When HBO’s “Sex and the City” went off the air in 2004 after six seasons, fans were left to cry into their cosmos over the end of an era with only some mercilessly neutered syndicated repeats to cheer them.
But good news, girlfriends!
Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and her comrades-in-couture return with a vengeance for love of their men, their $500 stilettos and — still, most of all — for love of each other in a feature film befitting the witty, endearing and lushly appointed series.
Though not as fully as the fairy-tale final TV episode did, the movie also tends to subvert the show’s original message. The early seasons empowered thirtysomething independent single women — and made us laugh and cry really hard — while saying that as long as you have your BFFs, Barney’s and a good boffing, you don’t need a Prince Charming to be OK.
Like the show’s later seasons, however, today’s big-screen addendum to the canon approaches the subject with less raunchy hilarity, but more realistic conflict and character depth.
The story begins, as the movie release does, four years later. The women, now fortysomething, are about to hit rough seas.
Carrie and Mr. Big (Chris Noth), still together, consider the possibility of a Manhattan real estate merger and marriage. Over in Brooklyn, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) struggles with the demands of motherhood and her law practice; she hasn’t had sex with husband Steve (David Eigenberg) in six months. Samantha (adored scene-stealer Kim Cattrall) has movedwest to manage actor Smith (Jason Lewis). But she feels trapped by her desire to support her lover’s career after surrendering her old liberated life in New York. Meanwhile, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and her adoring spouse, Harry (Evan Handler), raise their adopted daughter and “Dreamgirls’ ” Jennifer Hudson joins the cast to add youth and some welcome diversity.
Director-writer Michael Patrick King, the TV show’s executive producer, elevates the traditional chick flick by reinforcing the strength of women of a certain age without resorting to romantic comedy predictability, melodrama, manipulation or caricatures. At the same time, he delivers the light entertainment goods by highlighting the awe-inspiring kaleidoscope provided by genius costumer Patricia Field alongside the Botox and body hair humor.
If you don’t already care about Carrie andher crew, you may not get it. But for devotees like me, this is good “Sex.”
‘Sex and the City’
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