You want to know about “Sex and the City: The Movie”? Here’s the bottom line: it’s going to be a very, very big hit.
I saw it on Saturday night at a private screening. Women wept, cheered. It’s the Neiman Marcus catalog on steroids.
The four female stars — not to mention
Chris Noth as Mr. Big,
David Eigenberg as Steve, and
Evan Handler as Harry — are the most appealing ensemble of the year.
In the end, the movie’s success rests on
Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie. She’s the team captain, which means that she’s not only narrating but guiding the plot. Looking radiant, and charming as ever, Parker couldn’t be better. She’s pithy and sexy. That’s some package.
I give a lot of credit to
Kim Cattrall, who gets the best lines and the funniest predicaments. She’s allowed her — and Samantha’s — true age to be written into the script. Bravo! Kim and Samantha are the hottest 50-year-olds around.
Cynthia Nixon, now a Tony Award winner since the show ended, remains a voice of reason as Miranda. She’s to this group what
Felicity Huffman is to Desperate Housewives, the calm at the center of the storm. (And Nixon not Cattrall, gets the most overt sex scene.).
Kristin Davis, whose Charlotte is pregnant throughout most of the movie, also is the comedy underdog. The eyes say it all. Charlotte has devilish underpinnings that surface at the best of times. And the little girl who plays her daughter is a real find.
Kudos also to director/writer
Michael Patrick King for writing a new character, Carrie’s assistant Louise, played by Oscar winner
Jennifer Hudson. This gives SATC its needed diversity. Hudson is ingratiating as ever, a welcome addition.
King’s first step was set the film up for those who might have never seen the series. Over the opening credits we see a few important clips from the show, just to establish the characters. And then, if that wasn’t enough, our narrator, Carrie Bradshaw, played by
Sarah Jessica Parker — she’s sort of Mary and Rhoda sewn into the same person — debriefs us succinctly about her friends, and we’re in.
I will not divulge any spoilers today even if you’ve seen them in trailers or promo pieces. Suffice to say the four women — Carrie, Miranda (
Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (
Kristin Davis), and Samantha (
Kim Cattrall) are doing fine since the last episode of the series. Charlotte’s married to Harry and they’ve adopted a little Chinese girl; Miranda is married to Steve, the father of her son, and living in Brooklyn; Samantha is bicoastal, managing the burgeoning career of Smith, her hot young lover; and Carrie is living with Mr. Big, who turns out to be named John James Preston.
With these stories known and in place, King proceeds to mix the deck and tell a bunch of interconnecting stories. In the process he’s done something quite interesting: he’s inadvertently written his own version of “The Women.” This is ironic since “The Women” is coming out this fall with
Meg Ryan and friends. But King has simply created his own version of the
Clare Booth Luce story for 2008. To say it works is an understatement.
But “SATC” is also not a pratfall comedy. It has nothing in common with “The Devil Wears Prada,” for example. While the caricatures in that film were hilarious, the people in “SATC” are drawn more seriously, perhaps more richly. Also, we know them and they know each other. They are not competing among themselves for anything. Rather, they are moving forward as a single organism with four personas, for survival.
What’s kind of interesting in “SATC” is that no villain is set up for the women to overcome. No one is standing in the way of each woman’s happiness except themselves. I kind of liked that. The formula is gone. Carrie is not vying for Big’s attention with a rival. Samantha is not shooing off Smith’s girlfriends. The problems are in the relationships, not outside of them. It’s refreshing.
No, “Sex and the City” may not be for everyone. Straight guys are likely only to see this film under pain of death from their significant others. Me, I got lost during the first fashion montage of clothes that would have made “Dynasty” look modest.
Indeed, “Sex and the City” is at least partly fueled by its product placements and the sense that everyone in New York is fabulously and mysteriously rich. The dizzying sense of wealth is seen everywhere, but most especially in the non stop clothes, jewelry and furniture sported by the four main characters.
But don’t be worried by all the upscale affluence and opulence. King very smartly has anticipated the current economic mood in this country. There’s a subtle surprise in the third act that addresses it.
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I can't wait to see this movie!
Sex and the City: first review (no spoilers)
I'm thinking of going by myself, but it would be depressing to see a bunch of women with their friends enjoying the movie together. I can also relate to the characters~I think I'm more like Miranda than the other characters, except I love fashion way more than she does. 
And I totally agree with Carrie and her fashion sense. I drool over her amazing shoes, but some of her outfits made me laugh.
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