Bette Midler Returns to What She Does Best in ‘The Fabulous Four’

Bleecker Street ‘s new comedy “ The Fabulous Four ” finds Bette Midler doing what she does best: broad comedy with a touch of poignancy peeking out from just beneath the surface. It’s a quality that characterizes many of Midler’s most memorable performances in films like “ The First Wives Club ,” “Down and Out in Beverly Hills,” and “That Old Feeling,” and according to Midler, it’s been part of her approach since the beginning. “When I worked live, starting from the time I was 19, I was very much aware of the melancholy underneath certain kinds of scenes,” Midler told IndieWire in a recent interview.

“There’s a musical term for it: contrapuntal. ‘Miss M’ is loud and boisterous on the outside, but there’s an undercurrent of despair because it’s very hard to be a human being.” In “ The Fabulous Four ,” Midler plays a widow who surprises her friends (played by Sheryl Lee Ralph, Susan Sarandon, and Megan Mullally) with the news that she’s getting married once again.

When the friends convene in Key West to serve as bridesmaids, past resentments (like the fact that Midler’s character stole the love of Sarandon’s life and married him) reemerge alongside a series of cheerfully silly comic set pieces, like an inevitable trip to a male strip club and a parasailing excursion that goes awry. As orchestrated by director Jocelyn Moorhouse , the situations provide plenty of opportunities to luxuriate in Midler and her costars’ exuberance.