A remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic film of the same name which was based on Clare Booth's play, this mildly tolerable but disjointed pic plays more like 'Sex and the City' but with no sex.
After suffering through 'Mamma Mia!' and now 'The Women' which literally makes a point to not feature one man in the film (I'm not talking just small roles, or extras but none!), I feel like I may need to hand in my hetero card. And it's not that I mind musicals and chick flicks, it's just that I mind bad ones. Luckily, I have 'The Dark Knight' waiting in the wings as a palette cleanser.
So back to 'The Women'
The original was well-known for its all star cast of Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell among others and this new version makes an effort to assemble a formidable well-known cast as well headlined by Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Debra Messing with smaller roles filled by Eva Mendes, Cloris Leachman, Bette Midler and Candice Bergen.
But all the female talent in the world couldn't do much to raise the stale script from 'Murphy Brown' creator Diane English above merely passable. A sadly odd-looking Meg Ryan with, let's face it, fish lips is the epicenter of the film as Mary, a upper-society wife and mother who works for her dad and throws fundraising parties and whines about how her famous Wall Street husband is always working.
Surrounding and supporting her is Sylvie (Annette Bening), a women's magazine editor desperate to add some class to her ailing publication and the only character in the film that would credibly be Mary's friend.
The other two is the maternal Edie (Debra Messing) whos in a constant state of pregnancy and Alex (Jada Pinkett-Smith), the straight-shooting sassy lesbian. The film makes it unclear how this group found each other and even like each other.
While getting a manicure at Saks from a gossipy gabbie (Debi Mazar), Sylvie learns that Mary's high-powered husband is cheating on her with a Saks "spritzer" girl. Naturally, she freaks and lets spill to the other gals but is torn on if she should tell Mary or not. Turns out she doesn't have to when Mary gets a manicure from that same gossip girl...sigh.
This affair is essentially the plot driver as friends offer support and even betrayal and Mary has to pick herself up and start living life again. These trials are interspersed with smaller subplots of Mary's daughter trying to find herself and Sylvie dealing with the fact that she may lose the job she worked her whole life for.
And between all the gabbing, hugging, shopping and cocktails, actresses like Bergen, Leachman, Bette Midler and Carrie Fisher pop in and out and walk away with the best scenes particularly Bergen as Ryan's proud but worn-down mother and Leachman as Mary's wily, sarcastic maid.
As this is Diane English's first crack at a feature film, you can almost feel and see the desperation to prove herself a decade after 'Murphy Brown' went off the air. A more subtle, streamlined script would have helped immeasurably. Okay stuff for Lifetime channel watchers, even the pink and purple packaging with the New York City skyline reeks of 'Sex and the City'-lite.
Not a film that screams to be seen in high-def, 'The Women's' 1.85:1 1080p VC1 transfer is perfectly fine with nice detail, color and contrast but nothing flashy or justifying a higher price for high-def. A Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is provided and is again acceptable for what the film is.
We get a few special features starting with some additional scenes. 'The Women-The Legacy' takes a look at the play and original film and offers a few interesting anecdotes - Mick Jagger is executive producer?!! 'The Women behind the Women' includes some on-set interviews and other woman publication info related Bening's character.
Clearly, this film was geared towards a certain demographic I'm not a part of but there's no escaping the mediocrity of this picture regardless of what chromosomes you're sporting. It might make an okay rental or present for a female loved one (judging by my wife's more positive response) but even then, I might suggest going with the cheaper DVD counterpart. There's nothing in this pic that screams 1080p.
The Woman [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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