’t go past
TURNS out that despite winding up the initial broadcast of Absolutely Fabulous in ’96, it takes a lot more than time and too much ‘Bolly’ to beg stars of the show, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley to forget their roots in a TV series that defined a generation.
With the countdown now on until Saunders and Lumley take over the State Theatre in Sydney for the Australian premiere of their promotional tour, excitement to the gayest degree is about to grip the country.
See, not only is the modern day revival of a classic that defined a generation being breathed new life, but it’s perpetual nods written right into the script, to the legions of LGBTIQ fans and devout watchers is what is so pleasantly refreshing.
And they do it in their classic Ab Fab style that is all too ‘them’.
Sure, their wonderful world of ‘PR’ is still the source of all struggles in the life of Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, but throw in a casual manslaughter charge – as well as their endless list of proclivities – and you have a 21st century Ab Fab that is as modern-day as they can make it without diluting the fabulousness of it all.
The subtexts in the film are strong. Drugs, money, transgenderism and homosexuality run deep, as does Monsoon and Stone’s choices of avant-garde-on-crack outfits that epitomise the characters.
The stellar line-up features some cast members that in equal parts is as impressive as it is a testament to the show’s popularity in so many of the world’s biggest circles.
The film tackles Ab Fab as we know it, head-on. Patsy drunkenly stumbles with assertiveness through the whole movie, their fixation with Bollinger knows no limits and their exploitation of everything for their own benefit is still all the pleasant mix of camp hilarity that has kept the legend alive well through the show’s 20th anniversary that wound-up in 2012.
Far-fetched? Yes. Excessive? Hell yes. Camp? Words don’t come close. It’s a must-see you can’t go past.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie hits Australia on Sunday, July 31.
