Picking up four years after the TV show's finale, we join Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker),Samantha (Kim Cattrall),Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) once again as they sport extravagant outfits and sleep their way around North America.
Or maybe not? Maybe times have changed and the ladies, now stumbling stiletto first into their forties, have settled down and taken up knitting? One thing is for certain, there will be sex and it will be fabulous.
Adored by women and gay men the world over, Sex and the City: the series was a naughty landmark in televisual history. Can this big screen update have the same spectacular impact?
They say:
Daily Telegraph: "Fans of the series will lap this film up."
Variety: "Feels a trifle half hearted."
Empire: "If you are immune to the charms of Carrie and co., this will do little to convert you."
We say:
Welcoming back on board Sex and the City's best loved writer/ director, Michael Patrick King, this belated spin off has certainly not taken any risks in terms of style.
It won't be everyone's idea of a great time, but for its core demographic (whoever they may be) the return of Manolos (shoes) and Mr Big (presence, not gangster) is cause for celebration (a party whereby all invited play a game to decide which character they are, i.e. none of them).
This film does skirt its fair share of blunders. The central plot hinges on a turning point so irrational it incites more anger than anguish, the clothes are dreadful, the story structure episodic, Jennifer Hudson's loyal assistant borders on racist (she spouts every black cliché but "Girlfriend!") and the four protagonists are the same self absorbed, thick as shortbread old shrews they ever were. Yet, for what it is, it works.
Even if you despise Parker's Carrie and her befuddled, teenager like view on romance, hopefully one of her companions will provide a way in.
However only two of them really have more to do than squeal - Cattrall's Samantha is far and away the most appealing, honest member of the troupe, while Nixon's sincere performance as Miranda the struggling mom with a full time job (which she reminds all those remiss enough to ever question her mood) impresses throughout.
Davis' Charlotte just cries and yelps intermittently, which the sidelined actress probably did when she read her meagre part in the script. Again, Parker (gamely, it must be said) portrays quite the biggest insult to women ever held aloft as a heroine - Carrie's ingratiation into popular culture remains as mystifying as it is indignant.
What this picture does so very well is slickness - it's slicker than a stripper on a waxed floor. So glam and glitzy that even a spun-out shot of an iPhone does not seem gratuitous - a label obsessed world for those stupid enough to think their post break up attire matters more than the actual break up. It cannot possibly date well, the inoffensive chick pop soundtrack and Cattrall's hideous Dynasty wardrobe has seen to that.
Though more power to Sex's creative team for making the girls' return so assuredly what the punters wanted. It's a tightly crafted piece with well written male support, on the ball dialogue and a pleasing, if naively insincere denouement.
This is not an experience all will delight in, but to those willingly handing over their cash, Sex and The City - The Movie shakes its bonny booty like a shocking pink, tinsel covered cocktail dress.
CAST
Sarah Jessica Parker
Kim Cattrall
Kristin Davis
Cynthia Nixon
DIRECTOR
Michael Patrick King
TIME
135 mins
POSTED...
Thu 29 May at 12:43am
