July 3rd, 2008
Movie Review: Sex and the City
Oh ladies, wasn’t it fabulous? The end of May saw women from all over the world reaching for a Cosmo and gathering their gal pals as our favourite girls from New York graced the Big Screen for a long over-due catch-up. Yup, I’m referring to the premiere of Sex and the City – one of the most anticipated movies of 2008.
By now, chances are you’ve already seen the movie, which got me to thinking, Carrie-style …Is there really any point in writing a review when every woman on the planet has already seen the movie? But let’s face it – chatting about SATC is almost as much fun as watching it. So please, indulge me if you will. Besides, it’s such a great movie it’s worth a bit of a waffle…
So, the last time we saw the girls was back in 2004. Miranda had recently married Steve and Charlotte (together with baldy hubby Harry) were about to adopt a Chinese baby. Samantha was beating breast cancer with the support of the gorgeous, gorgeous Smith (yes, he is gorgeous) while Carrie left her Russian ‘lova’ to return to the Big Apple with our boy, Mr. Big. I’ll never forget watching that final episode on the telly as the show ended with Candi Staton’s You got the Love (great song) and Carrie’s voice-over where she says “Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous!” (Oh yeah, the waterworks were flowing on that one.) And with that, the chapter closed on six years of laughter, tears and moments that made even the most hardcore of us blush.
Sex and the City: The Movie catches up with the girls four years later. A little older, a little wiser – though still fabulous – each character has undergone a natural progression. Charlotte is the doting mom of a beautiful little girl. Miranda is as busy as ever, juggling the various roles she fills (sadly, at the expense of her sex life). Samantha has moved to LA to promote Smith’s career and Carrie is deeply, happily in love with Big – as he is with her. Sound too good to be true? Well, yeah.
One fabulous penthouse apartment and a marriage proposal later, Carrie finds herself moments away from marrying Big, when things go horribly pear-shaped. (Don’t fret, my pets – I haven’t given anything away that the trailer doesn’t. A lot more follows…) From there we are taken on a roller-coaster ride as the ladies deal with infidelity, fear, ageing, the process of healing… you know, life stuff. All, of course, with a healthy dose of SATC humour.
The extremely fabulous wardrobe doesn’t disappoint either. All the big names are unashamedly out on show. ChaneI, Prada, Valentino, Dior, Vivienne Westwood… yeah, baby. And that’s to name but a few. No doubt about it, stylist Patricia Field certainly lived up to her well-deserved reputation! As for Carrie’s Vogue shoot… stunning!
Another thing that makes this movie special is its soundtrack – it’s really good! The OST boasts a range of goodies that include the theme song (gone ‘big band’), Duffy’s Mercy and the fabulous Fergie, not to mention gems by Jem (sorry, couldn’t resist that pun) and The Bird & The Bee. But the two tracks that I love the most are All Dressed in Love by songbird Jennifer Hudson (who plays Carrie’s personal assistant, Louise ‘from St Louis’) and India.Arie’s The Heart of the Matter. Simply beautiful. So check out the soundtrack – it’s definitely worth a listen.
Anyway, back to the movie. I’m such a huge fan of the TV series and the movie, but even I have to admit I doubt it’ll be cleaning up at the award ceremonies. And I can’t help but feel that the 22 minute episodes are a little “punchier” than the feature film. All the same, it’s a really good, fun movie that’s best watched with the girls and then followed by a round (or two…) of cocktails. And any movie that encourages women to celebrate their inner “fabulousness” scores high in my books! So if you haven’t seen it yet, stop what you’re doing, right now – and head for your nearest cinema. And if you’ve already seen it, well why not watch it again!
July 18th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I’ve watched the show too (mostly I just enjoy the witty banters about sex) but I think we’ll have to agree to disagree in terms of the “fabulousness” of both show and movie. While I can accept that you loved S&TC, I encourage you to read this review ( http://feministreview.blogspot.com/2008/06/sex-and-city-movie.html ) in order to see the series through another perspective.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Hey Lexie
Thanks for the link - pretty interesting. The author makes many valid points that I certainly can’t dispute. Yeah, the search for love (read: a man)and all that is totally cliched. Must admit, I didn’t really look at the movie in an analytical sense, simply because I didn’t want to take it too seriously. So much of what happens in SATC is over-the-top. Yet it’s the basic premises that appeal to me. Here we have four seemingly successful, fabulous women but the reality is that each one has her own demons to face.
I’m a thirty-something year old woman, living in a big city - and with that comes some challenges of its own. However, the show reminds me that no matter who you are or where you live, we all go through similar stuff. It also reminds me of the importance of ’sisterhood’. So in my view, from a feminist perspective SATC has its pitfalls (we’re not all shoes/men/cosmo-obsessed woman - thank God! - who look for happiness outside ourselves) but I believe the show does empower women in a sense that when things get you down, it reminds you to lift your head and get right back out there - because you’re not alone. And if you’re wearing a pair of kick-ass heels while doing so, well all the better.