It’s been four years since I last felt that excitement
before a new episode of HBO’s popular series, “Sex and the City:” What will
happen next? What will they wear? Where will they go? Will Carrie ever find her
cannot-live-without-each-other love? I started to feel the same excitement,
only hundreds of times bigger that the usual when the release date was getting
closer.
This hundred-fold excitement is comprehensible: SATC has
constituted for thousands of women the gantry to an emancipated life. Four female
protagonists revolutionized an entire world, with their independence,
successful careers, designer clothes and most of all, their strong friendship
that helped them remain balanced on their (stilettos) feet.
The greatest part of SATC was that we could find ourselves
in the leading characters. We’ve learnt from Carrie that even though craving
for true love, our career and friends were rewarding enough to contradict
misogynists. We’ve seen Miranda, so career-focused and so demanding of herself
and the others, constantly conferring us determination to succeed and allowing
us in no moment to make compromises when it came to our dreams. Then there was Charlotte, so sweet and sensitive, appearing as though she
just landed from a fairy tale, still fitting perfectly in the rapid-paced New York. And let’s not
forget the juicy part, Samantha, the woman who objectified men, the woman who
talked so openly about her sex life that she made it become a subject of small
talk.
Just like little girls find themselves in the characters of
their favorite heroines, we were more alike one of the thirty-something
protagonists of SATC and I’m sure that not once you’ve wondered whom you’d be
in the series. Not long ago I heard a man saying that he was fond of the HBO
series and, in a reflex gained in childhood and practiced during the six
seasons of SATC, I was tempted to ask who he was from the four.
Just the way we like the translations from the small screen
to the silver one, the team that worked on the initial project reunited. Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia
Nixon and director Michael Patrick King joined for the movie. The
running time is of 135 minutes, the equivalent of about five episodes in a row -
this might make amends for the four-year abstinence from SATC.
In case anyone forgot what happened in the last episodes of
season 6, Carrie, who is now working for Vogue, recaps the major events, one of
them being her getting back together with her long-time, continuously on-off
love, Mr. Big (Chris Noth). And same story: despite four years of being
together, they are still living in separate apartments. Until one day, Big
makes the great move and pops the question (it’s not hard to imagine Carrie’s
enthusiasm, but that’s enough of spilling the beans).
Charlotte (Kristin Davis) finally adopted a Chinese toddler and
is living her long dreamed of life in her lush home in Park
Avenue, alongside her husband, Harry (Evan Handler). Miranda
(Cynthia Nixon) is still struggling to equilibrate her professional life with
her family life, which includes both her hubby Steve (David Eigenberg) and
their baby. And last, but not least, a monogamous Samantha is living with her
younger paramour, Smith (Jason Lewis) in a cozy Malibu beach house. Samantha is managing his
acting career and we can say that she is now exhaustively involved with Smith.
Living on the other coast is a major impediment from meeting the girls on a
regular basis, though.
SATC - the movie appears as a conglomeration of designer
outfits and shoes, a feast of fashion or a continuous catwalk with four models.
And that is by far another attraction and strength of the movie.
SATC also brings some new pigmented complexion. The
monopolizing white skin is welcoming a black talented actress, “Dreamgirls” Academy
Award winner Jennifer Hudson as
Carrie’s assistant, Louise. It is still debatable if her presence is a means of
making amends to the absence of African-American actors in the series however, and
in this respect her being just the assistant is quite dangerous.
The movie maintains the sweet-nostalgic tone, however it
remains truly energizing, a fresh new excuse for a girls’ night out.
Movie Type:Comedy, Drama, Romance and Adaptation
MPAA Rating:R
Directed By:Michael Patrick King
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis,
Christopher Noth
Released: May 30th, 2008 (wide)
U.S. Box Office: TBA
