SATC girls’ nights outs will be adding a sparkle to towns and cities up and down the country this weekend. There’s no doubt. Women just love this franchise.
And the reason why is that it speaks to all women from all cultures – young, old (me… well, I’m not young), single, attached (me), heterosexual, gay (me). There’s a bit of every woman in Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall). These gals can irritate the hell out of you one moment, then make you feel human and understood moments later.
And SATC2 is no exception. Miranda is still juggling career and family commitments, Charlotte is still obsessing over home and family, now menopausal Samantha is still sex mad, and Carrie… Well, although settled into married life, Carrie hasn’t changed her neurotic ways. This time her ridiculous concerns lie with Mr Big’s fondness for his couch.
Yes, his couch! I’m sure you can imagine my reaction to this – gave me the hump it did.
Speaking of humps…
Carrie gets the chance to take stock of her rocky marriage situation when Samantha whisks the girls away on an all-expenses paid (by a wealthy sheik) trip to Abu Dhabi. Cue camel rides, a camel toe, stilletos in the sand and some major culture clashes as the new york gals descend upon the Middle Eastern city.
To be honest, the film’s plot is really not that important. As always, it’s the relationships between the friends that drive this show – that and the humour. And that’s there in abundance in this movie. Yes there are a few cheap jokes and some critics will no doubt lay into the movie over them, but what diehard SATC fan is going to listen to the critics anyway?
I loved SATC2. While the first Sex and the City was very much focused on Carrie’s wedding, this one is more a feelgood celebration of sisterhood, and includes a great nightclub scene with the gals singing a karaoke version of Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman (after a few of those girls nights out I’m sure we’ll be seeing loads of versions on Youtube).
It’s also got more laughs. In addition to the cheeky jokes, I was wonderfully tickled by the cameos from the vintage Liza Minnelli and the not long out of nappies Miley Cyrus (Miley makes me smiley, and Liza’s a gay icon, need I say more).
But above and beyond all that, I found much more delight in this movie sequel because it includes same sex and the city too. While the fabulous gay wedding between Charlotte’s friend Anthony with a ‘th’ (Mario Cantone) and Carrie’s pal Stanford (Willie Garson) kicks off the movie, it also includes a very hot girl who loves the ladies. Big gay presence ago-go.
Needless to say, a place has already been reserved for SATC2 on my DVD shelf.
To activate the sound in the trailer: hold your cursor over the screen to reveal the control panel and click on the volume control in the bottom right-hand corner.
Sex and the City 2 is out in cinemas today.
Come back soon for more Movie Talk on the Sex and the City girls.