Posted May 30, 2008 - It’s been four years since Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte abandoned the airwaves, creating a void that left sex-starved women worldwide without a weekly primer to help navigate them through the often complex relationship scene.
After six seasons of mind-blowing, mind-altering sex, “Sex and the City” ended its run much to the dismay of fans—some of whom had somehow become sexually liberated by living vicariously through the lives of their favorite New Yorkers; and to the detriment of HBO which lost one of its most popular and successful staple series.
On Friday the long awaited and much hyped “Sex and the City” movie will finally hit theaters with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis slipping their older feet into new shoes. And although the stars—including Chris Noth as Mr. Big—look great, sadly, the film is far more predictable than even the spoilers indicated.
This is not the cinematic orgasm we’ve all been waiting for since the show went off the air in February 2004.
Stylistically “Sex” maintains the same look and feel as the original HBO series. Unfortunately it lacks the pop that had tongues waging at water coolers across America on Monday mornings. Produced by Parker and Michael Patrick King, the film is not very fluid, the characters haven’t evolved that much and the chemistry between the four leads appears to have eroded after such a lengthy hiatus.
At points it feels as if they’re faking it. That said, revisiting some things in the past can be fun.
When we last saw Big he had professed his love to Carrie in Paris, sweeping her off of her Manolo Blahniks and flying her back to New York where we all assumed they would live happily ever after. At the start of the film the still happy couple are house hunting and stumble upon an expensive penthouse apartment that prompts Big to pop the statement, “I wouldn’t mind being married to you,” after Carrie, now in her 40s, shares some concerns about being screwed if he buys it and “something happens.”
Thankfully, Noth and Parker haven’t lost a beat.
And although the Big-Carrie storyline dominates much of the film—which is just a tad too long at 142 minutes—the rest of the characters get their due, too—even if in limited doses. Most appealing: Samantha, still.
It was also interesting to meet Carrie’s new assistant Louise played by Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. Louise is to Carrie what sex is to Samantha—something that’s very much needed on the daily. Although Louise is younger, she’s wiser. Her influence helps keep Carrie from repeating the snafus of the past—ones that should remain there.