What happens when the day you have been breathlessly anticipating finally arrives? You start to think it will never happen, and then just like that, you are sitting in a dark theater surrounded by gaggles of other like-minded women (and a few men). You and the other women just know that you will love Sex and the City 2, because you have loved these characters for years, and you would follow these four women anywhere. Those who never cared for the television series may not care for the film, but the filmmakers made this film for you, and other devotees of the television series. But while I loved the experience, Sex and the City 2 needs a clearer story and stronger writing. Like many sequels, Sex and the City 2 is not as satisfying as the first film.

The film starts two years after the last one ended, and the four women seem to have everything they always wanted. But is it enough? Charlotte (Kristin Davis) has the children she fought to get, but the stress of motherhood may be too much. Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is happy with her husband and child, but a sexist boss is making her job intolerable.  Samantha is getting all the commitment-free sex she wants, but her battle with menopause threatens to cool her passions.  Our heroine Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) has a happy marriage with the love of her life and a successful career. So why is she complaining?

The film has a knock out beginning, as all the characters attend the over the top wedding of friends Anthony (Mario Cantone) and Stanford (Willie Garson).  Charlotte points to Carrie and explains, “Her best gay friend is marrying my best gay friend.” The wedding features a show stopping (film stopping?) performance by Liza Minnelli as she sings and dances the Beyoncé hit “Single Ladies” and also performs the ceremony. The scenes of the friends at the wedding are among my favorites, and the wedding scenes manage to be both hilarious and strangely moving. Cantone and Garson are terrific in their scenes, and the characters have always been a great contrast to the four women. Carrie and Stanford have a meaningful pre-wedding chat and Carrie and Big (Chris Noth) are questioned about their decision not to have children.  Carrie and Big look uncomfortable, and I assumed this would be an interesting issue the film would explore. But it is not, and instead Carrie seems more concerned with her husband’s feet on their couch.

Writer/director Michael Patrick King’s script devotes too much time to the unclear problems of Carrie and Big at the expense of the more interesting and believable problems of Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha.  Carrie’s sniping at Big is not really in character and contradicts Carrie’s growth in the first film. While the couple had a real conflict (marriage and commitment) in the first film, here the conflict seems manufactured. That is a shame, because the audience would have enjoyed watching this couple deal with some real issues, and then watching Carrie and her pals discuss the problems.  The best scene in the film has Charlotte and Miranda sharing their real feelings about motherhood as they raise their glasses to toast mothers everywhere. I wish the film had more scenes like that one.

The other problem with the film is that the women leave New York for a trip to Abu Dhabi (Morocco is the real location), and this trip lasts for most of the film. While I always enjoy seeing these four on a vacation together, Abu Dhabi seems like the wrong place for them.  While there was always a sense of irony about the ridiculous clothes and even the wedding here, the opulence in Abu Dhabi seems wrong. The women stay in a hotel that looks like a palace and are served by a staff that works hard for little money. These characters should feel more than a little uncomfortable with the repression of women in this culture, but the treatment of this issue seems glossed over, yet at the same time is heavy handed. I enjoyed Miranda’s radiance and enthusiasm as she plans sight- seeing trips and urges the others to respect the local culture, but this place detracted from the story. These characters should make more than a passing reference to the current political and economic climate.

Despite being featured in the advertisements, the characters of Smith (Jason Lewis) and Aidan (John Corbett) make all too brief appearances. How could a film that runs over two and a half hours be guilty of a too cursory treatment of so many characters and issues? King spends too much time on the lavish plane, hotel rooms and camels of Abu Dhabi.  More time should have been spent on interactions between these four characters. It is the characters that the audience loves. We don’t need to see them on camels, but we do need to see them laughing and talking about their problems together. Sex and the City fans will happily accompany the women to the desert, but we would be happier accompanying them on the rich emotional journey their characters usually take.

While the four women dine together, Samantha toasts their friendship by saying, “We made a deal ages ago — men, babies it doesn’t matter — we are soul mates.” It is that connection that resonates with the audience for this film. Despite its flaws, that is why I would see Sex and the City 2 again.

Sex and the City 2.  Directed Michael Patrick King.  Sarah Jessica Parker (Carrie Bradshaw), Kristin Davis (Charlotte York), Cynthia Nixon (Miranda Hobbes), Kim Cattrall (Samantha Jones), Chris Noth  (Mr. Big), David Eigenberg (Steve Brady), Evan Handler (Harry Goldenblatt), Mario Cantone (Anthony Marantino), Willie Garson (Stanford Blatch), Liza Minnelli (Herself), Jason Lewis (Jerry ‘Smith’ Jerrod)and John Corbett (Aidan Shaw). New Line Cinema,  2010.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

 

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