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| Dedra Cordle |
What caters to women, has relationship advice and sob stories, plugs designer clothing and accessories and is often time consuming?
The correct answer is the "Sex and the City" movie.
Four years after the hit HBO series ended, executive producer Michael Patrick King announced they were making a "Sex and the City" continuation and two things passed through my mind – goodie! and why?
I was excited about seeing our fabulous foursome again, but wondered why they walked away from the series, then later on decided to make a movie when it was clear they didn’t want to do the television show any longer. The series wasn’t canceled by HBO executives, and there weren’t any cliffhangers or real unanswered questions, so I guess they made this movie just to line their pocketbooks. (No issue with that one.)
Let’s do a recap of what happened when the series ended. Working woman Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) was married to bartender Steve (David Eigenberg) and moved to Brooklyn with their son. Charlotte (Kristen Davis) married her second husband Harry (Evan Handler) and because of conception problems, decided to adopt a Chinese girl. Frisky Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) did the unthinkable and committed to a monogamous relationship with hunky actor Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) and columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) finally got Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
Even though that was four years ago, the movie starts just like that. Yes, there are changes, such as Miranda and Steve having marital problems and Samantha is trying not to slip into old habits with an Italian neighbor, but our main couple is happily living in unmarried bliss.
That is until Mr. Big proposes to Carrie. With the way those two were in the series, the phrase Murphy’s Law (whatever can go wrong, will go wrong) comes to mind.
A personal tragedy happens, (and it wasn’t surprising) and the girls whisk Carrie away to Mexico to get her head back on straight. Only two things bring her back to life: Charlotte’s bout of bathroom problems, which is the funniest part of the two and a half hour movie, and the introduction of personal assistant Louise (Jennifer Hudson).
Louise is charming, but doesn’t add much to the movie except designer handbags and possibly being the key to helping Carrie get her life on track.
However great it was seeing the quartet again (and especially Samantha, my favorite character), it felt more like flipping through a fashion magazine than watching a movie.
Fashion has always been a staple of "Sex and the City," but there was so much product placement it reminded me of watching "Transformers" with those close ups of GMC trucks. We’re treated to something much prettier, but it’s still annoying and border line revolting. I say border line because that first Vera Wang dress Carrie tries on for a wedding fashion shoot at Vogue is simply divine. It was this crisp white colored silk dress, with a long ruffled train…I think in those fashion scenes there must have been some subliminal messaging going on there because I so wanted that one.
Alas, beautiful mind warping clothing does not make "Sex and the City" a better movie, just prettier. While it doesn’t forget the core of the series, which is the everlasting friendship between those four women, it just reminds me that instead of this movie, they could have had another season, which is what true fans of the show really wanted.
I gave this film a B.
Dedra Cordle is a Messenger staff writer.
