Sex and the City 2 (2010)
Directed by Michael Patrick King
Written by Michael Patrick King
Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis, Cynthia Nixon
Release Date May 27th, 2010
Published May 26th, 2010
Since I am sure I will have to wield this truth as a weapon against those angry and accusatory after reading this I will get this out of the way: I really liked both the series Sex and the City and the first Sex and the City movie. The series created four unique and wonderful female characters whose outsized romantic issues were winning and funny. The film brought each character to a new and challenging emotional place in their lives. Our four heroines met these new challenges as adults with humor and sisterhood. The film was, for me, the perfect coda as it left these wonderful women in just the right emotional and romantic places in their lives.
It is unfortunate then that producers needed to bring these characters back for another film. It is especially unfortunate that they brought the ladies back without any of the wit, insight, sexuality or romance of even the series' least moments. Sex and the City 2 is little more than attempt to squeeze more money out of a franchise title.
When last we left Carrie Bradshaw she had made up with Mr. Big and the two were settling into a life together. Two years later it seems the sparkle has dimmed. Big wishes to spend all of their time on their new luxury couch watching old black and white movies. Carrie meanwhile longs for the glamor of her old life.
Samantha (Kim Cattrall) meanwhile is fighting off the march of time. At 52 years old she has turned to a drug regimen that would shame your average 70's rock band in order to maintain her youth and vitality. She remains a force in her business as her PR has turned ex-flame Smith Jarrett into an international superstar.
Charlotte has two baby girls that are slowly driving her insane, though she feels horrible admitting it. Worse yet are her fears about her new nanny (Alice Eve). The new live in caretaker has a penchant for going braless while playing with the kids, a sight that has not gone unnoticed by Charlotte's husband Harry (Evan Handler).
Finally there is Miranda who is dealing with a rude boss at her law firm. She is being dismissed by him for being a strong woman with strong opinions and the boss is busily making her miserable with constant emails and phone calls. Should she simply quit the job she has worked so hard for? Who cares because the movie has zero interest in exploring this or any of the challenges it introduces with any depth or insight.
These are the new challenges for our longtime friends and the solution given to each is a week's paid vacation in Abu Dhabi where Carrie soothes her bored soul with a flirtation with an old flame. Samantha finds herself without her drug regimen but still in rare form thanks to a new romance with an age appropriate man.
As for Charlotte and Miranda, the screenplay really doesn't have much to offer them after they arrive in the Middle East. Miranda has a few moments of wit while Charlotte is left to pray for a cell phone signal that will allow her track Harry and the nanny even though the film has zero interest in creating any real tension in Charlotte's marriage.
The Abu Dhabi portion of the film, shot on location in Morocco, is a massive waste of celluloid. The women engage in mindless consumption against a desert background. They go out of their way to offend the locals while writer-director Michael Patrick King fails to create one Middle Eastern character of any resonance. Carrie's reunion, spoiled in the trailers and commercials, is a false dramatic device that goes nowhere as the real focus seems to be ugly, over the top opulence.
All of the wit and style of Sex and the City seems to have been sucked out of the sequel. This is well attested by the opening 20 minutes of the film spent at the wedding of Carrie's gay best friend Stanford (Willie Garson) and Anthony (Mario Cantone). Where once Sex and the City was cutting edge in understanding and existing within gay culture, things have deteriorated to the point of stereotype and decrepit gay pop culture references.
Liza Minnelli as gay icon was played out nearly a decade ago. Having Liza officiate a gay wedding and then sing Single Ladies by Beyonce just seems desperate. The jokes about gays, weddings, Liza and Single Ladies, thud one after another as we wait patiently for something remotely plot-like to emerge. In the end the gay wedding exists only for these jokes which magnify the giant waste it all is.
Where the issues crafted for the first Sex and the City movie revealed interesting new things about these four wonderful women and challenged them to face life in ways they'd never had to before, Sex and the City 2 has no real interest in finding new ways to reveal and challenge them. It appears that once producers decided to go to Abu Dhabi, or rather Morocco, any interest in an actual plot was forgotten in favor of drowning in excess and flaunting opulent consumer culture. Ugh! It's just awful.
A massive groaning bore of a movie, Sex and the City 2 disgraces the series and the first film by wasting the talent of all involved and 2 hours and 20 minutes of the lives of loyal fans who will attend the film out of love and loyalty to these characters and find themselves slapped in the face by what appears to be nothing more than an excuse for all involved to take a Middle Eastern vacation together.
No insight, little romance and a complete lack of the wit that made these characters so dear to us, Sex and the City 2 rots out loud. Writer-director Michael Patrick King seems to have forgotten entirely what made this franchise so wonderful. Sure the cast and crew got an expensive vacation out of the deal but what’s in it for us?
