Flicking through the movie channels last night, I came across a film simply entitled, ‘The Women’. I gave the blurb a quick read, and settled down to watch. Before I continue, I must point out that I was after some easy viewing and didn’t really want to think too hard about the film. Luckily, ‘The Women’ fitted the bill.
Meg Ryan is the leading lady, and is back at her best. One of our favourite rom-com queens, she delivers in every sense. Playing the Manhattan wife, Mary Haines, she discovers that her hot shot husband is cheating on her with a Saks ‘spritzer’ girl (perfume to you and me). Eva Mendes, who plays the gold-digging marriage breaker, is everything you want from the ‘other woman’. Sexy. Confident. A bitch. The film revolves around Mary receiving advice from all the women in her life, including her three best friends, mother, house-keeper and even strangers.
So what’s so good about this ‘Sex and the City wannabe’? To be honest I’m not too sure. The story itself lacks any real substance. The characters are bland are each try to portray a stereotype of women, and fail in doing so. I have to say, it’s the acting that makes up for it. Meg Ryan is particularly excellent, especially the scene where we see her eating butter dipped in cocoa powder. There are also colourful cameos from Carrie Fisher and Bette Midler, while Candice Bergen steals all the best lines as Mary's mother.
So overall, its one of those films that easy to watch, and easy to forget. Nothing great, nothing special. It lacked the sparkle of films like ‘Sex and The City’ and ‘The First Wives Club’ (Yes I know, I’d forgotten how good that was!) Its only cool gimmick was having an all female cast up until the last scene when Debra Messing's character gives birth to a baby boy.
Apparently this film is based on the classic 1939 film by George Cukor, of the same name. Maybe I need to hunt that down and compare. Might as well see why director Diane English wanted to desperately re-make it, and potentially ruin it.
Grade: C- (4.5/10)
