Sex and the City (2008) * * *

Directed by:  Michael Patrick King

Starring:  Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, Mario Cantone, Willie Garson, Jason Lewis, David Eigenberg, Evan Handler

I enjoyed the HBO series Sex and the City very much, but after viewing both movies a few times, I believe the girls may be better in small doses.     My enthusiasm for both Sex and the City films has waned over the last couple of years.     There was a time when I find these characters frank, fresh, and likable.     They retain some of their likability, but perhaps two-plus hours of Carrie and company is too much of a good thing.

Sex and the City picks up approximately five years after the ending of the series, in which Carrie and the very rich Mr. Big (Noth) reunited in Paris.     They are engaged and all set to move into a very large Park Avenue apartment which has more than enough closet space for all of Carrie's shoes.     But because Mr. Big is Mr. Big, the wedding will not be without dramatic complications.     He gets cold feet and calls off the wedding at the last minute, which forces Carrie to go to on her Mexican honeymoon with her three galpals.    And what a nice honeymoon suite!   Carrie says, "I have to go, I put it all on my credit card."    But she is depressed for obvious reasons, while Charlotte (Davis) gets an attack of the runs by accidentally drinking the water (uh huh) and Miranda (Nixon) is busted on for having too much bush.

Once the Mexican honeymoon is over, Carrie goes back to New York where she hires a nice assistant (Hudson), who is looking for her true love and helps Carrie get organized.     Some of the mysteries of Carrie Bradshaw is how someone who writes a weekly column in a New York magazine can a.) afford to live there even in a rent-controlled apartment and b.) can afford an assistant or c.) can afford such fashionable clothes and a shoe collection to rival Immelda Marcos.    Such things are not explained and are not supposed to be asked in a movie like this.

The other girls have issues of their own.  Samantha (Cattrall) lives in L.A. with her TV-star boyfriend (Lewis), but feels suffocated in the relationship.     Miranda's husband Steve cheated on her and they go through a separation, while Charlotte is happily married but can't get pregnant.     Each of these issues are resolved to everyone's satisfaction, only it takes over two hours to do so instead of a half-hour.    The men take a back seat in each of the subplots, especially Mr. Big. 

The Mr. Big character (real name John Preston) is a puzzle.    Although he's ruggedly handsome, he doesn't bring much to the table.    Most of his conversations with the other characters involve no more than a few sentences.     Does he have anything of interest to say?    In all of the years he has been a part of Sex and the City, I don't recall anything that stands out.    He seems to regard Carrie as cute and lovable like a kitten, but there isn't much heat there.    Maybe Carrie has been spared years worth of silent dinners.

The girls don't really stretch much from their series days.    Samantha is still all about sex, even at 50.   It's amazing she can get any work done.     Charlotte is a naive true believer in love, while Miranda approaches her life and marriage with plenty of logic but little passion.     Like most of the series, the other three girls don't seem to share much time with each other unless Carrie is around.    

My opinion of Sex and the City about six years ago was much more enthusiastic than it is now.    Back then, I felt that seeing these characters was like seeing old friends again.    After a recent viewing, I'm starting to believe that everything should've been left alone when the series called it quits in 2004.     I like certain aspects of this movie, mostly because of my familiarity with the series and some funny moments born out of its natural frankness, but is it entirely necessary?  Probably not, but since I'm on the fence, I'll push the star meter to three and call it a day.