Review: Sex and the City 2

Sex and the City 2 has a lot going on. The cast is large (so many cameos!), the storylines are many, puns -- and crotch shots -- abound, the budget is sizable, and the movie clocks in at just less than 2.5 hours.  Could the movie have been simpler? Sure, but then it wouldn't be Sex and the City.

The film begins with Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), our narrator, reminiscing about when she met Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) in NYC; this is mainly an opportunity to show how the ladies look in 1980s era fashion. From there the story moves to Connecticut, where Anthony and Stanford are getting married by Liza Minnelli (their wedding hall looks like something out of The Gay Divorcee).

Carrie is still getting used to her role as Big's wife, Charlotte's two daughters are overwhelming her (despite the help of her Irish nanny), Miranda is working with a sexist boss, and Samantha is dealing with aging. These are the basic plot threads through the film. The first portion of the film feels like a standalone episode of the former TV show, but then the ladies travel to Abu Dhabi.

Samantha is invited to the Middle-Eastern city by a sheik who wants to chat her up about public relations, and she brings her gal pals along. Here, Carrie runs into her former flame, Aidan (in a market halfway across the world, of course!), Samantha has to live without her hormones, and Charlotte searches for a good phone signal. The ladies try to deal (just barely) with the super-patriarchal society, hold "interfriendsions" for each other, and point out the conservative dress and behavior of the women in Abu Dhabi.  

For the most part, Sex and the City 2 leans towards the ridiculous. The movie attempts to convince us that these women are empowered and empowering, but it rings false. Carrie tells an eager couple that she and her husband don't plan to have kids, but doesn't seem entirely convinced herself. Miranda deals with a sexist senior partner by quitting her firm, after her husband Steve suggests she takes a break to care for their son Brady. The ladies sing Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" at karaoke. There are rare times when the movie hits an almost sincere note, such as Charlotte and Miranda's discussion (drinking game) on the difficulties of motherhood. Then a line about not knowing how women without nannies do it throws us back into the world of middle-age make-believe.

Given the importance that Sex and the City 2 places on fashion, the costuming deserves a mention here. Although there are a few nice standouts, most of the outfits Carrie wears seem like questionable choices; the newsprint dress that she wears to meet her husband for a night out caused the audience at my screening to audibly groan. Samantha's red dress at karaoke makes her look like she's headed to a gladiator match. One can only wonder at Pat Field's decisions here.

It's late May 2010. We're still in a recession, oil is leaking in the Gulf of Mexico, and some would ask: Is a fantastical movie about four chi-chi, well-off Manhattanite women really necessary? My reply: Maybe so. Like the comedies of the 1930s wherein upper-class characters behaved idiotically to the enjoyment of viewers hard-hit by the Depression, Sex and the City 2 is a mindless bit of froth. And that's not a bad thing, necessarily. Just don't go looking for deep meaning, because you won't find it here.