While
most of the $405 Million dollars worth of female fans who attended the theatrical run of the movie knew the show
inside out, I have the extreme pleasure of going into the adventures of Carrie & Co fairly cold -
without expectations, without needs to be met.
All I knew
was that one is a slut, one is a prude, one is ugly, one is Ferris
Beullers wife and "Mr. Big" is the dude who all men are now compared to.
And thankfully, that's all you need to know.
Kicking
off with a short and sharp recap of events from the TV series, we are
quickly taken into the thick of the action with montages of friendship,
fashion and New York.
... And then some more of that... and then
some more.
Plot
wise it's all pretty basic stuff: long time love, love, broken hearts,
love, shoes, girl power, love - and a rather small amount of sex. Oh,
and love...
The thing is, Sex And
The City
works really well even without the excess baggage of audience
expectation. Almost immediately I found myself drawn into this bizarre,
shallow world of money and socialites, but moreso the accuracy in which
the film can deconstruct the realities of every form of a relationship.
It's not all happy endings - and sometimes it's not even
over-the-top drama; sometimes love and relationships are simply
mundane, with the film also showing (whether the girls picked up on
this or not I'm unaware) that men's actions aren't always
unjustified.
And the film captures this to a tee.
If the film falters anywhere, besides the fact Sarah Jessica Parker
looks like Felicity Huffman in Transamerica,
it's the rather chubby running time.
Any
thing over two hours is usually the realm of over-budgeted CGI epics,
so a Rom-Com clocking in at two hours and twenty five minutes is
nothing short of excessive.
Sure,
the fans might guzzle in every
moment of it and want more - but for the occasional viewer there are
more than a few instances after the 90 minute mark in which you truly
hope the final act is set to begin. Add that to the fact that the DVD
release is an EXTENDED cut... well, let's just say, it's pushing it a
little bit too far perhaps.
However, at the end of the
day, the big drawcards are the characters themselves - and in this
department it all seems to work quite well.
For the
unfamiliar, characters are given a good deal of material in which to
flesh themselves out (Samantha 'The Slutty One' gets the most to work
with in that department) as well as deliver some genuinely funny
moments. Cynthia Nixon is simply superb, while new recruit
Jenifer
Hudson is a welcome addition.
Whether or not fans will find the character
development redundant remains to be seen in the coming years.
Oddly enough, I remember having to sit through a theatrical preview and
noticed that it was the first time in the history of my cinema-going
experience where grumbling chats taking place in the audience
throughout the film weren't "Oh my, this movie is BAAAAAD", but moreso
"How amazing is that dress!".
And you kind of get the feeling
that on DVD it might get the exact same response - except this time -
the DVD will be paused and frame after frame will be inspected down to
the final thread of over coloured dress materials.
There
are some great moments on offer, it flows well and looks and plays out
unlike any other romantic comedy in the last decade - so it's got some
originality to boot.
A word of warning to the lads, plan ahead
and leave your testicles at the door - that way, at least you'll be
able to re-attach them after the credits start rolling without ever
having to admit you enjoyed yourself. DVD EXTRAS
The folks over at the studio certainly know how to please their
audience... and rip as much cash out of their pockets as possible.
There are more Special Edition versions on the shelves for this than I
have ever seen in my life.
Hell, one version of this release
comes with a "Clutch Bag", which I am told is "AAAAAhhhhh, Oh My God!!
Awesome!!!" by several female friends.
The two disc edition
comes with a Collectable O-Ring Packaging, the aforementioned Extended
Cut, a shopping bag load of audio commentaries, a bunch of
behind-the-scene EPKs including "A Conversation with Sarah Jessica
Parker and Michael Patrick King", "Fabulous Fashion of Sex and the
City" and "Fergie in the Studio".
And just in case the two and a
half hour running time... plus the extended sequences added into the
movie weren't enough for you - there are also a bunch of additional
scenes thrown into the mix as well.
It's a looooooot of Sex And The City - but you kind of get the feeling that every girl with a copy will still want more...
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 85%
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