Even now, four years after its concluding episode, Sex and the City still reigns supreme among the all-time great chick shows. It defined the genre and was the forerunner to shows like Lipstick Jungle and Gossip Girl. The lighthearted, fun-loving attitudes of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristen Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) struck a chord within women around the world and catapulted the TV show from witty primetime goodness to pop-culture superstardom in a lengthy six-season stint. The success was so expansive that even men like me, with no interest in shoes or any of the topics these women swooned over, saw an episode or two. Thus a silver-screen adaptation seemed eminent.
The film version, which debuted in May, picks up four years after the finale of the show, and as soon as the "Who's where and why" montage begins, one thing's clear: We're in for more of the same. The movie feels more mature than the show - partly because of its length and partly because the characters are not young anymore. They're women, they're getting along in years, and they know it. Herein lies much of the charm of the film - Michael Patrick King humanizes these characters. Carrie and her boyfriend of 10 years, "Mr. Big," finally decide to get married - a process that begins and ends dramatically. Miranda has marital problems stemming from a lack of sex - an issue that begins and ends dramatically. Charlotte is worried that because she's not having marital problems and everyone else is, something is bound to go wrong. And Samantha is so in love with herself and so promiscuous that she can't make a commitment. Sensing a pattern? As each woman's life and relationship bounces from one end of the happiness spectrum to the other, they treat the audience to a poorly written, overlong, and yet somehow gratifying movie experience.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the film is that so much happens, it seems like nothing happens. It feels like the writers took the three or four episodes they would have used as the beginning of the seventh season and wrote the junctions between them in 30 minutes on bar napkins. A good 40 percent of the dialogue feels that way - and it's not the acting, because all four of the leading ladies are excellent in their own niches. The film ends essentially where it began.
And yet, despite these flaws, and despite the fact that as a man I didn't understand any of the "girl stuff," I found myself responding to the emotions that the film tried to evoke. If you loved the TV series, you'll love this. If you hated it, this certainly won't change your mind.
The special edition DVD itself holds nothing of merit. Unrated? Extended? Try three - yes, three - more minutes of added film. And it's not explicit, either, just unrated, which means nothing but "not submitted for rating with the rest of the film because it was removed from the final cut." Anything to sell a bonus edition, right? Save your money; if you have to have the DVD, get yourself the regular one. Don't waste the extra $10. B
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