I wasn't a fan of the television show "Sex in the City." Let's get that out of the way right now. The show grated my nerves and any time I tried to watch it I became mildly enraged. I thought it was fluffy throwaway trash. I still feel that way. I know people love it and are rabidly defensive about it like I am about all the shows I love. Sorry folks, I just don't like it. But the trailers for this movie lured me in with their flashy fashions and promises of romance and the presence of the lovely Jennifer Hudson, so after having a shitty week I decided to make a girl's night out and give the movie a chance. I'm glad I did.

I've never been the biggest fan of Sarah Jessica Parker. I loved her in "State and Main" but other than that I've just never connected with her as an actress. She's not BAD, per se, but she's kind of plastic and over-the-top, which I suppose is perfect for a soapy show like "Sex in the City" and it actually worked well in this movie. There were points when I wanted to throw a stiletto heel at the screen, but somehow her character always managed to win me over. Kristin Davis is gorgeous, but I'm sorry, she's way too over-the-top and exaggerated for my taste. She's cute but she doesn't seem real to me so I found it hard to care about her and she too made me want to throw shoes.

I don't agree with a lot of the choices her character Miranda made, but I think those choices were complex enough to ring mostly true to life. She's alternately bitchy and endearing, and I think that of the four main characters, she reminded me most of women I actually know in real life. What about the plot? Well...it's a tad lengthy. It's like the writers of the script tried to cram a TV season's worth of events into a two hour movie, so every time you turn around some crisis is happening and seasons are changing willy-nilly and it's all a bit garbled, but again, the movie managed to reach down to my inner girly-girl and connect with me enough to keep me watching. I've pictured what it would be like to have a big wedding (and I've vomited immediately afterward, but I know how stressful that time might be and I can relate to how a girl might react during the stress of everything).

I think it's sweet when a character finds out she's pregnant, and even if it Is over-the-top I'm heartened to see three women rally around to help their friend when she feels rejected by a man. Speaking of men, the two men in this movie are clearly multilayered and my hat goes off to David Eigenberg and Chris Noth for endowing their characters with real-life personality in the limited screen time they were given. I actually cried more than once during this movie (I'm a sap) because these men actually went through some heart wrenching things and the actors brought the emotion home.

Don't worry, I saw it and took it in, but the things I liked always managed to chime in just in time for me to enjoy myself again. Let's be honest, this isn't rocket science and it's nothing brilliant or groundbreaking and it ain't gonna change the way I look at cinema. Contrary to popular belief, I didn't think the series was all that groundbreaking or astounding either. Sue me, I couldn't stand it and only made myself sit through two episodes before bailing to keep from gouging my eyes out... it's safe to say I wasn't impressed and I probably wasn't the target audience for this movie because of that, but I liked the movie anyway. So there. This movie does exactly what it's supposed to do, hits every chick flick note with enough enthusiasm that I was entertained from the start, and it gave me two of the most fun hours I've had all week. For that, I'm grateful.