Sex and the City
New Line Cinema
5 teaspoons of Bosco
I have a confession. One of my all time favorite television shows was Sex and the City and I was heartbroken when the show ended. I refuse to watch the edited version on regular television. To me the attraction of the show was the relative freedom the producers had on HBO to tell the story in an uncensored manner. When it is edited it's like they ripped the heart from the show.
So, imagine my joy when I found out two years ago that there was going to be a Sex and the City movie. The movie opened on Friday. I am getting "Carried Away". But, I digress.
Somehow, someway, executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker has reunited most of the actors and behind-the-scenes people involved with the successful television series involved with the movie.
And the biggest coup of all was getting Michael Patrick King to direct and write this screenplay. He's the only one that can make the arch from the TV series to the feature length movie and probably has the most passion for the show than anybody. But when you come right down to it, the television series was written and shot like they were mini-movies anyway. So producing a two hour story, especially when you have four main characters and four interlocking stories is not a stretch.
I'm not going to give away the plot of this movie but basically the movie picks up, in real time, four years after the last episode of the television series. This was one of those rare situations, that even though the TV series wrapped up to almost everybodies satisfaction...there are more stories to tell and a movie is a great vehicle to do this.
Some have complained that the show lost it's edge a long time ago when the women stopped being single and got either married or in committed relationships. I disagree. People in real life evolve and these characters evolved. I want to see how they, now in their early 40's deal with relationships and deeper challenges than what to wear to the cocktail party or what shoes to buy. For the true fans of the show, we know that it really isn't about four women romping from one sexual escapade to another. It's really about relationships among friends, about romance, and about independent professional women living in the most exciting city in America. The sex is fun and gets you into the series, but you stay for the stories.
The other thing that I always enjoyed about the show was the men and how they are portrayed. Unlike the other Candace Bushnell book made into a TV show, "Lipstick Jungle", where the men are shallow and just an accesorie to the three main characters, SATC's men are more times than not interesting, successful, confident, stylish, and strong...men's men.
One of the things that King did was write into the movie a new character...a younger version of Carrie played wonderfully by Jennifer Hudson. Through this device we are able to see the show in full circle. Here is a young lady coming into New York City with wide-eyed optimism sort of like Carrie in the first season juxtaposed against the older and wiser Carrie Bradshaw.
And like the television series the movie leaves us wanting more. And we'll probably get it. We can only hope.
Previewed by Allen Bacon, Editor, The Daily Bosco
Photo Credit: HBO Films
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