Every good story, like a good sandwich, should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Sex and the City, the movie, is a sandwich that delights, even if it does have a bitter filling.
The movie is smart, stylish, well paced, and fun. . .until it reaches what we expect will be the high point of the movie. Leave the theater then if you don't want to deal with the dramatic center of the film, poignantly sad, and extremely depressing.
Sex fans, take heart. There are two sweet sides surrounding that middle. You might find yourself in the middle of the film lost in despair, but all is not lost.
As a way to windup the television series in a way the finale never could, Sex delivers.
When we first rejoin Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte, we find their lives have moved on in the three years since last we met. Charlotte is happily still wed to Harry and the mother of a beautiful adopted girl, Lily; Miranda is still with Steve and living with their son in Brooklyn; Samantha is still managing her boyfriend Smith's career and living in California; and Carrie is, yes, with Big.
Without spoiling anything, I will simply say that all four of their lives change, dramatically, in the course of this film. There is a sense of onward movement and resolution with all four lives, even if at some points in the film it seems frustrated and backward moving.
Jennifer Hudson is brilliant as "Louise from St. Louis," Carrie Bradshaw's new assistant. If there is a false note in the casting, it's Candice Bergen as Carrie's editor at Vogue. We suddenly feel we've left "Sex and the City" and warped over to "Miss Congeniality," and fully expect William Shatner to walk in at any moment. I'd have left Bergen's role entirely out of the film, and had Carrie narrate the story instead. But that's me.
As a vicarious experience for a single or married female of a certain age, it's a great escape. There are margaritas in Mexico, Manolos and men, cosmos in the Big Apple, cries and Christian Dior. There's plenty of full nudity, both male and female, and explicit sex (far more than could ever have been shown in the television series), so leave the teenagers and younger at home, one scatalogical joke (which actually is pretty funny), and adult language appropriate to the situations.
Those who love fashion and fashion photography will have a particular appreciation for Carrie's Vogue photo shoot and the scenes at Bryant Park. There's plenty of product placement in the film, so much so sometimes that it seems like one long commercial (those of you who didn't know you could rent Louis Vuitton bags already will be quickly made aware, when Carrie asks the obvious question about a blue denim Louis Vuitton at Louise's side). There's even dissing of certain current cultural phenomena, like iPhones (we wonder of course why Carrie uses an Apple Mac laptop, but isn't iPhone friendly) and texting. And there are plenty of cultural cliches dressing up the set.
All four leading actresses deliver in this film, and take risks in allowing themselves to be seen in ways they might not have been previously (literally and figuratively). Sarah Jessica Parker carries the film, as she did the series, but Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis are all splendid and look great on celluloid. Chris Noth delivers a dramatic performance in his return as Big.
Go. Hang tight for the middle. There will be an end, and it's worth staying around for, even if there's rough stuff on the way there. A must for Sex fans, optional for everyone else.
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