Summer Blockbusters Considered 1: Sex and the City

"Welcome to the age of Uninnocence. No one has Breakfast at Tiffanys or Affairs to Remember anymore. Instead, we have breakfast at 7AM and affairs we'd like to forget as quickly as possible."

And with these tragically insightful sentences, HBO launched its series Sex and the City and introduced America to sex-columnist and certified Manolo Blahnikaholic Carrie Bradshaw and her friends Samantha Jones, Miranda Hobbes, and Charlotte York. For modern women, particularly New York women, Carrie and Co. were kindred spirits. Here where four women, each trying to make their way in a hard-edged, male-dominated city while hoping to find their storybook ending. While we fans all found something to relate to in the plot lines that developed over the 6 seasons, the ultimate success of the show lay in its ability to fearlessly and openly address the challenges of finding (and holding on to) love in an age where the divorce rate is 1 in 4 and where romance seems to exist only in Disney movies and Jane Austen novels.

When the show ended in 2004, fans were satisfied with Mr. Big's (played by the oh so sexy Chris Noth) "Carrie, you're the one" and Carrie's "Take me home!" We were satisfied with Miranda and Steve's devoted marriage. We were satisfied with Charlotte and her husband Harry, their apartment and the pending adoption of a little girl from China. And we were satisfied with Samantha, her beating cancer and her commitment to love Smith Jarrod. What more could I ask for? Sure, Carrie and Big weren't getting married, and sure, his real name was the oh so generic John, but I was happy to leave their future to the imagination. I didn't need or want a movie.

So, when it was announced that a Sex and the City movie was in production, I was nervous it would ruin what had been such a beautiful and hopeful ending to my ongoing relationship with a television series. But I admit, after watching every episode at least 4 times since 2004 I was ready for a new chapter, an update on how my girls were getting on.

I was relieved when I walked out of the theater last night. Not only had the movie remained loyal to the tv series' continuing themes that love is never like a storybook and that in New York, anything is possible, but it also remained true to the characters that had developed over several years. Each of the girls were at their best as they rallied around Carrie, her wedding, its collapse, her recovery, and her decision to embrace love.

The clothes were beautiful (true they were also extravagant, but it's Sex and the City on the big screen -- couture is necessary). The movie moved fast enough and the writers were smart to avoid dwelling on any one conflict too long. While the move was over two hours, it felt smartly edited and I was far from bored.

The only real problem I had with the film were a handful of scenes that borderlined on porn -- none of these did much to advance the plot and I found it ironic that Samantha couldn't say "fuck" but she (and the audience) could watch her neighbor fucking two girls at once.

Bottom line: **** If you're a true Sex and the City devotee, then you'll love what the writers did with the movie. It will be everything you could have wanted and more. It's no intellectual film, but it is an entertaining, feel good movie.

If you're not coming in with all the background on the relationships and the characters, you'll hate it -- really don't bother. Leave it for us fans who can finally believe that Love is possible.