Absolutely Fabulous - Complete Series 5 (2003) Starring Benjamin Soames Directed by Tristram Shapeero, Dewi Humphreys, Bob Spiers, 240 minutes,
5.5/10 (66 votes)
About the Movie: Few things are as addictive as the addictive personalities of Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley), two middle-aged hipsters wallowing in clothes, booze, pills, glamour, celebrity, and anything else their excessive appetites demand. The fifth series of Absolutely Fabulous finds Edina coping with the unexpected pregnancy of her long-suffering daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha) and the departure of all of her PR clients except for Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton (playing herself with good humor). Every episode chronicles some ridiculous new obsession--Edina gets a panic room (and promptly traps herself inside of it); Patsy rediscovers a bunch of tawdry stag films she starred in and proclaims them works of high camp; the two kidnap Saffron's baby for a fashion shoot with Jean-Paul Gaultier. Saunders and Lumley fuse the ruthless social satire of Molière with the lowbrow physical high jinks of the Three Stooges, ably supported by Sawalha, Jane Horrocks (as Edina's dimwitted assistant Bubble and scheming narcissist Katy Grin), and a host of guest stars like Minnie Driver (in a razor-sharp self-parody), Kristin Scott-Thomas, Elton John, and more. Truly one of the gems of British sitcoms; sheer brilliance. --Bret Fetzer
