About a decade ago (if not slightly earlier, it’s certainly up to debate), there emerged a new trend in cinema – assemble several iconic actors who are perhaps slightly older than they were at their peak, and place them in an effervescent, charming comedy that doesn’t push their boundaries or challenge them in any way, but rather allows them to play lead roles, which is quite rare in an industry that prioritises youth. These films are lightweight, simplistic, and very rarely consequential or even notable, but they’re still wickedly entertaining for several reasons. Chief among them is their tendency to be purely charming, never promising to be anything particularly complex, but rather endearing, captivating gems that don’t intend to do anything other than being upbeat, engaging comedies that aim to be simply good times, rather than striving to be anything else. A recent addition to this canon of films is The Fabulous Four, in which another four industry legends are grouped, this time to tell the story of a trio of childhood friends that meander down to Florida to attend the wedding of the fourth member of their delightful coterie – but as is to be expected, there are several complications, including the fact that one of their friends had to be coerced to take the trip under pretences due to a rift forming between her and the prospective bride. As straightforward and predictable as its premise sounds, The Fabulous Four is still a very entertaining film – a large part of this is due to the film being directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, who may not be considered a truly versatile filmmaker, but rather someone who peddles in this specific brand of upbeat, outrageously funny lightweight comedy that delivers exactly what you would expect, serving to be thoroughly enjoyable at the best of times. Nothing else should be expected from this film other than an abundance of very predictable but still compelling jokes and a story we can anticipate beat-by-beat. Still, in many ways, this is the charm that comes with this film, and the reason it does manage to be quite lovely, even at its most obvious.

Even the most predictable films need to have some underlying themes that help the narrative progress, and in the case of The Fabulous Four, it is the most obvious one of all. Friendship is a very easy subject to talk about since it is a universally-understood concept, as well as one that can easily be reconfigured to fit just about any narrative without it being viewed as over-extending itself beyond the scope of its abilities. In many ways, a film like this essentially having its entire plot revolving around the idea that friendship is important and that meaningful connections are vital to any individual’s psychological well-being feels slightly disappointing since it felt like this would be an opportunity for one of these more lightweight comedies to take a firm stance on something and create a memorable experience. However, it’s difficult to fault anyone involved in The Fabulous Four for choosing this as the film’s ultimate message – sometimes, it is better to be given a bold reminder of knowledge we already have, than having new ideas introduced in a manner that feels tacky and heavy-handed. This film is essentially nothing more than 90 minutes of off-the-wall hilarity as this quartet of lovable characters get themselves into a series of precarious situations, coming out entirely unscathed for the most part, but still learning lessons revolving around the importance of friendship along the way. There are some bespoke qualities present throughout the film – there are conversations around sexual identity (particularly from the perspective of familial acceptance), the challenges of ageing and even a few wonderfully charming moments in which we see recreational drug use as being something that does not need to carry the stigma that it has been given for decades, and while none of these is particularly relevant to the core narrative, they do work well to create a vivid portrait of these characters and their hilarious misadventures, which are essentially enough to keep the film at least mostly engaging in the areas that mattered.

The main attraction of a film like The Fabulous Four is always going to be the actors chosen to play the central characters – very rarely is any credence given to the actual storyline or execution, which could be lacklustre without even being noticed, at least when the performances are strong enough to sustain the entire film. The quartet chosen for this film are Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally and Sheryl Lee Ralph, all of whom are legendary figures within the entertainment industry, having impressive careers and having essentially done everything there is to be done in Hollywood, which is exactly what was required for these parts. Moorhouse approaches the film from the perspective of being the gathering of a set of talented actors, allowing them to play these delightful, off-kilter roles that are extremely entertaining while also being unexpectedly moving. Choosing a highlight is difficult since the entire film is structured around the quartet, and they each have their arcs and are developed as characters, rather than the focus being on one or two, while the others fall by the wayside. This is one of the most sincere merits of this film, since it values each of its four leads equally, giving them the same amount of attention and allowing them to flourish, both individually and alongside one another. It’s simply a joy to see these wonderful performers being allowed to let loose and enjoy the experience since these films are usually prioritized around giving the actors the chance to have fun. This is reflected in their performances, all of which are loose, upbeat portrayals of women of a certain age abandoning their responsibilities (and essentially all sense of decorum), to engage in nothing more than a series of delightful challenges that test their boundaries without actively attempting to cross them. It also helps that they are extremely well-defined, each character containing a range of unique quirks that are perfectly examined by the film, which gives them the chance to take on these hilarious roles without needing to put in too much work, which may seem like a justification for lack of effort, but proves to be a merit of this film.

As delightful as the performances may be, particularly in realizing the core themes of the film, it’s undeniable that The Fabulous Four is not the strongest film when it comes to both its story and execution, and that there are many areas in which the film shows signs of weakness, presented from the very start. It is about as predictable as a film like this can be – it does nothing we haven’t seen countless times before, and in both the set-up and pay-off, we can anticipate just about every plot development, down to the dialogue that accompanies them, which is a potentially dangerous approach considering just how deeply tedious it can get when the element of surprise is removed. However, once again it requires us to detach this film from the broader conversation and instead take it for what it is, which is a charming and comforting comedy about friends undergoing a series of adventures around an idyllic part of Florida, dealing with a variety of eccentric challenges, with the audience being entirely assured that everything will come together in the end and a satisfying conclusion will be the result. The Fabulous Four embodies the very clear fact that some films can just exist based purely on the charm of their premise and that any other attempts to shoehorn in additional themes will somehow resound as even more artificial. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t areas in which the film could have been substantially improved with some creativity and perhaps further thought to how everything transpires. Even the big third-act twist can be predicted by eagle-eyed viewers who are aware of the information that has been provided, as well as applying contextual clues to figure out where it is heading. This isn’t even mentioning that the film not only fails to tie up all of its loose ends (of which there are countless) but chooses the end the film with a big musical number. Had Moorhouse not been a genuinely wonderful filmmaker capable of guiding us to a position where we are suspending disbelief, The Fabulous Four would not have been even marginally as entertaining, since several shortcomings could have deflated the positive energy evoked throughout the film.

With a film like The Fabulous Four, you get what you pay for, as there is nothing about this film that is even marginally surprising or daring – for many, this can be dreadfully predictable and trite, but for those who have a penchant for this kind of charming, simple comedy, it can be an absolute delight, particularly in how it offers a degree of comfort and consistency rather than attempting to be entirely subversive. There is value in this approach, it just needs to be noted from the very start when a film is not designed to be driven by ambition, but rather the pursuit of solid, well-worn conventions that are valuable in their way. There isn’t much about The Fabulous Four that can be considered particularly daring or original, but this is more than appropriate given what this film is, and what it aims to achieve. It offers us the opportunity to see a quartet of the most gifted performers of the past few decades interacting with one another and simply finding the joy in the most off-the-wall and hilarious scenarios, of which there is certainly never a shortage. What this film lacks in cohesion it more than makes up for in charm, which is more than enough to keep it afloat, particularly when it comes to unpacking many of its underlying themes, which are carefully designed to be reflective of a set of universal ideas, never challenging them or being unique, but rather anchored within the kind of predictable, earnest humour we have come to anticipate over the years from this specific kind of broad ensemble comedy. Far from revolutionary, but still as charming as it could be given its narrative constraints, The Fabulous Four is a lovely and entertaining film that does pander to a particular kind of taste, but is more than capable of drawing our attention, even if it is only through promoting itself around its actors, which is as strong a method as any others, and which does ultimately make enough of an impact to make this a truly lovable, upbeat comedy about friendship and all of its unexpected challenges.