Sex and the City (2008)

Fans of "Sex and the City" will love the movie version. Like the HBO series that gave birth to it, the movie is lots of fun, but it's no frivolous romp. The show's great ambition, always present, becomes even more pronounced in the movie - to document the emotional life and values of cosmopolitan women of a particular generation. It's as if its creators realized the series' significance over the course of its run, and that shift in the direction of importance - subtle, but definite - continues with this movie. Under the levity, there's a core seriousness about presenting these women's lives, one emphasized by the willingness of "Sex and the City" to grow and mature along with its characters. Those who know these characters will, of course, pick up on nuances and associations that novices will miss. Yet even viewers coming in cold will appreciate "Sex and the City" as the best American movie about women so far this year, and probably the best that will be made this year. Indeed, at the rate Hollywood has been going, it may stand as the best women's movie until "Sex and the City II," if that ever comes along. Coming in, Michael Patrick King, the movie's writer-director, had two difficult tasks: He had to introduce the characters to a new audience without irritating fans of the show, and he had to take a series that ended perfectly and un-end it, without seeming arbitrary. He knocks off the first task easily, (re-)introducing the principals during a credits sequence narrated by the main character, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), a best-selling author in New York City. There's Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), a successful publicist with a ravenous sexual appetite. There's Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), a gentle, princess-like wife and mother. And there's Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a lawyer and buttoned-down cynic, living in Brooklyn with her husband and son.Un-ending the perfectly ended series takes a little more time. For the first 10 minutes or so, the movie hovers in place, emphasizing (and, for first-timers, introducing) the status quot. But then, the gears gradually move into place. Four years have passed. Carrie is still seeing "Mr. Big" - whose name is now revealed to be John James Preston (Chris Noth) - and the two decide to get married. This soon turns into plans for the fashion marriage of the century, with a guest list of 200 and a gown by Vivienne Westwood. But, of course, things can't happen too smoothly. Meanwhile, Samantha is dissatisfied with her life in Los Angeles, even though she is still in love with her much-younger boyfriend, Smith (Jason Lewis), and Miranda and her impossibly sweet husband, Steve (David Eigenberg), are having marriage trouble. Though the laughs are frequent and the movie sparkles with glitz and fashion, an air of middle-aged disappointment is sometimes present, a realization of limits, of having to choose between imperfect options. Suddenly, the women are most definitely in their 40s, and so their interaction with younger women is different, sometimes long-suffering, sometimes almost motherly. Carrie takes on a personal assistant (Jennifer Hudson, who's charming) and gives her sisterly advice, the hard- earned wisdom of 20 years in the New York trenches. The mature vibe shows that "Sex and the City" is elastic and capable of bringing in new elements of women's experience. It clocks in at a hefty 145 minutes, but all that means is that it's like watching five episodes of the TV show in succession. Think of it not as a long movie but as the equivalent of an entire TV season muscled into one big mega dose. The allotment of screen time never seems obviously apportioned, but each actress gets a chance to shine. Charlotte's life is the most stable in this installment, but Davis has some of the best comic moments, and Cattrall shows a slight mellowing (and a definite deepening) in Samantha. As Miranda, Nixon is just brilliant, presenting her as someone increasingly locked into the patterns of her own personality, less hopeful and verging on bitterness. At the same time, underneath it, she's painfully sensitive. Parker is lovely, alive to every nuance of feeling, her face the film's locus of meaning. Her lack of vanity is becoming. When Carrie gets beaten up emotionally, Parker allows herself to look beat up. In one's 40s, a person doesn't take an emotional beating and wake up the next morning looking as fresh as a 20-year-old. Parker lets us see Carrie's, and her own, true face. There's something alive here. There's a feeling about this movie, that it's not some perfunctory cinematic appendix to a popular series, but the beginning of a whole new string of films. There's certainly no artistic reason "Sex and the City" can't be the women's equivalent of "Star Trek," with human emotion being the final frontier. Like outer space, that frontier is infinite.

Sex and the City (2008): Dir: Michael Patrick King / Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattral, Cynthia Nixon, Kristen Davis, Chris Noth: Spectacular chick flick about romance, relationships and the struggle to maintain them. It chronicles four women who have been friends for years. Fashion editor Sarah Jessica Parker is preparing for her wedding only to be left at the alter. Kim Cattrall is in Hollywood dating a young actor. Kristen Davis exercises and is expecting her first child. Cynthia Nixon learns that her husband had an affair and struggles to forgive. Surprisingly well written with director Michael Patrick King going above the successful TV program. Parker shines as a woman at home in fame and fashion but still feels a void where love departed. It seems to be the one thing she hasn't mastered. Cattral is the ultimate cougar seducing young men as if to revisit youthfulness herself. Nixon lives in denial and struggles with resentment. Davis is about to enter the stage of motherhood. Chris Noth plays Parker's fiancé and the process is trying as he struggles to bring this woman down to normality and routine. Fans of the successful TV show will not be disappointed yet the film can easily appeal to those unfamiliar with it simply because it takes its message seriously. It becomes an insightful view into romance and marriage and the transformation between the two. Score: 10 / 10

CONTAINS SPOILERSI just watched this again on late night TV and again the questions were popping into my head after the first time I saw it. Having been a SATC fan of the series - there was a belief this movie would bring about the questions all of us had wondered when the series finished. Did the producers answer them? Apart from cashing in on the franchise some 4 years down the track, this was the opportunity to see if our favourite characters could " live happily ever after". Samantha: She was by far my favourite, ballsy, no nonsense and not afraid to be a woman, even when the writers gave her cancer to beat, she hit it head long in the guts and then unthinkably found "love". It was the typical "fish out of water " routine, but suited Sam's character, they seemed to get that right as she plummets head long into guilt and not feeling comfortable with the whole idea. The movie gave us the right direction for the character.Miranda: I always wanted to punch her in the face during the series, we were given some insight into her background via her mother dying and it then gave the clue that she had huge self esteem issues, not always relying on the fact that she was allowed to be happy. This was taken a step further when Steve cheated on her in the movie and the inevitable happened. You couldn't condone Steve, but you always had to feel sorry for the guy as he valiantly sidestepped a very angry woman who could not love herself. In the movie she learnt the most valuable of lessons, it was completed. Charlotte: The little princess and during the series she learnt that not everything has to be perfection, aka her husband to be happy in life. In the movie, she seemed to be a caricature of herself and it was unsettling as if she was just a prop to be dragged out when they needed a bit of comedic relief. Sadly, the only thing they could drag up to complete her already perfect existence was a baby of her own... her character was completed wasted by the producers.Carrie: I always loathed her character, because even though we understood she had abandonment issues via her father, the only clue we were given during the series, she NEVER learnt anything. All the others evolved, Carrie did not and sadly when it came to the movie she again had no clue about anyone else but herself, it was ME ME ME and to heck with everyone else. Bringing in her secretary to teach her about love and forgiveness, just never sat right through that movie, when the women she had surrounded herself with for 20 years seemingly gave her no clue. Watch the movie to wrap up your curiosity but don't ask it to be anything else but light fluffy entertainment. The producers had ample opportunity to bring something special to the screens and let all the fans of the series down.

If you loved the TV series, you will adore this film. Where others believe this film does not do the show justice, i fully disagree. Any loose ends which were left at the end of Season 6 are tied up over the course of the movie such as Harry & Charlotte's adopted baby, Where Mr Big and Carrie's relationship will lead, What happened to Samantha after cancer and How does Miranda cope with raising a child, and keeping her marriage on track. The brand new story lines that follow in this film are outstanding. The film takes us back to the days where the four girls were single, and walking around town in their line of four , which brings the film such a nostalgic feel. A cameo from the original dress which appeared in the opening titles of the series reinstates just how much this film is for the fans. The opening sequence begins with a short snippet of the original theme, before blasting us off into a brand new version with lyrics by Fergie (Of Black Eyed Peas origin) which drags this film right up to date. The only let down however is the introduction of Jennifer Hudson's character in the film, however this is totally overshadowed by brilliant acting from the ladies, the men and a wonderful script. With a wonderful soundtrack to accompany it, this film certainly takes you right back to the series, and gives you many unexpected surprises, ones which you never thought would happen to the main characters. The film follows an entire year of the women and their lives in New York City (and Los Angeles for Samantha), and just proves throughout that friendship is the one label that never goes out of style.