524 reviews
It has been a while since I watched the original series so when the movie started I found it cute and nice seeing these characters that I liked back together again.
And there interactions at the start are the movie keep it entertaining but when you head into the plot that's where things come off the rails.
I don't understand the plot and I think that is an issue. I won't go into spoilers but it just seems so strange that they decided that this is what they would do.
I also find that this movie doesn't work as these characters have already reached their original ending if you get what I mean.
Charlotte has a baby, Carrie and Big are together, Miranda has her family and Samantha sound someone she could be with. This all happens at the end of the show because that is the end of the story for these characters. This can sometimes seem forced for lack of a better word.
The jokes are also very 90s cheesy sitcom jokes too. But some people like that.
So I would say watch it if you are a fan of the show but be prepared to be disappointed by some decisions, I think you'll enjoy it for the most part.
And there interactions at the start are the movie keep it entertaining but when you head into the plot that's where things come off the rails.
I don't understand the plot and I think that is an issue. I won't go into spoilers but it just seems so strange that they decided that this is what they would do.
I also find that this movie doesn't work as these characters have already reached their original ending if you get what I mean.
Charlotte has a baby, Carrie and Big are together, Miranda has her family and Samantha sound someone she could be with. This all happens at the end of the show because that is the end of the story for these characters. This can sometimes seem forced for lack of a better word.
The jokes are also very 90s cheesy sitcom jokes too. But some people like that.
So I would say watch it if you are a fan of the show but be prepared to be disappointed by some decisions, I think you'll enjoy it for the most part.
The queens of NYC are back in spectacular fashion. Is it Oscar worthy? No, but it doesn't need to be. The storyline is on brand for the emotional chaos that was the series, I would expect nothing less. I love the display of friendship and kindness that the women show to each other in this film.
- Calicodreamin
- Jan 11, 2021
- Permalink
Let me preface this review by saying I have never seen any of the show or had any previous knowledge of this franchise. While this is not a film I would normally watch, my wife wanted to watch this and I was skeptical going in. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was easy to jump in, 10 years of storytelling missed, and still easily got invested in each character. With a simple love story plot, my only complaint is that it is dragged out and begins to feel like multiple TV episodes stitched together, rather than a full film. All of the actresses are very well into their character and the bond they have feels genuine and they make it a delightful time. Did it convince me to go back and catch up? No, but it was a fun 2 1/2 hours spent and can easily be enjoyed by fans and newbies.
- DQGladstone
- Oct 2, 2009
- Permalink
Let me just start with I love the SATC show, and I like this movie. The show is obviously better than the movie. The movie has a slightly different tone, is more colorful and doesn't have the same great writing as the show. This movie almost seems like it's a short, final season of the show made a few years later than the original seasons wrapped.
However, there is a lot to enjoy here. It's fun seing the girls back and all the characters. The chemistry between the girls is as strong as ever, and there's plenty of comedy. The story though is quite thin for a movie this long, so after 2h you might be more than ready for it to end. The focus put into fashion compared to the show is a little ridiculous. Fashion was more of a backdrop to the story on the show, while in this movie it's such a big part. They could honestly call it fashion and the city. The times the women are in luxury stores just hanging out and shopping, walk around carrying 5-10 bags from luxury boutiques is insane. The one scene were Samantha walked out of Chanel (I believe it was) in BH with a bunch of men carrying the bags into her already luxury bag filled trunk was just beyond stupid, it looked like it was a campy dream sequence. It's obvious that every designer wanted their clothes, purses and shoes wanted in on the movie, but this was just way too much.
All that said... it's enjoyable enough to make time go by on a plane or for a girl's night, and it will make you laugh plenty because the actors are still very good and funny, even if the writing is lacking. But I do believe they should have wrapped the saga her, because the ending is the perfect conclusion. The second movie is just BAD and unecessary, and don't even get me started on And Just Like That, or as I call it: Woke And The City.
However, there is a lot to enjoy here. It's fun seing the girls back and all the characters. The chemistry between the girls is as strong as ever, and there's plenty of comedy. The story though is quite thin for a movie this long, so after 2h you might be more than ready for it to end. The focus put into fashion compared to the show is a little ridiculous. Fashion was more of a backdrop to the story on the show, while in this movie it's such a big part. They could honestly call it fashion and the city. The times the women are in luxury stores just hanging out and shopping, walk around carrying 5-10 bags from luxury boutiques is insane. The one scene were Samantha walked out of Chanel (I believe it was) in BH with a bunch of men carrying the bags into her already luxury bag filled trunk was just beyond stupid, it looked like it was a campy dream sequence. It's obvious that every designer wanted their clothes, purses and shoes wanted in on the movie, but this was just way too much.
All that said... it's enjoyable enough to make time go by on a plane or for a girl's night, and it will make you laugh plenty because the actors are still very good and funny, even if the writing is lacking. But I do believe they should have wrapped the saga her, because the ending is the perfect conclusion. The second movie is just BAD and unecessary, and don't even get me started on And Just Like That, or as I call it: Woke And The City.
TV to film is a tough transition. With TV, you get much more time to develop characters and it relies much more on character interactions and situations to keep the viewer engaged. With film, it tends to be more plot driven and the episodic nature of TV doesn't always go well on a huge screen for some reason.
Sex and the City's transition from TV to big screen is a little bit bumpy (as expected), but it's not the disaster it could (and maybe should) have been.
It picks up where the series ended and sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw has finally nabbed her prince charming affectionately named Mr. Big. She finally decides to move into his place and sell her old brownstone as they prepare to get married. Disaster hits during the wedding and the rest of the film could be called "How Carrie Got Her Groove Back."
Sex and the City is a bit overlong at well over two hours, but the cast is as committed as ever and they do still feel like the people we got to know and love over several seasons of the TV show. There are some good laughs and even some attempts at real drama. Some of these moments work better than others, but it's hard to say that Sex and the City is ever boring. It's lost a bit of its luster during the transition, but if we're being honest, the last few seasons of the show had lost a little of that luster, too.
Sex and the City's transition from TV to big screen is a little bit bumpy (as expected), but it's not the disaster it could (and maybe should) have been.
It picks up where the series ended and sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw has finally nabbed her prince charming affectionately named Mr. Big. She finally decides to move into his place and sell her old brownstone as they prepare to get married. Disaster hits during the wedding and the rest of the film could be called "How Carrie Got Her Groove Back."
Sex and the City is a bit overlong at well over two hours, but the cast is as committed as ever and they do still feel like the people we got to know and love over several seasons of the TV show. There are some good laughs and even some attempts at real drama. Some of these moments work better than others, but it's hard to say that Sex and the City is ever boring. It's lost a bit of its luster during the transition, but if we're being honest, the last few seasons of the show had lost a little of that luster, too.
- amandagellar-31077
- Jul 24, 2019
- Permalink
'Sex and the City,' based on the hilarious, poignant HBO comedy series of the same name, is grossly insulting. In a strong divorce from the series, the movie picks up five years after the series finale - where we find out that each one of the characters have become vapid, soulless versions of their former selves. Now, writer Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), and her friends Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), and Charlotte Goldenblatt (Kristen Davis) walk around New York obsessing over shoes, handbags, and love.
Carrie Bradshaw was, at the end of the show, an independent woman - not the needy girl she started out as. The movie turns it's back on Carrie's development as a character, shaping her into the stock romcom lead. Think Katherine Heigl with no charm. She is now painfully unfunny, shallow, and quite possibly retarded. She spends the first half the film setting herself up to have the man whom supposedly loves her jilt her - which he does. The second half of the film, Carrie spends complaining about literally everything, dying her hair brown, and discussing bags and love with a painfully useless, annoying Jennifer Hudson, as Carrie's new assistant Louise from Saint Louis.
CARRIE: "Louise from Saint Louis. Oh you brought me back to life." LOUISE: "And you gave me, Louise Vuitton."
Yes the writer of "The Real Me" and "A Woman's Right To Shoes" actually wrote this garbage.
Lawyer Miranda is now a frigid shrew who swats her deadbeat husband away like a fly every time he tries to get near her - and spends the entire 2.5 hours complaining about how marriage changed her, it made her move to Brooklyn. She is no longer likable, funny, or smart.
Meanwhile, housewife Charlotte spends the 2.5 hours prancing around like a little girl, screaming at the top of her lungs, and carrying her confused, Asian daughter around like a dog in a handbag. The problem with continuing Charlotte's storyline on the show is her storyline came to the only logical conclusion it could have had at the end of the show. Now, it' just a retread through old territory. Davis is ultimately given a thankless role in this film.
However, it is Samantha who is given the most honest adaptation. While certainly a cartoon version of her former self, Samantha's story revolves around her inability to maintain a monogamous relationship - despite being very much in love. However the payoff is ultimately ruined as Samantha is no longer human.
This incarnation of 'Sex' is so incredibly shallow - it basically acts a prop to advertise luxury goods. The most obvious scenes to illustrate this are when Carrie tries on designer wedding dresses for a Vogue shoot, which goes on for an excruciating 10 minutes, followed closely by Carrie and co. going through her closet trying to decide what to take to her new apartment with husband-to-be Big (Chris Noth). The scene is ultimately pointless as she is moving to a closet that is 10 times to the size - which, if you can imagine it - is actually a plot point in a film that will make you feel compelled to throw out every designer label you own. The show was about the importance of following your own trajectory, and self actualization. The film abandons this concept.
Carrie Bradshaw was, at the end of the show, an independent woman - not the needy girl she started out as. The movie turns it's back on Carrie's development as a character, shaping her into the stock romcom lead. Think Katherine Heigl with no charm. She is now painfully unfunny, shallow, and quite possibly retarded. She spends the first half the film setting herself up to have the man whom supposedly loves her jilt her - which he does. The second half of the film, Carrie spends complaining about literally everything, dying her hair brown, and discussing bags and love with a painfully useless, annoying Jennifer Hudson, as Carrie's new assistant Louise from Saint Louis.
CARRIE: "Louise from Saint Louis. Oh you brought me back to life." LOUISE: "And you gave me, Louise Vuitton."
Yes the writer of "The Real Me" and "A Woman's Right To Shoes" actually wrote this garbage.
Lawyer Miranda is now a frigid shrew who swats her deadbeat husband away like a fly every time he tries to get near her - and spends the entire 2.5 hours complaining about how marriage changed her, it made her move to Brooklyn. She is no longer likable, funny, or smart.
Meanwhile, housewife Charlotte spends the 2.5 hours prancing around like a little girl, screaming at the top of her lungs, and carrying her confused, Asian daughter around like a dog in a handbag. The problem with continuing Charlotte's storyline on the show is her storyline came to the only logical conclusion it could have had at the end of the show. Now, it' just a retread through old territory. Davis is ultimately given a thankless role in this film.
However, it is Samantha who is given the most honest adaptation. While certainly a cartoon version of her former self, Samantha's story revolves around her inability to maintain a monogamous relationship - despite being very much in love. However the payoff is ultimately ruined as Samantha is no longer human.
This incarnation of 'Sex' is so incredibly shallow - it basically acts a prop to advertise luxury goods. The most obvious scenes to illustrate this are when Carrie tries on designer wedding dresses for a Vogue shoot, which goes on for an excruciating 10 minutes, followed closely by Carrie and co. going through her closet trying to decide what to take to her new apartment with husband-to-be Big (Chris Noth). The scene is ultimately pointless as she is moving to a closet that is 10 times to the size - which, if you can imagine it - is actually a plot point in a film that will make you feel compelled to throw out every designer label you own. The show was about the importance of following your own trajectory, and self actualization. The film abandons this concept.
- ithinkimdeck
- Dec 18, 2013
- Permalink
Wow, what can I say? I think that they definitely pulled this movie off! Being a huge fan of the television show, I was eager to see how it would transfer onto the big screen. And I was not disappointed. It was fresh and funny, the characters I remembered and loved were amazing as ever. It was savvy, stylish and of course, sexy. People complain that when television shows are made into a movie, it will just be a longer version of an episode of the television show. But I do not think this is the case with Sex and the City: The Movie. The plot is very well done (although still a secret, sorry) and lose ends and questions are tied. I felt this movie was very satisfying and witty. I could never expect a masterpiece when a movie is based on a television show, but I felt that the movie lived up to expectations; fashionable, incredibly witty and of course, crude as ever.
Being a fan of the series for years, I had pretty high expectations for this film. I was not disappointed by what I saw, and most other SATC fans I've talked to agree with me.
The film jumps ahead 3 years in the characters' lives, and then intertwines the stories of the four women throughout the course of a year, as they each come to terms with the ending they found at the series' completion. I liked this approach, because it demonstrated the longevity (or lack thereof) of the happy endings the characters attained.
The girls are translated well into film--I didn't feel like any of the 4 was rewritten or misrepresented from her role on the show. The male counterparts were all present--Big, Steve, Harry, Smith, Stanford, etc. The movie doesn't spend as much time on them as they do the trials of the female characters, naturally, and no relationship is depicted as closely as Carrie and Big's.
I found the plot to be compelling and heartfelt and the female characters just as flawed and human and funny as they'd always been. And, of course, it wouldn't be SATC without the staples of designer bags and shoes, classic cocktails, and of course, a splash of nudity.
The film jumps ahead 3 years in the characters' lives, and then intertwines the stories of the four women throughout the course of a year, as they each come to terms with the ending they found at the series' completion. I liked this approach, because it demonstrated the longevity (or lack thereof) of the happy endings the characters attained.
The girls are translated well into film--I didn't feel like any of the 4 was rewritten or misrepresented from her role on the show. The male counterparts were all present--Big, Steve, Harry, Smith, Stanford, etc. The movie doesn't spend as much time on them as they do the trials of the female characters, naturally, and no relationship is depicted as closely as Carrie and Big's.
I found the plot to be compelling and heartfelt and the female characters just as flawed and human and funny as they'd always been. And, of course, it wouldn't be SATC without the staples of designer bags and shoes, classic cocktails, and of course, a splash of nudity.
- liisatherockstar
- May 26, 2008
- Permalink
- JonathanWalford
- May 30, 2008
- Permalink
I am a big fan of the show. I am one of those people who have seen every episode at least 4 times, and some of them around 10 times. Even so, I still watch the reruns, and I was really looking forward to the movie.
So, it is really upsetting that I have to give it such a bad review. I went to see it with the best of intentions. I really wanted to love it. Unfortunately the movie has nothing to do with the wittiness and character of the series. Even putting aside the wooden and/or exaggerated acting, you fail to recognize the characters who where transformed into caricatures, pathetic versions of themselves.
There were very very few lines that gave a glimpse of the old clever dialog, and they all got lost in a mass of cheesy lines about love and friendship that you even rarely anymore encounter in the corniest of Hollywood's chick flicks, and toiler humor that you only expect from movies like Harold and Kumar. OK, maybe the comparison to Harold and Kumar is a little unfair, but really I had never expected Sex and the City to rely on fart jokes for comic relief.
People comment that those who rate this movie badly are either men, or just not fans of the show. From my perspective the fans of the show should be the ones most disappointed by the travesty that was this film.
We grew to love the show because of its honesty towards sexual issues, its shocking but clever dialog, and its characters who, however unreal with their designer obsessions, uncontrollable spending and lack of real jobs, remained true to their personas regarding sex, relationships, commitment, independence.
The show was about sex. The movie is about love, and treats the subject from the weakest, corniest and most disappointing standpoint.
This movie is a fake Fendi. Dropping 15 designer names in one sentence, showing bulging men's underpants and orgasming at the sight of huge closets, Sex and the City does not make.
As for me, I will keep watching the reruns and pretend this movie never happened.
So, it is really upsetting that I have to give it such a bad review. I went to see it with the best of intentions. I really wanted to love it. Unfortunately the movie has nothing to do with the wittiness and character of the series. Even putting aside the wooden and/or exaggerated acting, you fail to recognize the characters who where transformed into caricatures, pathetic versions of themselves.
There were very very few lines that gave a glimpse of the old clever dialog, and they all got lost in a mass of cheesy lines about love and friendship that you even rarely anymore encounter in the corniest of Hollywood's chick flicks, and toiler humor that you only expect from movies like Harold and Kumar. OK, maybe the comparison to Harold and Kumar is a little unfair, but really I had never expected Sex and the City to rely on fart jokes for comic relief.
People comment that those who rate this movie badly are either men, or just not fans of the show. From my perspective the fans of the show should be the ones most disappointed by the travesty that was this film.
We grew to love the show because of its honesty towards sexual issues, its shocking but clever dialog, and its characters who, however unreal with their designer obsessions, uncontrollable spending and lack of real jobs, remained true to their personas regarding sex, relationships, commitment, independence.
The show was about sex. The movie is about love, and treats the subject from the weakest, corniest and most disappointing standpoint.
This movie is a fake Fendi. Dropping 15 designer names in one sentence, showing bulging men's underpants and orgasming at the sight of huge closets, Sex and the City does not make.
As for me, I will keep watching the reruns and pretend this movie never happened.
...or at least try to be original?
Saying that "Sex and the City: The Movie" is just for the fans is unnecessary (like it was made for another audience, right?). Who else except die hard fans of the show will be crazy for this movie?
Is it predictable? Yes. Is it just a longer episode of the TV show? Yes. Is it funny? Depends. If you like the show, you'll laugh; if you don't, you won't. Simple as that.
It doesn't try or pretend to be art-house material or an Oscar contender (except for the costume design, of course), but it's definitely good entertainment and a pleasant couple of hours with buttery popcorn and a Red Bull. 7/10.
Saying that "Sex and the City: The Movie" is just for the fans is unnecessary (like it was made for another audience, right?). Who else except die hard fans of the show will be crazy for this movie?
Is it predictable? Yes. Is it just a longer episode of the TV show? Yes. Is it funny? Depends. If you like the show, you'll laugh; if you don't, you won't. Simple as that.
It doesn't try or pretend to be art-house material or an Oscar contender (except for the costume design, of course), but it's definitely good entertainment and a pleasant couple of hours with buttery popcorn and a Red Bull. 7/10.
- Benedict_Cumberbatch
- May 29, 2008
- Permalink
- vickypollardsbestmat-1
- Jun 2, 2008
- Permalink
Let me preface this by saying that I am a straight female who has been a fan of the SATC series since its second season. I have every episode on DVD and have honestly seen every episode at least 5 times, including the commentaries by Michael Patrick King. That said, I could not be more disappointed in the film. To say that this movie was for fans of the series is insulting in my opinion because where the series had heart, depth and some intelligence, the movie had labels, poop jokes and lame choices by the characters.
First of all, yes, Carrie Bradshaw is the main character, but could the other 3 women have been treating any more cavalierly? The "plot lines", if you can call them that, for the other characters seemed to be thrown into the mix just to give them something to do while Carrie ran around town, changing outfits and hair colors to the delighted shrieks of 15 year old fans. I can only imagine that was the audience the film wanted to capture because expecting grown women to follow this crap is insanity.
Secondly, the ending of the film made me completely lose respect for Carrie. I cannot imagine an emotionally healthy 41 year old woman making the same choice she made. I think she needs intensive therapy because she is obviously a masochist who values the ability to purchase brand name couture more than her own happiness. And if the ability to buy couture is what makes her really happy, well, then, the 15 year old target audience should be thrilled.
That said, I probably will see the sequel. I'm hoping they bring in more writers from the series to add some of the emotional oomph that this movie painfully lacked. *sigh* I just can't seem to quit SATC.
First of all, yes, Carrie Bradshaw is the main character, but could the other 3 women have been treating any more cavalierly? The "plot lines", if you can call them that, for the other characters seemed to be thrown into the mix just to give them something to do while Carrie ran around town, changing outfits and hair colors to the delighted shrieks of 15 year old fans. I can only imagine that was the audience the film wanted to capture because expecting grown women to follow this crap is insanity.
Secondly, the ending of the film made me completely lose respect for Carrie. I cannot imagine an emotionally healthy 41 year old woman making the same choice she made. I think she needs intensive therapy because she is obviously a masochist who values the ability to purchase brand name couture more than her own happiness. And if the ability to buy couture is what makes her really happy, well, then, the 15 year old target audience should be thrilled.
That said, I probably will see the sequel. I'm hoping they bring in more writers from the series to add some of the emotional oomph that this movie painfully lacked. *sigh* I just can't seem to quit SATC.
I thought, this is a sure-fire winner - the series was brilliant: funny, romantic, insightful, and we were left wanting more - ergo... great movie. What I got instead was sappy, uninspired writing; I actually rolled my eyes a couple of times, and I love chick flicks! These characters would never utter some of those lines. After developing such strong characters over the course of the series, someone fell asleep behind the wheel and completely short changed the viewers.
Also, the movie is messy, trying to cram way too much into the alloted time, ending up with shallow plots all the way through. The only character plot line I believed was Samantha's. I missed the men in this movie, someone sucked the very life out of them. And finally, Jennifer Hudson's role could be neatly snipped out of the movie without it making a difference. I love her, but the role as written is way too cliché'd for even a fine actor like herself to make any sense out of.
Saving graces: Kim Cattrall's performance and delivery, the fashion and the moments between the girls.
Also, the movie is messy, trying to cram way too much into the alloted time, ending up with shallow plots all the way through. The only character plot line I believed was Samantha's. I missed the men in this movie, someone sucked the very life out of them. And finally, Jennifer Hudson's role could be neatly snipped out of the movie without it making a difference. I love her, but the role as written is way too cliché'd for even a fine actor like herself to make any sense out of.
Saving graces: Kim Cattrall's performance and delivery, the fashion and the moments between the girls.
- Darkweasel
- Sep 17, 2008
- Permalink
- rubigirlsmovie
- May 12, 2008
- Permalink
Cute enough for an evening's mindless entertainment, but exactly that and not a penny more. Put aside any thought you might have about not caring a great deal about what happens to a group of rich, superficial white women who (you are told) are actually very smart and talented but who (you are shown) are silly twits (not to use a different vowel) whose exclusive joy in life comes from sex and shopping, and not in that order. I know, I know; we're supposed to believe this is all about love (and the search for same), but it isn't; love is secondary. We're supposed to believe it's about solidarity among a group of women friends and it is, but that's more-or-less an accident. It's really about consuming clothes, purses, shoes and other human beings. The introduction of Jennifer Hudson (who tries really hard not to be appalled by the level of minstrel-show tokenism her presence represents) as Carrie's personal assistant is so painful and so blatant an attempt to give a tiny bit of color to the TV series' snow-blinding whiteness that you can't help but be embarrassed for absolutely everyone. Here's another film in which women are stand-ins for what is essentially a gay-male fantasy about women (an art form that George Cukor pioneered in 1939 with _The Women_) Take your brain out and store it in Tupperware for the evening; _Sex and the City_ will make you smile, but not laugh out loud. If you spend a minute thinking about it, though, all it's going to do is make you mad.
Since any opinion on this movie has to be tempered by sex and viewing history let me just make it clear up front that I am a man and, while I don't dislike the series, I didn't ever get into it beyond watching (and enjoying) the odd episode that someone else was watching in the same room as I was sitting. Please feel free to dismiss/accept my opinions accordingly in light of this information. My first proper reaction to the Sex & the City movie was to baulk at the running time, which struck me as pretty excessive for what it was. I was right on this as the film is longer than it probably deserves to be but at the same time it never dragged as badly as I expected. The characters are older now and, after the series ended, all partnered up to a certain degree and "happy" in their relationships. Carrie and Big have settled into a new flat and this has made Carrie think about commitment and legal connections a path that leads to them deciding to get married. While Big gets nervous, Carrie goes planning crazy, Miranda sows the seeds of problems in her own marriage, Charlotte plays happy families and Samantha has it all except one thing.
This plot setup creates the focus of the film less on the free-wheeling sex and modern relationships of the series and more on the pitfalls of a mature relationship. This offered more substance to carry the film from my point of view but unfortunately this was not to be the case here. For too much of the film the material is superficial and sentimental with "love" not ever being all that real and instead smacking of easy steps in the writing that focused on events rather than the characters. Fans may say that the show was never about great depths and, in my limited experience, I agree it was witty, light and bubbly. The problem is that, the occasional moment aside, the film just isn't that way understandably perhaps given the narrative demands of the platform and the running time. Problem is, without the witty swiftness of the series, something else is required and this is why the substance was important and why the film is damaged by the lack of depth on this occasion.
This doesn't make a bad film but it does severely limit it to being "average" in the main content. What doesn't help at this time of recession (and the film was released during this period) is just how endlessly capitalist the whole thing. The audience needs to care for these characters and that is a little difficult when money is no object for them, retail therapy solves everything and so much dialogue is about expensive items. To top all that, given how easy it is to get product placement into a film about shopping why on earth did we have to have such clumsy and obvious product placement (the iPhone being the worst example). The cast do their usual shtick and all look good and play comfortably with their characters. Some reviews have criticised the four actresses but the material is to blame rather than them. The male cast are mainly just narrative devices and, with the exception of Eigenberg and possibly Noth.
The Sex and the City film is an average film with lots of problems. Generally this opinion is dismissed if it comes from a male non-fan but I cannot imagine that fans of the series are totally happy with this either. It doesn't manage to capture the spirit of the series but nor does it manage to replace it with anything else of note in regards depth or substance. It is glossy and professional enough to distract but if the plan was to continue the series through the occasional film then this is a pretty poor way to start off.
This plot setup creates the focus of the film less on the free-wheeling sex and modern relationships of the series and more on the pitfalls of a mature relationship. This offered more substance to carry the film from my point of view but unfortunately this was not to be the case here. For too much of the film the material is superficial and sentimental with "love" not ever being all that real and instead smacking of easy steps in the writing that focused on events rather than the characters. Fans may say that the show was never about great depths and, in my limited experience, I agree it was witty, light and bubbly. The problem is that, the occasional moment aside, the film just isn't that way understandably perhaps given the narrative demands of the platform and the running time. Problem is, without the witty swiftness of the series, something else is required and this is why the substance was important and why the film is damaged by the lack of depth on this occasion.
This doesn't make a bad film but it does severely limit it to being "average" in the main content. What doesn't help at this time of recession (and the film was released during this period) is just how endlessly capitalist the whole thing. The audience needs to care for these characters and that is a little difficult when money is no object for them, retail therapy solves everything and so much dialogue is about expensive items. To top all that, given how easy it is to get product placement into a film about shopping why on earth did we have to have such clumsy and obvious product placement (the iPhone being the worst example). The cast do their usual shtick and all look good and play comfortably with their characters. Some reviews have criticised the four actresses but the material is to blame rather than them. The male cast are mainly just narrative devices and, with the exception of Eigenberg and possibly Noth.
The Sex and the City film is an average film with lots of problems. Generally this opinion is dismissed if it comes from a male non-fan but I cannot imagine that fans of the series are totally happy with this either. It doesn't manage to capture the spirit of the series but nor does it manage to replace it with anything else of note in regards depth or substance. It is glossy and professional enough to distract but if the plan was to continue the series through the occasional film then this is a pretty poor way to start off.
- bob the moo
- Nov 24, 2008
- Permalink