Sex and the City 2
Here’s the thing. The first movie of “Sex and the City” was a genuine guilty pleasure for me. Yes, it was a butt-numbing 150-plus minutes, but it had genuine heart and wit that carried the film through its’ flaws.
“Sex and the City 2” is guilty of many things- pleasure is not one of them. Sometimes, the film gets down to the heart of these characters and their friendship (which the first one excelled in), but all too often, it’s as crass and narcassistic as guys often worried the show was.
Whereas the first film reveled in the little moments, this one is about big and brash moments. Oh look, they’re at a gay wedding, with Liza Minnelli presiding! Oh wow, they’re at Abu Dhabi, and riding camels! Hey, now they’re at a movie premiere, and Miley Cyrus is dressed just like Samantha! And was that Penelope Cruz as a Madrid banker hitting on Carrie’s Mr. Big! OMG!!
The characters are the same- Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still writing, but now the subject is marriage. Unfortunately, her marriage with Mr. Big (Chris Noth) is in a bit of a rut, and her new book, well, let’s just say The New Yorker wasn’t kind. Samantha (Kim Catrell) is just as slutty as ever, and now she’s going through menopause (however will she deal?). Charlotte (Kristen Davis) is happy in her life, but her kids are driving her crazy, and how did she not notice before that nanny Erin doesn’t wear a bra? And Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) has rebounded in her marriage, but her work isn’t satisfying anymore.
When the film focuses on the fab four as people, the film and writer-director Michael Patrick King do their characters proud. But too often, the films revels is cheap laughs (oh look, Samantha’s debasing a culture’s values!; oh God, Charlotte’s being the naggy wife from 6700 miles away!; oh no, Carrie’s ex Aidan (John Corbett) is in the Middle East too!), expensive clothes, and all the luxuries that seemed to be a thing of the past at the end of the last film.
King has admitted that he made this film for the fans that made the first film such a phenom. He’s a very funny guy from the interview on “The Daily Show” he did a couple of weeks ago, and a pretty talented filmmaker from the looks of the first film. Unfortunately, this film doesn’t have enough for me to look at it as fondly as I did the first film. This one’s definitely for the people who loved the show, and who like the women shallow, petty, and looking great. Count me out.
