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Sex and the City (2008)

Director: Michael Patrick King

Time Out rating

Average user rating

101 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Straight men never got television series 'Sex and the City', but really – what was not to get? Brunch without calories, sex without consequences, friendship without recrimination and shoes without price tickets: the programme about four thirtysomething women single and loving it in the big bad Apple was the ultimate consumer fantasy. So it’s no surprise that, despite years of denials, there’s now a feature-length version: isn’t capitalism all about stuff that’s surplus to requirements?

We didn’t need it but boy, do we want it: the night I went the queues were half an hour long – and we’d all pre-bought tickets. Happily, our independently earned cash wasn’t spent in vain. Writer-director Michael Patrick King (a stalwart of the TV series) hoves straight in with a mission statement by fashionista columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) to the effect that she’s a fortysomething and life is different, but friendship never changes. The girls have moved on a couple of years but are all pretty settled: Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and her Harry have a cute adopted daughter; Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is still in Brooklyn with Steve and little Brady; and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) may be out in Hollywood managing her boyfriend Smith’s career, but her killer Manolos must be leaving some seriously inelegant carbon footprints, because she’s back in New York every other minute.

The emphasis has shifted, as is probably proper for this demographic: it’s still about relationships but they’re no longer hypothetical. The questions are larger in scope: Carrie has her Big – but will he marry her? Should he marry her? Is there life after a happy ending? They’re all good issues, even if they're treated so frothily as to disappoint. Nobody wants existentialism from 'SATC', but as Carrie might once have put it, I couldn’t help but wonder why, when Love with a capital L slinks into the penthouse, sex and banter both apparently sashay straight out.

Never mind: there are good lines and plenty of laughter, even if there are none of the verbal doubles that made every TV episode feel like a really good Wimbledon final. And there’s some gleeful hypocrisy: this is not just a fashion film where the men look a hell of a lot better than the women (Carrie’s makeup bag must be bigger than her walk-in wardrobe) but we also detect a sanctimonious whisper that fashion labels – hush, now! – are just calorie-free gateaux for women whose appetites, of all kinds, aren’t being satisfied. Apparently, you can be rich, good-looking and in a relationship and still not be happy. Thank goodness for Cosmopolitans.

Author: Nina Caplan 2008-05-29 12:20:47

Time Out London Issue 1971 May 28- June 3, 2008

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User reviews of this film

dave_n7 said...

Posted on Jun 07 2008 22:10 Opps -forgot to rate it - 6 stars plus!

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dave_n7 said...

Posted on Jun 07 2008 22:09 Okay: Love the series, adored the film and now we need a new series! I loved the film OMG! Just brilliant - I laughed and I cried. Amazing! Going to see it again.

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Xcharx said...

Posted on Jun 07 2008 13:51 can't wait 2 watch it 2night!x

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i is fat said...

Posted on Jun 07 2008 11:29 thia film is wicked i love it so much

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Fee said...

Posted on Jun 06 2008 17:45 when to seee it with the girrrrrls.
WASSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!
bit to long mind you..

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rach said...

Posted on Jun 06 2008 12:47 FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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nicola said...

Posted on Jun 05 2008 23:07 Went ot see SATC but thought it lacked the fun and great writing of the series. But did love the latin lover(those who have seen it wil know what I mean!)But why did Samantha not get to do the deed with him? That was out of character! Did anyone else think that? Loved the fashion and it did make me cry a bit in parts. Overall you'll enjoy it if you are not expecting too much. Not as good as the series though. Think Mr Big has put on loads of weight also! PS Samantha didn't look fat!! Have a good time if you see it, welldone if you can persuade you're man to go with you.........!

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Monty said...

Posted on Jun 05 2008 22:04 As a male I went to see the film with a girlfriend. Namely to impress her about my feminine side and to see life from a woman's side. We had both never seen the TV series. I was among 10 men and 120 women in the cinema. It is a chick flick my girlfriend loved it. Mainly because of the fashion's. She said it was rude in parts. I enjoyed parts of it. It was at 2hrs 20 mins over long and very short on laughts. It didn't tug on my or my girlfriends heart strings and I wouldn't dream of seeing it again. Not even on the telly

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madam :) said...

Posted on Jun 05 2008 16:14 it was the most amazing film ive seen in a long time!! perfection is the right word!! it will make u laugh and cry! even my partner cried LOL he didnt like watchin the program wiv me but he sat through the film and even he a 21 yr old man said how fantastic it was!! go see it dont wait go go go x

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XxstrangerxX said...

Posted on Jun 05 2008 09:09 hey, is the film good? Haha, but i watch a lot of television and Sex and the City is oké!

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Beth said...

Posted on Jun 03 2008 21:02 i went to see this with all my girlie friends on the day it came out and we all LOVED it, even though it is really long it always mad us laugh and the fashion in it is amazing ... all round best film i have seen in months :) xx

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Aimee said...

Posted on Jun 03 2008 15:51 havent seen it yet lol !! xxXxx

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Ellie said...

Posted on Jun 03 2008 15:13 ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!!

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Debsidoodle said...

Posted on Jun 02 2008 19:54 Such a disappointment. Been a big fan of the show, since day one. What happened to the Girls? What happened to the storylines that were challenging, articulate and observant? Instead it's SJP posing in bridal gowns, crawling around her closet floor in a dodgy dress to 80s music, and a dog humping a cushion, all to get laughs? This film is a shallow imitation of the TV series, that only skims the depths the series managed to so successfully reach.
On the up side, there is an occasional glimmer of the original humour and cynicism of the TV program, it just would have been nice to have a whole lot more.

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Susan said...

Posted on Jun 02 2008 16:02 Oh dear - what has happened to the girls? They've turned into super-shallow cartoon cut outs of their former selves. Carrie in particular needs a good whallop of reality - why oh why did she blame everyone else for her bad luck? Her selfish whining drove me nuts. And was Samantha fat??? Come on people!! if that's fat then I'm a skinny latte with wings. Good grief, sack the writer and just watch the box set instead,

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