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This week at The Tryon Theatre is the last summer fun film before we move into the more artistic films of the fall and the spookier selections of October’s programming. This film is “The Fabulous Four,” a bubbly and cheeky comedy about aging, love, and the importance of close friends. This film capitalizes on well-known stars leaning into their capacity for endearing silliness, the actors seemingly having the same fun as the audience. “The Fabulous Four” will not break any new ground, nor will it be discussed come awards season, but in its goal to create an airy, cheerful time, it’s succeeded greatly. 

The fabulous quartet after whom this film is titled is played by Bette Midler, Megan Mullaly, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Susan Sarandon. All of these women have long standing careers, with plenty of experience in the comedy genre, more than willing to be the butt of a joke or ham it up for the sake of the scene. This shared comfort with the more goofy side of their craft is employed to wonderful ends in this borderline slapstick comedy. The film derives great comedy from these respected veterans of the screen, and their hilariously frank dialogue is a welcome contrast to the reservation so often depicted with age. 

The film follows four long-standing friends as two of the group work in cahoots to reconnect the other two, who have been estranged from one another due to betrayals of the past. Ralph and Mullaly play the film’s colluders, Kitty and Alice, with Sarandon and Midler portraying the since-separated of the group, Lou and Marilyn. Marilyn is soon to be married, and her impending nuptials pose a prime opportunity for an orchestrated reunion. Kitty and Alice lie to their friends, hoping to catch them unawares. The tension in the narrative provides countless opportunities for funny misunderstandings and clumsy comedic subterfuge. Still, it is in the positive intent behind the charade that the film finds its footing. 

The women at the center of “The Fabulous Four” have all lived full lives, free from the burden of naivete and the insecurity of lacking self-awareness. The sacred and common ground that is established in the bond of sorority is celebrated with great joy in this film, a kind of love that transcends the years and outlasts the pains of petty jealousy. This film is perfectly set in sunny Key West, and it a bright and breezy watch—uncomplicated and charmingly cheeky. 

For any of our audience who need an easy film, a cinematic vacation of sorts, then “The Fabulous Four” will hopefully scratch that itch!