A gifted cast can’t overcome a formulaic script

By Sarah T. Schwab

Although there are perks to being in a wedding party such as celebrating love and seeing old friends, there can be definite pitfalls. You may spend money you don’t have, old and new lovers might mix uncomfortably, and there is always the danger of an open bar-related bad decision.

As a genre, wedding movies have heavily mined these tropes into a familiar cinematic formula. That said, wedding movies can be done well: “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”(2002), “Bridesmaids” (2011) and “Crazy Rich Asians (2018) all made me laugh out loud and still shed a tear.

These movies succeed by adding depth to the wedding movie formula with good scripts, skilled acting and thoughtful directing. Sadly, “The Fabulous Four” (2024) fails to transcend the stereotypes.

The familiar plot is strikingly similar to “Book Club: The Next Chapter” (2023), as four middle-aged women attend a destination wedding (rather than a book club) and the action is set in the Florida Keys (rather than Italy).

The cast includes Susan Sarandon, Bette Midler, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Megan Mullally, all beautifully shot by cinematographer Roberto Schaefer. The movie looks lovely, as the screen is filled with chickens roaming the streets and sky-blue waves lapping white sand beaches while the ladies drink lots of mojitos. Unfortunately, the cinematography and cast can’t save a predictable script that clings to formula.

Once best friends in college, New York surgeon Lou (Sarandon) and life-of-the-party Marilyn (Midler) haven’t spoken since Marilyn married Lou’s boyfriend 40 years prior. When newly widowed Marilyn announces her upcoming marriage to her boyfriend of six months, Alice and Kitty contrive a deception to get the two estranged friends in one place. The story then relies on cannabis brownies, Ernest Hemingway, and a six-toed cat for comedy it just can’t deliver.

There are good moments. Scenes where Lou stops a thief with a Kegel ball (a bridesmaid’s gift) and the obligatory stripper turns out to be Kitty’s grandson are genuinely funny, and a nostalgic perusal of old photos tugs at the heartstrings (“Where is that girl?” Lou asks of a photo of her younger self).

The inevitable reconciliation comes on cue and the formulaic script comes to a predictable end.

This fabulous quartet of actors deserved better.

“The Fabulous Four” has a running time of 1:38. It is showing in theaters, including Buffalo’s North Park Theater , through Aug. 1 as well as local Regal theaters and the Dunkirk Multiplex.