So, finally, last night I got to see SATC2! you may recall in a previous post that seats had been booked in advance? yes, seats had been booked in advance but when we turned up last week one of said seats was broken! so after wheedling a free cinema voucher out of the staff and still on a cheap Cosmopolitan buzz we had to retire to La Tasca and seek solace in the delights of their strong Sangria. After that, the evening went decidedly un-glam with my friend devouring a Burger King (I had a coffee in a paper cup in there and had to ask to be let into the toilets) and then us hanging around the bus station like people half our age. I pressed my face up against Subway for a bit as that was all that was open. Not exactly downtown Manhattan, can't imagine Carrie et al doing that, but anyway...
Last night's attempt to see the film was more successful. Cocktails were still quaffed but this time, crucially, so was more food so we weren't half cut this time as we arrived at the cinema. This is not going to be a whole film review, per se, as I feel the media has been saturated with that for the past few weeks. This blog merely follows up from it's predecessor on the same subject referencing SATC in my own terms and what it means to me.
The film takes place two years after the last one left off so we get to see what has been going on in our beloved gals' lives. Without being too snidey I feel some surgery; SJP never had those breasts before and Kristin Davis looked a bit startled/manic as if she has overdone the Botox, but anyway... Carrie and Big (or are we calling him John now?) have been married for two years and so are adjusting to life as a newly married couple. This was particularly resonant for me as I have been married almost two years and it is indeed a period of adjustment (not necessarily in a bad way.) My husband and I (to quote dear Queen Lizzie) are still unsure if we will start a family and there is a scene in the film where Carrie has to justify to some nosey old bint at a wedding that it may 'just be us two'. This struck a chord as I find myself having to do this on an almost weekly basis as it is just assumed that babies will follow swiftly after you've said your "I dos". Your fertility seems to be every Tom, Dick and Harry's business and even in 2010 the idea that you may go against the grain and possibly not procreate is met with bemusement, bafflement and embarrassment (usually your own).
The other part which actually made me LOL, to use common parlance, was Big's penchant for watching "The Deadliest Catch" on the newly acquired giant flat screen television in the bedroom. My dear husband is also a fan of this programme, which by and large seems to be the same episode every time I have seen it. Good to know that even fictitious husbands are guilty of this!
Unfortunately the majority of the film is set in the 'New Middle East' in what I can only describe as a 'romp' through badly stereotyped Abu Dhabi. The girls descend on the city on Samantha's PR Junket and arrive proffering baggage a plenty and I'm not just referring to the hundreds of pieces of luggage they arrive toting. It is through this "Carry On (Carrie on?) through the Desert" style sojourn that the film and SATC 'inc' starts to lose the plot Big style (ha ha did you see what I did there?). With the exception of Miranda, the feisty females seem to revert back to the old neuroses that I thought they'd long shaken off a few series ago. I won't go into all the ins and outs of what was wrong with this portion of the film but cliche and stereotypes abound. I expect for some of the non-passport owning American audience this is exactly what they imagine foreign lands to be like - Shame on you writers!
It was entertaining enough if you take it for what it is, I wasn't expecting a huge plot twist or a clever narrative. It wasn't Hitchcock or Kubrick but neither was it trying to be! I won't ever give up on SATC. I loved the original series. The first film was quite good. The second film is ok. I believe there is a 3rd film planned but one can only imagine how further the characters will be assassinated in that...
In summary my friend Paula said "I took quite a lot from the SATC series in relation to my own life and what I wanted from it. I felt quite a connection to the character of Carrie. Although I can't deny that I enjoyed the movie, the cheesiness and cliche has completely shit all over the true meaning".
I couldn't help but wonder...if she was right?
(True fans may also be interested to read this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/may/23/sex-and-the-city-film-terrible )
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