Sex and the City

OK, like many gay men I am a fan of the television series. I liked the endless parade of handsome men. I liked seeing the fashions even though I am not the typically gay man style fashionista. And I enjoyed the fun; the girls were usually having fun in the series.

So how well does it all translate to the big screen?

Well, let me fast forward to a single scene in the movie. That is the one scene in which Candice Bergen appears. Candice was such an attractive woman in earlier days but her appearance here is a shock. She has a bloated look and seems to be going down the road of a Shirley Knight or a Shelley Winters. But more significantly in this film Candice delivers her dialogue without a hint of the edge that was a mark of her comedic ability in the television series Murphy Brown.

This seems to me to be symptomatic of the film. It lacks the edge of the television series. The girls don't seem to be having fun. The fashions are there and the New York cafe scenes that I love are there but it is all a little bland...and quiet.

That isn't to say there aren't the occasional fun moments. Kim Cattrell's sushi scene is a pretty good one.

Unlike the television series the parade of handsome men in the movie is sparse. David Eigenberg has grown sexier with age whilst Jason Lewis' looks seemed to have hardened. The other highlight on the man front is Gilles Marini who is seen mostly naked and engaging in sex. We see Gilles' apparently massive dick briefly from side on in a shower scene.

It looks like the film will be a commercial success. I was taken aback to find that at 11.30am, six of the later sessions at the Broadway Cinemas today were already sold out. The 12.15pm session I saw was well attended.

Compared with its television predecessor, the movie is a disappointment.