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ROUTINE SEX: DRESSED UP IN MANOLOS
Mouths worldwide were left agape in 1998 when HBO debuted its groundbreaking series, Sex and the City. “Do women really talk like that?” The show introduced 30 and 40 something’s Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda as workaholic, fashionista New Yorkers with a propensity to discuss sex like horny college frat boys. SATC marked the end of days when men thought they were the only ones who used the “c-word” – don’t make me say it – to describe women.
Series creator Michael Patrick King delivered a nice little bonbon with 2008’s film version of the show. Crude and colorful, fun and uncomfortably honest in almost all the right ways, the film was widely accepted by critics. 2010’s follow up is equally decadent and gay; “gay,” as it is traditionally defined as “merry,” and also gay as it refers to groom-groom weddings in Connecticut, complete with choir boys donning silver top hats who sing renditions of “Sunrise, Sunset” for the invitees.
The film is episodic like the series, cut into geographic and storied vignettes. From “broom” wedding (that’s bride plus groom for the SATC lingo-challenged) to Manhattan, to opulent vacation in the Middle East and back. It would be more effective if the vignettes had plots, but they really don’t. The characters are already established and mostly remain static, experiencing as much new growth as Samantha experiences new sexual positions.
The true SATC cult following won’t care about the lack of substance here. SATC 2 is like having a candy lollipop (no phallic pun intended) for dinner – while it leaves you wanting nourishment and adults might be embarrassed to sustain themselves with something so frivolous, it’s indulgent and satisfying for a few hours.
The nourishing plot points in the layers of the sticky-sweet, saccharin SATC 2 pop? Miranda is under-appreciated at work. Charlotte struggles to maintain her sanity while her buxom nanny juggles her kids without a bra. Carrie defends her unconventional marriage with Big, after they decide to live in separate apartments for two days a week. And Samantha? A little slap from the Middle Eastern hand of the law when she learns she can’t be “affectionate” in public while on vacation.
The film never takes itself too seriously, which is to its credit. There are brutally honest and heartfelt scenes (watch Charlotte lose it when her child finger paints her vintage Valentino skirt) thrown into the mix with force-fed moments of infidelity with past love interests that don’t actually serve as a method for dynamic change, but who cares? This lollipop looks so good when dressed in Gucci on vacation in Abu Dhabi!
Bigger is better with this sequel, which packs in appearances from former series flames and inflates ostentatious to a whole new level when the girls get an all-expense paid vacation equipped with everything from private butlers and limousines to hand-picked glittery garbs for camel rides.
Cameos by Liza Minelli (covering a Beyonce song in tight black sequins) and Miley Cirus (who upstages Samantha on the red carpet in an US Weekly who-wore-it-better moment) will leave SATC cult members squealing with excitement.
Whenever SATC 2 aims for honesty or a faint touch of reality, it falls short. Carrie’s poor book reviews and careless relationship decisions are barely covered in the story, and the audience’s nonchalance will follow probable suit. The harsh reality of oppressed Middle Eastern women is continually made light of, ultimately dismissed as an issue easily solved by donning the new Louis Vuitton line under a burka.
Whatever. Sex and the City 2 provides a nice little reality distraction for its cult members. And if all they find at the center of the lollypop is an abundance of sexual profanity and Liza Minelli dancing at a gay wedding, they’ll get their money’s worth.
Mouths worldwide were left agape in 1998 when HBO debuted its groundbreaking series, Sex and the City. “Do women really talk like that?” The show introduced 30 and 40 something’s Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda as workaholic, fashionista New Yorkers with a propensity to discuss sex like horny college frat boys. SATC marked the end of days when men thought they were the only ones who used the “c-word” – don’t make me say it – to describe women.
Series creator Michael Patrick King delivered a nice little bonbon with 2008’s film version of the show. Crude and colorful, fun and uncomfortably honest in almost all the right ways, the film was widely accepted by critics. 2010’s follow up is equally decadent and gay; “gay,” as it is traditionally defined as “merry,” and also gay as it refers to groom-groom weddings in Connecticut, complete with choir boys donning silver top hats who sing renditions of “Sunrise, Sunset” for the invitees.
The film is episodic like the series, cut into geographic and storied vignettes. From “broom” wedding (that’s bride plus groom for the SATC lingo-challenged) to Manhattan, to opulent vacation in the Middle East and back. It would be more effective if the vignettes had plots, but they really don’t. The characters are already established and mostly remain static, experiencing as much new growth as Samantha experiences new sexual positions.
The true SATC cult following won’t care about the lack of substance here. SATC 2 is like having a candy lollipop (no phallic pun intended) for dinner – while it leaves you wanting nourishment and adults might be embarrassed to sustain themselves with something so frivolous, it’s indulgent and satisfying for a few hours.
The nourishing plot points in the layers of the sticky-sweet, saccharin SATC 2 pop? Miranda is under-appreciated at work. Charlotte struggles to maintain her sanity while her buxom nanny juggles her kids without a bra. Carrie defends her unconventional marriage with Big, after they decide to live in separate apartments for two days a week. And Samantha? A little slap from the Middle Eastern hand of the law when she learns she can’t be “affectionate” in public while on vacation.
The film never takes itself too seriously, which is to its credit. There are brutally honest and heartfelt scenes (watch Charlotte lose it when her child finger paints her vintage Valentino skirt) thrown into the mix with force-fed moments of infidelity with past love interests that don’t actually serve as a method for dynamic change, but who cares? This lollipop looks so good when dressed in Gucci on vacation in Abu Dhabi!
Bigger is better with this sequel, which packs in appearances from former series flames and inflates ostentatious to a whole new level when the girls get an all-expense paid vacation equipped with everything from private butlers and limousines to hand-picked glittery garbs for camel rides.
Cameos by Liza Minelli (covering a Beyonce song in tight black sequins) and Miley Cirus (who upstages Samantha on the red carpet in an US Weekly who-wore-it-better moment) will leave SATC cult members squealing with excitement.
Whenever SATC 2 aims for honesty or a faint touch of reality, it falls short. Carrie’s poor book reviews and careless relationship decisions are barely covered in the story, and the audience’s nonchalance will follow probable suit. The harsh reality of oppressed Middle Eastern women is continually made light of, ultimately dismissed as an issue easily solved by donning the new Louis Vuitton line under a burka.
Whatever. Sex and the City 2 provides a nice little reality distraction for its cult members. And if all they find at the center of the lollypop is an abundance of sexual profanity and Liza Minelli dancing at a gay wedding, they’ll get their money’s worth.