''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 Bette Midler (;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Be ...

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She is best known for playing Karen Walker on the NBC sitcom ''Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award no ...

, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood,

Timothy V. Murphy Timothy Vincent Murphy (born 5 April 1960) is an Irish actor based in Los Angeles. His notable 2015 roles have been on ''The Bastard Executioner'', ''Grace and Frankie'', and ''True Detective''. He played Galen O'Shea for three seasons on the ...

, and Michael Bolton. It was released in the United States by

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was ...

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 Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, Florida by telling her she has won a raffle from the Hemingway House to win a

polydactyl cat A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly), which causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Cats with this ge ...

. 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 Parasailing, also known as parascending, paraskiing or parakiting, is a recreational kiting activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle while attached to a specially designed canopy wing that resembles a parachute, known as a parasail ...

. 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 A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...

. 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

Production

In May 2022, it was announced that Susan Sarandon,

, and

had joined the cast of the film, with Jocelyn Moorhouse directing from a screenplay she wrote alongside Jenna Milly and Ann Marie Allison. In October 2022, Sissy Spacek joined the cast of the film, with

acquiring distribution rights to the film. In October 2023, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Bruce Greenwood, and

joined the cast of the film, with Ralph replacing Spacek, who exited due to scheduling conflicts. Principal photography began in September 2023 in Savannah, Georgia, securing a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.

Reception

Box office

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

Critical response

Nell Minow Nell Minow is an American film reviewer and writer who writes and speaks frequently on film, media, and corporate governance and investing. Ms. Minow was named one of the 20 most influential people in corporate governance by Directorship magazine ...

of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

'' 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 Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

used to say, we would be better off watching a film of the four actresses sitting around, talking about their lives."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabulous Four, The 2024 films 2024 comedy films 2020s American films 2020s buddy comedy films 2020s English-language films 2020s female buddy films American buddy comedy films American female buddy films Bleecker Street films Films about weddings in the United States Films directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse Films set in Florida Films shot in Savannah, Georgia