The Women
Lissa Coffey
Grade: C
| The Women is a re-make of the 1939 movie, and it’s updated by Diane English. Meg Ryan plays Mary, a working mom who discovers that her husband is having an affair with the perfume counter girl at Sax Fifth Avenue. Eva Mendes is the perfume girl. Annette Bening is Mary’s best friend, an aging magazine editor who sees her vision of an innovative women’s magazine slipping away into tabloid territory. Debra Messing is the other friend, a kind of earth mother who keeps having kids. And Jada Pinkett Smith is their author friend, who happens to be gay. Candice Bergen is Mary’s advice-giving mother. The cast is stellar, and they obviously have a great time together.
Even though I love Diane English, I think the weak spot in the movie is the writing. It is so cliche. When Jada comes in to Mary’s party, it’s obvious she’s gay, and yet another character has to address her as “my gay friend.” We get it already! Mary confronts the other woman when they’re both decked out in lingerie, and the other woman is literally up on a pedestal. When Mary decides to get her life together, she straightens her hair, and that does it, she’s a new woman! I wanted to love this movie, but it was just okay. It is predictible, and sometimes silly. The women play catty and and each character fits into her mold, which is obvious and stereo-typed. But the actresses are fun, and the clothes are beautiful. Definitely a chick flick. Not a man in one frame of the movie until the very end! |