Jennifer Saunders Movies

Dusty Springfield was quite simply one of the very best vocalists to emerge from the British pop music scene; blessed with a superb voice and the smarts and soul to use it to its best advantage, Springfield scored a string of hits on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1960s with such classics as "Wishin' and Hopin'," "I Only Want to Be With You," and "Son of a Preacher Man," and enjoyed a comeback in the 1980s thanks to her collaboration with techno-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, "What Have I Done to Deserve This." Dusty Springfield: Full Circle -- Life & Music is a documentary that offers an in-depth look at Springfield's life and career, with Dusty herself offering a perspective on the events, as well as featuring a wealth of performance footage and vintage television appearances (including rare film of Springfield performing with Jimi Hendrix). Popular comediennes Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French play host for the documentary; other interview subjects include Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick, and Elvis Costello. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Life continues apace for Edina (Jennifer Saunders), Patsy (Joanna Lumley), and Saffron (Julia Sawalha). Eddy has adopted a dolphin as both house pet and PR client; Pats has moved out of Odd Bins to make room for a new liquor aisle; and Saffy has finally found a boyfriend -- the wealthy, condescending Paolo Carlo (Tom Hollander). Mother (June Whitfield), meanwhile, has taken up with a cadre of in-your-face, elderly "snowbirds," while Bubble (Jane Horrocks) is out of the picture, busy with her new job at French Vogue. Pats and Eddy decide to vacation in Val d'sere, which, as with their earlier vacations in Absolutely Fabulous: France and Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco, turns out to be less welcoming than they'd hoped. While Pats takes up with a hunky ski instructor, Eddy has a near-death experience out on the slopes in which God appears to her in the form of Marianne Faithfull. Convinced she has been spared for some larger purpose, Eddy returns home to find that her mother's new friends have taken up residence in their camper van in the front drive. A more pressing concern arrives in the form of Saffy's engagement to Paolo; a meeting between the Monsoon clan and the mega-rich Carlo family goes poorly at first, but when Patsy realizes that Paolo's mother, Kalishia (Carmen Du Sautoy), is actually a former B-movie bimbo, the fearful society matron finds herself de-fanged. Soon life is a blur of wedding preparations, from fittings at Christian Lacroix's designer boutique to involuntary depilatory sessions forced on the hapless bride-to-be. The action climaxes at the ceremony itself, where the guests include a who's who of previous "AbFab" guest stars. Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout was originally broadcast as a two-part TV movie on BBC 1 in 1996, a year after the end of the third "AbFab" series. It would be the last installment until series four began in 2001. Former Shakespear's Sister member Marcella Detroit appears as God's angelic sidekick; the singer also contributed several songs to the soundtrack, including a new rendition of the show's unmistakable theme music, "This Wheel's on Fire." Nickey Clarke, Suzy Menkes, Bruce Oldfield, Christopher Biggins, and Lacroix appear as themselves. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

When his professional career hits a lull, an actor attempts to revitalize his career by staging a production of Hamlet, directed by and starring himself. Director and star Kenneth Branagh would in fact release his own film version of Shakespeare's classic play a year later, but this comedy provides his fictional counterpart with far less in terms of production value. Lacking money and time, he recruits a rather motley group of drunks, incompetents, and oddballs, including a middle-aged female impersonator in the crucial role of Queen Gertrude. Given only three weeks of rehearsal, and an abandoned church in a remote town in the English countryside, this unlikely group nevertheless struggles valiantly to make theatrical magic. The film attempts to pay loving tribute to the madness that surrounds the staging of a play, with all of the backstage dramas, inevitable disasters, and unexpected triumphs, but the end result is often less amusing than it ought to be. The film was released in the United States under the title A Midwinter's Tale. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Edina (Jennifer Saunders) moves into a commune but chafes at the paternalistic attitudes of the charlatans who run it; she spends her time impatiently waiting for her turn with "the talking stick," dejected over her separation from best friend Patsy (Joanna Lumley). Pats, meanwhile, finds that her well-worn fashion-world aphorisms don't fly in straight-talking New York. Professional ally Magda (Kathy Burke) sympathizes but offers no help, leaving Pats to the tender mercies of fashion barracudas Candy (Ruby Wax), Gina (Suzanne Bertish), and Sante (Sean Chapman). After chance encounters with a trio of transvestites and with Bo (Mo Gaffney) -- the sometime girlfriend of Eddy's ex-husband, Marshall -- Pats wanders up to the rooftop of the magazine to smoke and think. Suddenly a helicopter flies by, a familiar face waving from the passenger seat, and soon the world doesn't seem so terrible anymore. After the closing credits, a 25-years-later epilogue then provides a glimpse into the future exploits of Pats, Eddy, Gran, and Saffy. Originally broadcast on BBC1 on May 11, 1995, Absolutely Fabulous: The End marked series three, episode six of this popular Brit-com. The next installment would be the 1996 two-part TV movie Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout; regular episodes would not appear again until series four in 2001. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

At a posh public-relations awards show, Edina (Jennifer Saunders) guzzles champagne with Patsy (Joanna Lumley), bosses Bubble (Jane Horrocks) around, chats up supermodel Naomi Campbell, and prepares to take home a prize. She's beaten to the punch, however, by Claudia (Celia Imrie), her pretentious, politically correct professional arch nemesis. Commiserating later at home with Saffy (Julia Sawalha), Mother (June Whitfield), and Pats, Eddy reveals that she had rigged the awards in her own favor, thus rendering her defeat even more ignominious. Terrified that she'll lose her tenuous hold on her career, Edina creeps into Claudia's celebrity liposuction-a-thon in hopes of bagging Campbell for one of her own celebrity events. Later, at an industry luncheon, she loses her prepared remarks but gives a drunken speech anyway, slagging off the PR industry's parasitical piggy-backing on noble causes such as environmentalism. Eddy's rallying cry against doom-and-gloom marketing -- "Cheer up, because it might not bloody happen!" -- becomes a sensation, and soon she's bagging new clients right and left. Meanwhile, Saffy gets hot and heavy -- for her, anyway -- with Gerard (Simon Stokes), her college psychology lecturer. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on April 27, 1995, Absolutely Fabulous: Jealous marked series three, episode four of this popular Brit-com. Campbell guest-stars as herself in a send-up of the inane schemes to which hangers-on constantly subject the supermodel elite. Although she doesn't appear on camera, real-life singer Lulu, who is supposedly Edina's biggest client, can be heard announcing one of the PR awards. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

While Saffy Monsoon (Julia Sawalha) mourns the death of her grandfather, her mother, Edina (Jennifer Saunders), is too busy mourning the failure of her latest weight-loss program: a bizarre scheme in which she is slathered in mud and then mummified for several hours. Gran (June Whitfield) handles her husband's death with typical aplomb, but Eddy goes way over the edge as soon as she has time to ponder her own mortality. Filled with self-centered dread, she goes on an art shopping spree at a snooty gallery and then bristles as the guests at her father's wake mistake an expensive mobile for what it is: a set of coat hangers. Ex-husband Marshall (Christopher Ryan) and his new grief-counselor girlfriend, Sondra (Gwen Humble), try to cheer the family up, but when Sondra realizes there's a corpse in the house she completely freaks out. Eddy and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) freak out, too, getting rip-roaringly drunk as the rest of the funeral party proceeds to the cemetary. Waxing sentimental, Patsy begs Eddy to give her the house when she's gone, and Eddy agrees -- as long as Pats will accompany her to the graveyard. Unfortunately, neither woman is in any shape to navigate the rough boneyard terrain, and Mr. Monsoon's funeral ends much like any other family event: grotesquely. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on February 3, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Death marked series two, episode two of this popular Brit-com. Llewella Gideon reprises her role as the wise-cracking West Indian nurse who originally appeared in the previous episode, Absolutely Fabulous: Hospital. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This collection of skits from the fourth series of French & Saunders lives up to its title. Although the comedic duo takes aim at British culture, BBC TV, pop stars, and the Middle Ages, most of the material focuses on Hollywood parody. Dawn French takes on a pair of box-office villains as she pokes fun at Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs and Kathy Bates in Misery; partner Jennifer Saunders, meanwhile, essays the Jodie Foster and James Caan roles, respectively. French experiences the familiar progression from face-hugger to stomach-exploder in a send-up of Aliens that also features Kathy Burke standing in for Jenette Goldstein as Pvt. Vasquez. Thelma and Louise also gets the patented F&S treatment. Other sketches include faux music videos for the Mamas and the Papas, Guns N' Roses, and Shakespear's Sister; "Lucky Bitches," a parody of celebrity sisters Joan and Jackie Collins; and an elaborate re-creation of the historical soap House of Eliott, in which the show's original stars, Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard, appear. The DVD edition of French & Saunders: At the Movies also includes the duo's 1999 Christmas special French & Saunders: The Phantom Millennium, an elaborate parody of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Eddy (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) head to Marrakesh to team up for a photo shoot. It seems Patsy's magazine is going to run a spread featuring Pop-Specs, a trashy little product represented by Eddy's PR firm. When Saffy (Julia Sawalha) tags along, she quickly learns her mum has little on her mind but buying dirt-cheap housewares and hitting the hookah as hard as she can. During a decadent party with Uncle Humphrey (John Wells) -- a dirty-old-man friend of Eddy and Patsy who wants to perform sexual perversions on Saffy -- the girl learns that for a brief time many years ago, Patsy was a little confused about her gender identity. The next day, after a dip in the pool, the ladies go shopping and get separated from Saffy in an outdoor bazaar. Without her guidance, Eddy and Pats end up stranded in the wrong part of town, but as usual, Saffy saves the day. Back at their resort, the women resume their decadence -- even Saffy, who ironically gets the most out of her trip to Morocco. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on February 10, 1994, Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco marked series two, episode three of this popular Brit-com. The more over-the-top plot threads of episodes such as Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco divided fan opinion about the second series of "AbFab," with some viewers decrying the less naturalistic comedy and others embracing the show's new, more extreme brand of slapstick. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

The third series of French & Saunders, which originally aired on the BBC in 1990, produced the various clips assembled as French & Saunders: Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders. Gone With the Wind, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Exorcist, and Dangerous Liaisons provide fodder for Hollywood parodies, but much of the material focuses on original characters. Chat show hosts and pundits, cleaning ladies with attitude, women in prison -- Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders embody them all. Elsewhere, the duo aim their satiric sights at both the publishing and PR industries. Ladies' magazines and late-in-life hangers-on of Andy Warhol also get their due. There's also an opera documentary in which dueling divas belt out Kylie Minogue's "I Should Be So Lucky" and a feminine twist on the dirty-old-men characters who have been one of the show's staples from the beginning. "Modern Mother and Daughter," the sketch that provided the basis for Absolutely Fabulous, is included, with French originating the role that would be played by Julia Sawalha in the actual series. Sharp-eared viewers will catch a snippet of Inner City's Detroit techno classic "Good Life" in "Modern Mother"; sharp-eyed audiences, meanwhile, will notice that Eleanor Bron, who would go on to play Patsy's poetess mother in Absolutely Fabulous: Birth, appears as an over-the-top academic commentator in the Warhol segment. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Although she's trying to launch a new interior decorating venture, Eddy (Jennifer Saunders) decides to take a vacation in the French countryside with Patsy (Joanna Lumley). The pair become lost in Provence, then must suffer through their holiday in a second-class cottage, bored out of their minds. Unable to speak French -- or to find provisions in the nearby town -- they become convinced that the old Frenchman who keeps knocking on their door means no good. The terrified, hungry women soon summon Saffron (Julia Sawalha), who arrives with supplies and Bubble (Jane Horrocks) in tow. In the haze of long walks, table tennis, and cocktails, the dim-witted PA quickly forgets about the papers that Edina needs to sign in order to save her decorating scheme. When Bubble finally presents the papers to her employer, Edina loses it, rushing back to London just in time to get nabbed by customs for the suspicious white powder stashed in Patsy's purse. Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on November 26, 1992, Absolutely Fabulous: France marked series one, episode three of this popular Brit-com. Eddy and Pats would take several more holidays in subsequent installments, including Absolutely Fabulous: Morocco and Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

In this satirical British sitcom, which became a cult hit on American cable, a grotesquely self-centered fashion victim chain-smokes, swills champagne, abuses drugs, munches caviar, terrorizes her daughter, and tries in vain to mingle with the beautiful people -- all in the company of her sleek, slutty, boozed-up best friend. Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) (aka Pats and Eddy) are '60s survivors and fashion-world wannabes; Pats works for magazines, while Eddy owns a PR firm whose biggest client is '60s has-been Lulu, of "To Sir With Love" fame. These women live in a cloud of self-delusion about the supposed glamour of their London lifestyle, forever attempting to claw their way past the velvet rope. Pats inhabits the attic of a liquor-store franchise, while Eddy lives in a well-to-do flat thanks to the double alimony from her two ex-husbands, a gay antiques dealer and a recovering alcoholic. When she's not being horrible to her dowdy, unflappable teenaged daughter, Saffron (Julia Sawalha), and her oblivious, tongue-in-cheek mother (June Whitfield), Eddy stages fashion shows, jets off to photo shoots, pays charlatans to put her in touch with her inner child, and tries every weight-loss cure known to man -- except curbing her decadent lifestyle. Thanks to its shrill satire, over-the-top costumes, outrageous excess, and all-around camp appeal, Absolutely Fabulous became a pop-culture phenomenon that spawned two Sesame Street characters, a slew of slang expressions ("Sweetie darling, I'm chanting as we speak"), and even a Pet Shop Boys charity single. The actual theme song, sung by Julie Driscoll and Adrian Edmondson, is a cover of "This Wheel's on Fire," a '60s obscurity written by Bob Dylan and the Band's Rick Danko.

"AbFab," as it's known, began its life as a sketch called "Modern Mother and Daughter" on the BBC comedy show French & Saunders. Although frequent Saunders collaborator Dawn French played the daughter part in the original sketch, she bowed out in favor of half-Jordanian, half-British actress Sawalha, a Press Gang vet who was closer to the character's age. Patsy -- played like a coked-up Dynasty caricature by former Bond girl and New Avengers star Lumley -- wasn't a part of the original sketch but quickly became a favorite of drag queens everywhere. In addition to cameos from celebrities such as Helena Bonham Carter and Naomi Campbell, AbFab includes frequent appearances by Little Voice star Jane Horrocks (as Eddy's airhead assistant, Bubble) and Nil by Mouth star Kathy Burke (as straight-talking magazine editor Magda). Although one BBC development executive's reaction to the pilot was, "I don't think women being drunk is funny," a beeb secretary handed out tapes in secret to her friends, and soon the buzz about the show became deafening. The first series premiered on BBC1 on November 12, 1992, but didn't make its American bow until July 1994, when Comedy Central began airing perpetual reruns of the show. Three six-episode series were broadcast in the U.K. in 1992, 1994, and 1995, followed by a two-part TV movie, Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout, in November 1996. In 2000, as Saunders was working on a new program called Mirrorball that reunited much of the AbFab cast, she decided to switch gears and revisit her best-known characters in a fourth AbFab series, which began airing on August 31, 2001. Co-funded by Comedy Central, the new series began its U.S. run a few months later, on November 12, 2001. Although Roseanne purchased the rights to develop an American version of the show in 1994, the first international adaptation of the program to see the light of day was the 2001 French film Absolument Fabuleux. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Saffron (Julia Sawalha) meets at home with her fellow students to plan a school report while her mother, Edina (Jennifer Saunders), floats upstairs in the new aquatic isolation tank she's ordered from Los Angeles. This being Edina, of course, she doesn't brave the iso tank alone; best pal Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley) is also there, chain smoking as usual. After the gruesome twosome crash Saffy's study session to coo lasciviously at Danny (James Lance), an uncharacteristically cute new addition to the girl's nerdy social circle, Patsy heads off after the young lad. Edina then throws a typical tantrum in order to elicit an invitation to attend Saffy's presentation at the school. Threatening to adopt a Romanian baby if she doesn't get her way, Edina even goes so far as to phone her usually empty-headed personal assistant, Bubble (Jane Horrocks), who has become a crisp, efficient force of nature ever since meeting with an occupational hypnotist. When Bubble vanishes, leaving word that "the goods" from Romania are on their way, Eddy shrugs it off and heads for the school, which Saffy has graciously allowed her to visit. Whisked off for a school tour with the headmaster, Patsy and Eddy flash back to their own school days, when Eddy got Pats in trouble for getting it on with a male student named Tony (Tim Woodward). When the headmaster of Saffy's school turns out to be the very same Tony, the old flames get hot and heavy -- right in the classroom where Saffy is giving her presentation. Meanwhile, a woman from the adoption agency arrives, several dark-haired orphans in tow. But with all of this going on, who could that be floating in Eddy's isolation tank? Originally broadcast on BBC 1 on December 3, 1992, Absolutely Fabulous: Iso Tank marked series one, episode four of this popular Brit-com. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide