I confess I came into this a Sex and the City virgin having never seen an episode of the long running TV series or caught the first film, but at 2 1/2 hour’s long, I came away from Sex and the City 2 feeling I knew all I ever needed to about the estrogen-fuelled comedy. Essentially it's about how often can four wealthy women change their lavish outfits. In 2 1/2 hours, the answer is a lot.
Considering it’s been twelve years since Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Samantha (Kim Cattrall) first got together on screen to talk about all the intimate details of their glamorous lives and show off their extensive wardrobes, clearly the formula has worked well. Its appeal lies in its overtly campy nature, which enables it to indulge itself, conjuring up elaborate scenes designed solely to present the girls in fabulous settings wearing even more glamorous clothes. With the City in the film’s title shifting from New York to Abu Dhabi, the opportunity for exotic settings and outfits became even greater, and one that wasn’t missed.
For fans, the film provides a chance to hang out with old friends, living vicariously the privileged life they can only dream of having. So an all expenses paid trip for the girls in the United Arab Emirates, courtesy of a wealthy hotel owner who is hoping Samantha can raise the hotel’s profile in America, provides a nice break. But before the four fly off in a luxury private jet, there is the inconvenience of having to provide all of the girls with some personal issue that they have to resolve. It’s a token gesture towards giving the film a loose framework.
For Carrie, it is concern that her two-year marriage to Big (Chris Noth) is becoming stale. Charlotte’s issue is leaving her husband at home with the young, bra-less nanny (Alice Eve). Miranda has a problem with her career, having just resigned from her law firm. As for Samantha, her only concerns remain delaying the onset of menopause and sleeping with as many men as possible. But all of these plot lines are dealt with as superficially as possible so the film can get on with the serious business of finding another opportunity for a costume change.
There are definitely some fun moments as the writer/director and the show’s creator, Michael Patrick King, knows his audience very well and gives them exactly what they want. One scene involves a flamboyant gay wedding at which one guest exclaims, “Could this wedding get any gayer?” followed immediately by the arrival of Liza Minnelli who promptly performs a song and dance routine accompanied by two Minnelli clones. Given the majestic desertscapes, I am sure there were many reasons for setting the bulk of the film in the UAE. I just hope it wasn’t all done simply as an elaborate set-up for Samantha’s line when a handsome Danish architect man appears over the sand dunes and she speculates whether he is her “Lawrence of My Labia.”
With a story line that could barely sustain a commercial, let alone a film 2 ½ hour’s long, it’s safe to say Sex and the City 2 contains a lot of filler. An awful lot. But given how the years are taking their toll on the girls, who don’t fare quite so well in close-ups on the big screen, there may not be many opportunities to see much more of them so, for hardcore fans, I’m sure the longer the better. For everyone else, well . . .
Kevin Murphy
