CLEMENTINE'S REVIEWS

8th October 2008
Sex & The City (2008)

Director: Michael Patrick King
Writer: Michael Patrick King
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davies, Cynthia Noxon, Kim  Catrall

Carrie and friends return after after a few years away and little has  changed - they're dating the same people, just about the same jobs  and situations but finally Carrie and Big decide they're ready for  the next step in their relationship - marriage. A goliath of a franchise, Sex & the City: The Movie was as inevitable as the sell out opening night/consecutive weekend as fans dressed to the nines to  make a whole night of the event. Massive hype, massive queues, massive pay packets, massive disappointment.

My favourite characters, Miranda and Steve, were acting out of  character for what feels like the sake of a plot point. Samantha was given some pretty weak material to work with, but not compared to poor Charlotte who spent the whole movie doing not very much at all. The fashion was gratuitous and awkwardly inserted, a far cry from the  casual integration in most of the series. It was an onslaught of  designer names and labels, and some significant story symbols were designer items of ridiculous proportions. The Westwood dress was divine but the superfluous emphasis on fashion echoed on like a dropped shoe in an empty shopping mall - hollow and depressing.

With so many year having passed between the series and the movie I  was expecting a lot of effort and excellent, polished writing to meet  rabid fan expectation. I was anticipating fast and furious witty dialogue, insightful and funny commentary on the next phase of their lives as maturing women, a slew of exciting story lines packed into 2 hours, and a lot of thought about the direction of the Sex and the City universe. Unfortunately it didn't deliver half of what I had wanted and added a lot of painful contrived story lines which may have thrown the obligatory bone to the fans but did not satisfy. Don't even dream of seeing this film if you haven't seen the series - it does not stand on its own in any way. But with the legions of fans around the world they didn't need to cater to a new market - not  when the existing fan base still spends their weekends having their friends over for cocktails and S&TC marathons.

You'll probably like this if: you already have the box set, come first at the S&TC boardgame, enjoy debating Carrie's great loves, or your heart flutters at the thought of another season.

You'll probably not like this if: you have never watched S&TC.