The fashion is bigger and the blue-satin Manolo’s more fabulous than ever, but the story is where “Sex and the City: The Movie” really shines.
Forget highly-anticipated. After four Sex-deprived years, fans and interested parties alike have been holding their collective breaths awaiting the return of Charlotte, Miranda, Samantha, and ever-the-ingenue and fashion plate, Carrie.
It has been hard to escape the media-bonanza in recent weeks surrounding the opening of the film continuation of the acclaimed HBO series, but was it worth the four-year wait? Was there even a story to watch and follow?
The answer is a loud orgasmic scream of YES, and you can bet your $525 unworn-Manolo’s that there’s a story to be told.
Darren Star directs again, and the original cast is intact. The chemistry between the characters could spark a fire using the dampest logs making audiences feel like they have just come home to their family.
Reprising her role as Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker beams light and energy, and is flawless. Chris Noth’s “Big” is the character you can’t help but love and feel for, despite his many faltering moments on the TV show. The “girls” — Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and the hyper and sex-obsessed-at-any-age Samantha (Kim Cattrall)– come together seamlessly, as if the series ended yesterday.
Jennifer Hudson shines as Louise, the new single gal from St. Louis. She is endearing and another Charlotte-esque eternal optimist. She helps Carrie in more ways than imaginable as her personal assistant and lends her talented and soulful voice to the soundtrack.
Thanks to spoilers and the detailed and eye-opening Vogue article, many people think they know the storyline: Carrie and Big, (whose name — John James Preston — we finally learned at the end of the series), get engaged, get a fabulous apartment and finally, finally, get married. But if the “Sex” series has taught us anything it is that love is never uncomplicated.
Hopefully, without giving anything away, the movie picks up in present day — four years after the beloved and boundary-breaking, sex-filled series sadly ended. Carrie has published three books and is still very much in love with the no longer elusive Big. Samantha has uprooted to Hollywood to manage boyfriend/movie star project Smith Jerrod’s career and has changed immensely which is difficult to discern in her character at the outset of the film. Samantha is “lost” grasping to remember her true self.
Charlotte, “the eternal optimist” has it all: the man of her dreams in the lovable and doting Harry and a beautiful daughter in the adorable and adopted Lily.
The most suprising plot twist, however, belongs to the Miranda-Steve duo, which throws a curve ball at the audience that the most skilled prophecy-maker could not have foreseen.
The movie tears at the heart. It literally had the audience laughing and sobbing, sometimes within the same minute span. The depth and pain and passion that comes with the happy burden of love spills from the screen, reconnecting the audience with beloved characters who have retained their quirks, loyalty and strength.
The stories are believable and all of the characters seem to be real, as if you could go to New York City and see Carrie and Big strolling hand-in-hand down 5th Avenue to buy some shoes. They are all so sharply written, so dynamic, so passionate and after all this time so finely tuned, it is as if they must and should be real.
Hardcore “Sex” fans and movie-goers who haven’t even watched a single episode of the series will all appreciate the film for its pure entertainment value. It is hysterically funny with enough new jokes and puns to fill the NYC public library. “Sex” is brimming with raw emotion that makes you think — makes you question what you really want and if you are strong enough to let yourself go after it.
The movie touches on all subjects that made the series what it is: loving, cheating, unwavering friendship and of course, mind-blowing sex.
Sex-starved fans won’t be soon after the movie opens. And for this reason, it is unwise for younger audiences to watch. The sex is just as big a raunchy presence as it was in the series, as audiences wouldn’t have it any other way.
Good friend and fellow reviewer Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle urged to “run, don’t walk, run” to see “Sex.” And now I truly, truly implore all of you to do the same. Because if someone asked “is this movie worth seeing” the answer would undoubtly be “asbo(insert expletive here)lutely”!
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