The Fabulous Four

The Fabulous Four
The Fabulous Four
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jocelyn Moorhouse
Written by	Ann Marie Allison; Jenna Milly;
Produced by	Richard B. Lewis; Lauren Hantz;
Starring	Susan Sarandon; Bette Midler; Megan Mullally; Sheryl Lee Ralph; Bruce Greenwood; Timothy V. Murphy; Michael Bolton;
Cinematography	Roberto Schaefer
Edited by	Gabriella Muir
Music by	David Hirschfelder
Production; company	Southpaw Entertainment
Distributed by	Bleecker Street
Release date	July 26, 2024;
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$3.5 million

The Fabulous Four is a 2024 American comedy film directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and written by Ann Marie Allison and Jenna Milly. It stars Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Megan Mullally, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, Timothy V. Murphy, and Michael Bolton.

It was released in the United States by Bleecker Street on July 26, 2024.

Plot

Aging friends Kitty and Alice receive invitations to their lifelong friend Marilyn’s wedding. Hoping to reunite their gang, Kitty and Alice plan to invite old friend Lou, who had a dramatic falling-out with Marilyn after she stole her boyfriend John and eloped with him. Kitty and Alice lure Lou to the wedding in Key West, Florida by telling her she has won a raffle from the Hemingway House to win a polydactyl cat.

Kitty, Alice and Lou arrive in Key West and meet Marilyn at her house. Furious, Lou plans to leave the house, especially after finding out Kitty and Alice lied about the cat raffle. Kitty convinces her to stay, but she is still agitated by the presence of Marilyn and the constant reminders of her deceased ex-husband.

While trying on dresses, Lou becomes agitated once more when Marilyn mentions her eloping with John. Lou leaves the shop and meets a man on the street called Ted. After stopping an attempted theft of Ted’s bike, Lou is excited at the prospect of having met a man.

The next day, Marilyn takes the others on a boat to go parasailing. Alice gives a seasick Lou cannabis-infused chocolate to calm her down. While the others partake in the parasailing, Lou bonds with Ernie, the ship’s captain, who offers her cannabis-infused gummies. Now under the influence, Lou accidentally cuts the tow rope connecting the others to the boat. When they land on the beach, Marilyn laughs at Lou for being high, causing her to retaliate and berate the others for lying to her, as well as Marilyn’s TikTok obsession.

Marilyn, Kitty, and Alice throw a bachelorette party at a strip club. Kitty is surprised to see her grandson Nathan is the stripper, having been kicked out by his mother for being gay. The next day, Marilyn takes the girls to Hemingway House to meet her fiance Bradley. Lou is shocked when she finds out Bradley is actually Ted.

On the day of the wedding, Lou and Marilyn fight, causing Marilyn to fire Lou as her bridesmaid. Marilyn has a mental breakdown and apologises to Lou. At the wedding, Marilyn and Bradley realise they both rushed into the marriage, and decide to stay friends. Lou is persuaded by Ernie to move to Key West.

Cast

Susan Sarandon as Lou
Bette Midler as Marilyn
Megan Mullally as Alice
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Kitty
Sophie von Haselberg as Amanda
Déjà Dee as Dr. Rhonda Brown
Michael Bolton as himself
Brandee Evans as Leslie
Bruce Greenwood as Ted
Renika Williams as Shivani
Abigail Dolan as Sheila
David Goren as Brandon
Kadan Well Bennett as Nathan
Timothy V. Murphy as Captain Ernie

Production

In May 2022, it was announced that Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, and Megan Mullally had joined the cast of the film, with Jocelyn Moorhouse directing from a screenplay she wrote alongside Jenna Milly and Ann Marie Allison.^[3] In October 2022, Sissy Spacek joined the cast of the film, with Bleecker Street acquiring distribution rights to the film.^[4] In October 2023, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, and Timothy V. Murphy joined the cast of the film, with Ralph replacing Spacek, who exited due to scheduling conflicts.^[5]

Principal photography began in September 2023 in Savannah, Georgia, securing a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.^[6]^[7]

Reception

Box office

The film made $1 million in its opening weekend from 1,045 theaters, placing eighth at the box office.^[8]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 26% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "These four ladies are indeed fabulous, but they deserve a much more inspired script."^[9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[10]

Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com gave the film one and a half out of four stars and wrote, "The stars do their best to bring warmth and charisma with criminally under-written characters engaging in silly antics. There are lovely moments when they sing, including a duet with Michael Bolton(!). It just makes us wish it was a concert film. Or, as Gene Siskel used to say, we would be better off watching a film of the four actresses sitting around, talking about their lives."^[11]

References

^ "The Fabulous Four". The Numbers. Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^ "The Fabulous Four". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^ Wiseman, Andreas (May 11, 2022). "Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler & Megan Mullally To Star In Wedding Comedy 'The Fabulous Four' — Cannes Market Hot Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Rubin, Rebecca (October 31, 2022). "'The Fabulous Four,' a Feel-Good Comedy Starring Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler, Sells to Bleecker Street". Variety. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Grobar, Matt (October 25, 2023). "Sheryl Lee Ralph Rounds Out 'The Fabulous Four' As Additional Cast Joins Bleecker Street Comedy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Curley, Molly (September 25, 2023). "'The Fabulous Four' now filming in Savannah". WSAV-TV. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ "How to Get Cast in 'The Fabulous Four' Starring Susan Sarandon". Project Casting. September 29, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ "Domestic 2024 Weekend 30". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
^ "The Fabulous Four". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "The Fabulous Four". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
^ Minow, Nell (July 26, 2024). "The Fabulous Four". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved July 31, 2024.

External links

The Fabulous Four at IMDb

[NUM-1] "The Fabulous Four". The Numbers. Archived from the original on July 16, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.

[BOM-2] "The Fabulous Four". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved August 12, 2024.

[3] Wiseman, Andreas (May 11, 2022). "Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler & Megan Mullally To Star In Wedding Comedy 'The Fabulous Four' — Cannes Market Hot Pic". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[var-4] Rubin, Rebecca (October 31, 2022). "'The Fabulous Four,' a Feel-Good Comedy Starring Susan Sarandon and Bette Midler, Sells to Bleecker Street". Variety. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[5] Grobar, Matt (October 25, 2023). "Sheryl Lee Ralph Rounds Out 'The Fabulous Four' As Additional Cast Joins Bleecker Street Comedy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[6] Curley, Molly (September 25, 2023). "'The Fabulous Four' now filming in Savannah". WSAV-TV. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[7] "How to Get Cast in 'The Fabulous Four' Starring Susan Sarandon". Project Casting. September 29, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[8] "Domestic 2024 Weekend 30". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 5, 2024.

[Rotten_Tomatoes-9] "The Fabulous Four". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[Metacritic-10] "The Fabulous Four". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved July 31, 2024.

[11] Minow, Nell (July 26, 2024). "The Fabulous Four". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved July 31, 2024.

[1]