Running time: 145 mins
Dir: Michael Patrick King
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon
Rating: 2/5
Get set ladies, it's your time. Come hell or high heels, four lovely television ladies have managed to make it to the big screen, followed closely by their mania for men and designer labels. Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha make the transition from HBO to DVD. Unfortunately, the transition is less than smooth.
The HBO series Sex and the City, based on Candance Bushnell's book of the same name, broke revolutionary ground when it first appeared. These four whip-smart sassy women, with their shared obsessions for designer wear and the ever elusive quest for the right relationship, rose to superstardom when their shared plights struck a chord with millions of women across the world. They acted crass, behaved even worse, and did everything that, traditionally, men do. The series was smart, witty and even funny, with just the right amount of smaltz. The movie takes all of this and butchers it.
The movie picks up where the series left off, with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) falling back into Mr Big's (Chris Noth) arms. This time around, Mr Big proposes and unleashes a monster. Carrie, on full-on spend mode, prances around from boutique to boutique, trying out dresses, clothes and god-knows what else. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is in a catastrophic relationship with hubby Steve, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is in marital bliss with Harry and has adopted a daughter while Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is still man-hungry, and has moved to LA to be with her lover.
Director Michael Patrick King, who also wrote the movie, has taken pains to keep the movie together, and it shows at times. Fans of the series might appreciate and marvel at the effort but newcomers and those apathetic, will find it a chore to sit through the entire two and a half hours. The women get annoying, the clothes too flashy and the plot boring. The film drags its feet, moving from montage to montage, more of a showcase for designer clothes than a movie with a respectable plot and directive.
It seems tv shows don't really translate well into film, and neither do the actors. Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon give passable performances but Kim Cattrall stretches it, and doesn't get quite there. Even Sarah Jessica Parker, who has done enough films before, is quite horrible. There is little to appreciate in terms of acting. The men have no roles, either they stand there or they lie there. It almost seems like director King has purposely deleted all male lines in order to focus fully on the women. But it would be nice to know what exactly it is about the men that attract these women, apart from their looks. There is no insight into these other halves.
To be frank,unlike the old series, I found little to keep me occupied throughout the film. It all seemed a little too overdone, a little too fake. The film was a bore, while the few episodes of the series that I've seen were at least entertaining. Sex and the City created a phenomenon back in the day, a fantasy world where all you needed to get over bad breakups were high heels and friends. Women lost themselves in that world but the movie, sadly, tries too hard. There's something desperate about the film, as if trying to rekindle the glory days but failing even to strike a spark.
