Sex and the City 2

Sex and the City 2

2/5

Director: Michael Patrick King

Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis, Cynthia Nixon

It has been two years, as Carrie Bradshaw Preston (Sarah Jessica Parker) correctly points out, since the wedding debacle that had millions of women worldwide all glued to the screen wondering whether Carrie and Mr. Big (Chris Noth) would finally get their happy ending. And surprise, surprise, they did, in a simple, humble ceremony down at city hall. Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristen Davis), and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) had their own issues to deal with but were all resolved towards the end of the tiresome two-hour long first feature film of the HBO's hit television show. And they all lived happily ever after - or so we'd hoped. But these fashionable, gold-digging, shallow ladies who have overdosed on Botox are back. They have a new set of problems to sort out, and whenever they get together for their fancy brunch, all they do is complain. They whine, they moan and the only sense of relaxation for them is to purchase things. Nice new clothes, expensive jewellery, fancy new furniture and of course, cocktails.

Carrie is somewhat bored of her married life. Two years have passed, and apparently the spark has gone. Big is old, tired and wants to spend evenings staying indoors, watching television. Carrie on the other hand, wants glamour - basically she wants to spend boatloads of money as usual. Her house is a sight to behold, full of luxurious furniture imported from abroad. But ah, money can't buy happiness. Remember Carrie, from the first film? Our ditzy heroine never learns. It's unclear what it is she wants from a marriage, and we don't blame Big for being completely stumped. Samantha is afraid of ageing. She is at the menopausal age of 52, and is taking a ridiculous amount of pills in order to "trick [her] body into thinking it's younger." Her sex life has never been better - she stills jumps on anything that's good-looking and young. She even manages to get laid at a gay wedding. Charlotte has two children to raise now, and her life seems to be falling apart. No surprises there, since this girl basically grew up knowing nothing of responsibility. She hires a nanny, a superhot one, and even then she doesn't have much spare time for herself. Basically she just doesn't have a lot of time to go shopping. The nanny naturally doesn't wear a bra and is becoming an eye-candy to her husband Harry (Evan Handler). Uh-oh, Charlotte's getting insecure. Miranda hates her job more than anything. Her sexist boss is well...sexist. She quits, and now has to look for another one.

There's not a whole lot of sex in this "Sex and the City 2." So how do the writers handle the "City" part? The girls do get a change of scenery. They fly from New York to Abu Dhabi, a trip that Samantha organised thanks to her ex-boyfriend Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis in a cameo appearance) and his movie investors. The trip is first-class from the start, and even better, the girls don't need to pay for anything. And from this moment on, what we get is a shameless display of contemptuous consumerism; so much over the top luxury, so many costume changes that occur every five minutes for the four leading characters, so much glitter all over the place that make some of the scenery more tacky than impressive.

What do these ladies get up to in Abu Dhabi? They shop. They ride on camels. They go to fancy restaurants. They stare at men. They reveal cleavage and where there is cleavage, bulges follow. And yes, we get unpleasant close-ups of tight crotches. The Australian World Cup team also happens to be in Abu Dhabi, and they are all wild, wearing Speedos and up for a good swim - an excuse for the director (Michael Patrick King) to show off nude men. It's vulgar and repulsive, but the ladies dig the action. Three out of four of them are married, but who cares - they're in different countries. Speaking of dirty looks and things that can potentially destroy a marriage, Carrie runs into Aidan (John Corbett), an ex-boyfriend who was with her for quite a while. He's married and so is she. So the logical thing to do is...um...they have dinner together. You know, to reminisce over the good old days. Will Carrie be won over by Aidan's charms? Or will she remember that she does in fact have a husband back in New York who she swore to honour, cherish and obey till death do them part? Only time will tell.

Moving the "City" from New York to Abu Dhabi turns out to be a shockingly bad idea. The film cannot resist displaying a whole range of Middle Eastern stereotypes that clash with the more outgoing, flamboyant culture. Samantha gets arrested for kissing on the beach. She is also scolded by a group of angry men in a marketplace for carrying around condoms. She also attracts disapproving eyes for her insanely revealing clothes. You're in someone else's country, you play by their rules. But does she ever listen? No. She yells and swears, the good old American way, and infuriates the angry mob even more. It's when the girls get rescued by a bunch of Arab women that the film starts to take even weirder turns. In private, these Middle Eastern women reveal what's underneath the Burkhas - the latest collection from famous brands. So they're wearing two pretty thick layers. Must get incredibly hot - it's a miracle they can stand up and walk around in the middle of an Arabian dessert. With every culture shock these characters run into, naivety soon follows. It's offensive, insensitive and represents everything people hate about America. They're vastly superior, and dismiss other beliefs and cultural importance - it's so clearly shown through the four women.

Parker, Cattrall, Davis and Nixon have grown into their characters so much over the years that it would be odd to see them play anyone else. See how awkward it was to watch Cattrall in "The Ghost"? They play the characters well, capturing their unique personalities with no difficulty. There are some effective comedic moments, thanks largely to the outrageous characteristics of our four leading ladies, but the laughs are brief, and very limited. The brief cameo appearance from Penelope Cruz is random and somewhat meaningless, Liza Minnelli proves she is still in full control of her stage presence, and Miley Cyrus can pull off a dress better than Cattrall. It's glamorous, shiny, and has a bigger scale than the first film. But the thin material with trivial sub-plots and hateful characters is spread over such an unbearably long running time. Strictly for fans only, this won't win any newcomers over.

Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love

3/5

Director: Ryan Murphy

Starring: Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, James Franco

If you happen to have an ounce of cynicism in your body, avoid this like the plague. Because for the cynics amongst you, "Eat Pray Love" will no doubt be the most self-indulgent, self-satisfied and self-important film you will see all year. But for those who are truly romantics at heart, one woman's pretty looking journey across the colourful globe to find the meaning of life, searching for a true connection, physical, mental and spiritual, will be something to marvel at, admire and cherish. Is she brave for venturing out into the world, following her dreams? Or is she simply deluding herself and being selfish, materialistic and falling into excessive consumerism? Are the problems in her life really that big of a deal? The film's theme will no doubt split the audience and it's not something that appeals to a wide demographic.

Liz (Julia Roberts) is a middle-aged woman going through a divorce after disastrous years of trying to make her marriage work and is looking for some sort of consolation from a much younger man (James Franco). But the love affair is cooling off significantly, and she is once again left alone, bored and unenthusiastic about life. She needs a change of scenery, and being a travel writer, she decides to take an entire year out to do some effective soul-searching. Her first destination is Rome, where she is to do some eating. Then she plans to move on to India, a place suited for praying. Finally, she will end the year in Bali, Indonesia, where she may, just may, find the much-needed love in her life. 

It is hard to make a film out of a book that relies heavily on internal monologue. "Eat Pray Love" is based on an enormously popular bestseller written by Elizabeth Gilbert whose autobiography was an instant hit for the readers. She was looking for balance and the meaning of true happiness, and before we are able to see Julia Roberts going on the rather expensive looking trip (which Gilbert's publisher paid for in advance, a bit of detail the film decides to ignore completely for some reason), the film needs to establish that Liz is going through hell and is leading a miserable existence. This is where the casting of Roberts really pays off. Roberts, being the international superstar that she is, does not disappoint in her "solo comeback" (this is the first time she has had to carry a film by herself in nearly 7 years), with her subtle glances of sadness and vulnerability setting an effective tone at the beginning of the film. She is essentially depressed and needs something different in her life. She has spent years worrying about her future, and now she needs to have fun.

And it's a timeout that anyone would die for. In Rome she decides to stop worrying about gaining weight. She's in Italy, there are sumptuous dishes of pizza and pasta and she is not about to let a few pounds from enjoying the endless amount of fantastic food that is on offer. She does need to buy a few more pairs of jeans that fit the grown waist but who cares when the food tastes that great? There's a particularly memorable scene where Roberts tucks into a rather simple looking Spaghetti Pomodoro, which in fact, turns out to be amazing. Accompanied by "Der Hölle Rache," the famous Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's "The Magic Flute," the scene will make your tummy growl as Roberts slowly but surely finds a brief moment of true happiness with that plate of Spaghetti. 

Then she's off to India, where she stays in a Hindu temple, finding peace, praying, trying to connect with God. But being a Western woman, it's not easy to sit still, pause, and meditate for hours and hours. There are flies to distract her and she has too much going on inside her head which doesn't help since the whole point of meditation is to clear your head of any unnecessary, complex thoughts. Time literally seems to stop and each minute feels like an hour for our heroine. But like most events in this film, as enough time goes by, she gets immensely good, almost too good, at everything. Sure she does have some help. She meets a friendly man from Texas, Richard (Richard Jenkins), who helps her get rid of the burdens that are pressing down hard on her shoulders. Jenkins provides the only stand-out supporting performance and in one intimate scene that is handled perfectly by the often underrated and underused actor, his monologue will surely tug at the heartstrings. The friendship between the two is often humourous as well as deeply moving, and a lot of credit should go to Jenkins.

Good-looking men surround Gilbert during her travels, most noticeably in Bali. She almost hooks up with a man who must be at least ten years younger than the middle-aged divorcee, but the one that threatens to steal her heart is the conveniently divorced Felipe (Javier Bardem), whose business apparently lets him be wherever he wants to be (his words). So the audience is confused when he also goes on to say that his business is in Bali, so he cannot leave when Gilbert eventually plans to. Other than that slight hiccup, Felipe seems to be the perfect man for her. He's loving, caring, a great kisser...basically he's got the full package. Gilbert took this trip to be away from complications, to liberate herself, but it appears she needs a man after all to keep her happy. She visits Ketut, a medicine man whom she visited before and his words of wisdom supposedly give her Balance. She finds security and stability at long last.

Despite the excessive use of voiceovers, the film fails to show any depth relating to this woman's year-long journey. It has a lengthy running time, but spends very little bit of it trying to explain to us just how some of the events occur. The disjointed feel is partly the editor's fault, but also the careless script should also share the blame. So she's praying in India. What about? She connects with God on some level. How? She finds Balance in Bali. Again, how? By doing some charity work and raising money for a pharmacist who cannot afford to buy her own place? The soul-searching; did she succeed in the end? Was Felipe it? The whole point of the trip? The message is never clear, and the film tends to forget a lot about the previous places Gilbert had been to. When she's in India, she forgets all about Rome, when she's in Bali, India is history. The calm, soothing voice of Julia Roberts tries to explain everything. And there are some philosophical elements that try to give clever answers to the many questions that have been opened in the beginning. Because director Ryan Murphy is so focused on showing solely the beautiful, breathtaking aspect of her adventure, all that "Eat Pray Love" boils down to is nothing but a shallow and sweeping drama with a fantastic leading actress but not much else.