Sex and the City | Christian Toto saw, Comedy | DONNE TEMPO
Sex and the City
May/29/08 10:27 PM Filed in: Christian Toto
saw | Comedy
For the boys, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" gathered familiar faces together for an archeological trip down memory lane.
Now, it's the reunion women everywhere are waiting for - "Sex and the City" on the big screen.
It's been three years in "Sex" time since we last saw Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall), and a clever title sequence gamely catches up on the quartet for the uninitiated - essentially alien life forms and football fanatics.
The big news involves Mr. Big (Chris Noth), who in his typically unromantic way proposes - finally - to Carrie. Their nuptials sets the film's opening in motion - a series of wish fulfillment scenarios (the perfect wedding dress! The perfect New York City apartment!!) interspersed with more wardrobe changes for Carrie than an entire Cher tour.
Female fans will titter and smile, but we're still waiting for the story to kick in. When it does ... wow. A traumatic event pushes our heroines into some unfamiliar terrain, leaving a key character in maudlin mode for a good half hour. It feels longer.
No spoilers here, but the more intriguing subplot involves a marital crisis between Miranda and Steve the bartendah (David Eigenberg) - the rare New York character who actually speaks like one. Their complicated marriage is the best thing about "Sex" - it's a mature and satisfying character arc worthy of the series.
Poor Charlotte gets little to do besides become the butt of a very infantile joke, while Samantha feels squeezed by her longtime love, the hunky Smith (Jason Lewis). The actor may be the beneficiary of darn lucky genes, but he could be the worst actor in the entire "SATC" universe.
"Sex" trots out a few outrageous moments to remind us how daring the series once was, but the moments feel tacked on. Samantha's unexpurgated mouth still can bring down the house, though, and the female bonding on display through grand swatches of the movie will resonate with men and women alike.
The film gets new blood courtesy of Jennifer Hudson, who appears mid-film to serve as Carrie's assistant. The role is more plot device than fully fleshed out character, but Hudson's natural charm overrides such complaints.
For "Sex" aholics, just having Carrie and company dishing about men again will be enough to make this reunion click. But anyone anticipating the same level of excellence as the HBO series will be let down by this bloated, romance-free feature.
"Sex and the City"
New Line Cinema
Three Donne mandalas out of five
Web site: www.sexandthecitymovie.com/
— Christian Toto
