All things considered, this review is not an exaggeration. The concept of a movie based on a four-year-old sitcom would usually be destined for failure; but SATC defies the disappointing, gold-digging, shameless cliche-clinging of sitcom franchises and immediately becomes a feel-good classic. Joining the ranks of Pretty Woman, The Bodyguard, Dirty Dancing, Ghost and Sleepless in Seattle, the movie captures all the joy and pain of an immortal romance.
"I think every woman in Los Angeles is in this theater today," commented a thirty-something woman in the restroom after the movie. The theme of the day was "fabulous", with the almost-all female audience donning dresses and high heels for the big event. This wasn't a premier or an A-list screening, but for every woman in the audience it was a special event. It has been four years of wilderness since the final episode that left so many women feeling warm and satisfied, wiping their mascara-stained faces and smiling at their girlfriends with a nostalgic glow of contentment. However, it has not been four years without Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha. It has been four years of re-watching the SATC DVD box set. And the movie was the best episode ever made, stretched wonderfully into 2 and a half delicious hours. Finally, the SATC generation was given its cake... and we ate the whole thing.
The moral of the story (...because there always is one) underlies every single exploration Carrie has ever made. At first, she thinks it is "love". But one thing that has been clear all along is that it is easy to fall in and out of love, to complain about love, to search for and give up on it, to relish and shun it, to philosophize and to compromise; love is not "never having to say you're sorry", like Samantha and Carrie in "Cover Girl" (Season 5, episode 4), but being able to say "I forgive you". Love is tough. It takes work. But when all is said and done... the most difficult task is not ending a relationship, but fighting for one. Carrie and the girls can weather the "for better", but what about the "for worse?" When do you flee, and when do you fight?
Girls are good at complaining about their friends' relationships; it's easy to hate Big and throw him out like dirty dishwater... but just because the fairytale has a few hiccups, doesn't mean it can't have a happily-ever-after.
Sex and the City has seen a generation of women through the good times and the bad times. Every woman in the audience today has felt a connection with the characters throughout the six seasons, and with each other. Today it transcended the silver screen and overflowed into the street. It walked home with them. It took them out to lunch. It encouraged them to order Cosmopolitans and feel sexy in their high heels.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sex and the City the Movie: 5 million out of 10
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
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