This is probably my biggest surprise of this film season… I really liked the Sex and the City movie. I thought it would be marginally all right but having enjoyed some of this series on HBO, I was surprised how well this translated to the theater.

Sarah Jessica Parker reprises her role as label junky, Carrie Bradshaw, who faces issues of sex and love with help from her best friends Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon). After some time apart the quartet find themselves drawn together again to wade through difficult times.

Thankfully this film managed to avoid almost all of the things I was dreading. It didn’t rehash every relationship from the series. It didn’t try to revisit every character from the series. It didn’t get overly mushy. It was neither too silly nor too serious. Most importantly, it managed to avoid being predictable. Each time I though I knew where the story was headed it would change direction just enough to keep me guessing.

Going in I was concerned that I had only seen seasons one through, oh, about four and a half. So much happened in the last couple seasons that I just knew I’d be lost. The rough overview at the beginning quickly ended my fears and I found that it was easy to pick up what pieces I missed out on from the series. The writers on this deserve a lot of credit for realizing that not everyone would have seen the series and made it accessible to anyone, fan or not.

Some of the best parts in this movie are the surprises and reactions. The acting was great. Everything from the unexpected violent outbursts, the angry glares and the perfect comedic timing was handled expertly.

Great care was taken to run you though a full arsenal of emotions. There are parts where it feels you are part of the party and in some scenes you feel like you’re intruding on something horrifically private.

These emotions were handled very delicately and with extreme sensitivity. There is a scene of utter depression that was handled with such beauty and dignity that words cannot do it justice. Then, right as everything looks to be bleak forever, something really funny happens and snaps the pall over the audience who erupts with laughter.

There were many lessons to be garnered from this movie just like its original series. Most of those were about the importance of friendship, being truthful and how special forgiveness can be. One fascinating point it made is that “good guys” aren’t perfect and can do bad things and “bad guys” may do bad things but not out of maliciousness and not always for the reasons you might expect. For every point there seems to be a counter point.

Guess that’s the conclusion I’m getting at… this film is well balanced. Emotionally it may feel like a roller coaster but it balances the good feelings with the bad giving it a more realistic feel than most romantic comedies.

As the credits rolled I leaned over and asked Isabel “so, did you get all weepy or did you laugh more.”

“Ha,” she sniffled, “I don’t know. I was laughing and crying at the same time!”

Yes, well balanced indeed.

Verdict | Watch It

I loved the series and I cannot wait until I see the movie. The series will be hard to top!

Loved this movie!

I find it ironic that some of the negative things I have heard about the movie are about the sex.  What?  The show was called Sex and the City!  Um.....it’s about sex. I don’t get that criticism at all.

FYI Brick Readers: Kung Fu Panda is at the Science Museum IMAX!  Shows are at 10am and 1pm! I’m going!
http://www.smv.org/nowshowing/schedule.asp

haven’t seen this one yet - definitely looking forward to it!