French & Saunders At the Movies
Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Bob Spiers
Written by Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders
Starring Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders

Features:

• Bonus special
  
• Trailers
  

Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Own Them.

From the ladies that brought you Absolutely Fabulous comes their first sketch comedy series for the BBC, which preceded and ultimately spawned AbFab. A partnership which began while the two were both students at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, they became friends, then flatmates, then writing and performing amigos, eventually creating the show from which these discs sprang.

In French & Saunders At the Movies nothing is sacred. Not one single thing. Not Shakespeare. Not the Alien movies. Not the 60s. Especially not men. And it’s hilarious. American television writers should take note. This is how sketch comedy should be done. The writing on this show is second to none. The parodies work on so many different levels, you really have to watch it several times just to catch all of the little nuances. With send-ups of everything from Misery to Silence of the Lambs, this collection of material is priceless.

As for Gentlemen Prefer French & Saunders, it takes on the usual spectrum of topics: the battle of the sexes, opera divas, Marilyn Monroe, early 90s pop music and so forth and so on. It also includes the original Absolutely Fabulous sketch, for those who want to go back to the source. Their parodies place themselves under the microscope just as much as their subject matter. They don't take themselves seriously at all. At any given point in any of the routines, there is they chance they'll pull themselves out of character and make fun of themselves doing the sketch. It just makes for wonderful comedy.

If these two discs did anything for me, besides make me blow milk out my nose, it really underlined how much American sketch comedy writers play down to their audiences. They assume that if they try to write something a little smart and witty, Joe Six-pack won't get it and thus change the channel. It really makes you wish American television took a few more risks with their programs.

When it comes to Bonus Material, on both DVDs it's just extra French & Saunders specials. Don’t get me wrong, for what it is, it’s hilarious, but that’s all there is. That's all except trailers for other BBC shows. I would have liked to have seen an interview with French & Saunders, some sort of behind the scenes montage, or at least some sort of background about the comedy duo themselves. A filmography. Or anything. But we are left with basically two shows per DVD.

That being said, you should still definitely check them out. They are worth looking at for the regular content alone.