Friday, September 12, 2008

Movie review: The Women

By Alex Bentley

The Women

Mary Haines is a clothing designer who seems to have it all--a beautiful country home, a rich financier husband, an adorable 11-year-old daughter and a part-time career creating designs for her father's venerable clothing company. Her best friend, Sylvie Fowler, leads another enviable life--a happily single editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a possessor of a huge closet of designer clothes and a revered arbiter of taste and style poised on New York's cutting edge. But when Mary's husband enters into an affair with Crystal Allen, a sultry "spritzer girl" lurking behind the Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter, all hell breaks loose. Mary and Sylvie's relationship is tested to the breaking point while their tight-knit circle of friends, including mega-mommy Edie Cohen and author Alex Fisher, all start to question their own friendships and romantic relationships as well.

Source: Cinema Source

• Showtimes and more on The Women

There are chick flicks and then there are chick flicks. Writer/director Diane English, best known (or perhaps only known) for creating the TV series Murphy Brown, has definitely made a chick flick with The Women, an update of the 1939 George Cukor film, which was based on the Clare Booth Luce play.

How can you tell it’s a chick flick? Well, for one, in homage to the 1939 film, not a single man makes an appearance on screen. Yes, in a move that’s impressive in its logistics but strange in its reasoning, there is nary a male to be found in the film – not in voice, not even just walking in the background. In a movie set in New York City, English has managed to erase any physical evidence of the Y chromosome.

"Can you believe I'm in this horrible movie?"

That’s not to say that men don’t have a presence in the film. In fact, the film almost revolves around them. Steven, the husband of Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), is mentioned the most, as he is discovered to be having an affair with Crystal (Eva Mendes), a perfume spritzer girl at Saks Fifth Avenue. Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening) must deal with her male boss; as the relatively new editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine, Sylvia is in a constant fight with her publisher over the direction of the book. Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) doesn't have a problem with her husband other than the fact that he may pay her a little too much attention, as they have four children and one on the way. The only main character exempt from having to deal with a man is Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett Smith), as she’s – natch – a lesbian.

What is at first a mildly amusing diversion gets to be downright distracting as English finds more and more elaborate ways to keep men out of the film. Nearly every significant conversation with a man takes place over the telephone. Edie’s husband’s absence from their home is explained away by saying that they rented an apartment downstairs “so he can have some space,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. The absurdity reaches its zenith when Mary and Steven have an argument at home, and, instead of actually showing us the argument, their nanny (Tilly Scott Pedersen) recounts the entire fight (replete with “he saids” and “she saids”) to the housekeeper (Cloris Leachman).

"I know, I can't believe it either!"

That critique is not of intent but rather of execution; there are numerable ways in which English could have improved her “86 the men” plan. However, the absence of men is far from the film’s only flaw. Much of the film’s dialogue and situations seem forced and formulaic, something that might be a hangover from English’s sitcom days. There are several times in the film where a character comes up with a mini-soliloquy that’s at odds with the rest of the script, almost as if they were reading the lines off a teleprompter.

None of the actresses can do much with what they’re given. The four main women (Ryan, Bening, Messing, and Smith) are an ultra-low rent version of the foursome from Sex and the City – the reason they are all friends, given their disparity in age and careers, is never made clear, and their friendship is never believable as a result. Candice Bergen comes off best as Mary’s mom, not surprising since she starred in Murphy Brown. Especially egregious is the inclusion of a late cameo by Bette Midler. Her role is absolutely unnecessary, and her hammy acting only serves to heighten that error.

The Women could’ve been an empowering film for females looking for positive reinforcement. Instead, it’s a shallow, cliché-ridden mess that should be an embarrassment to anyone involved with the film.

Related stories

• Repertory Company Theatre to debut The Women following opening of film version (Aug. 26, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Arts > Movies / Film > Independent Films

Comments

Jason Rice Verified

Ouch! Alex, I'd make a PMS joke, but well... anyway.

Frankly, I'm not about to venture out to see this. The stage play left permanent creases on my lower lip, but you have braved it and I ask your help in avoiding it by sating my curiosity vicariously.

Are you familiar with the stage play? It's possible English was trying to stay true to the stage version which nixes the men pretty well. All the scenes onstage are interiors with a couple of phone calls - not lots, a couple. Film goers require so much more presence and so many more locales. (Witness the runaway success of My Dinner with Andre - I'm thinking of doing a musical of it)

The contrivances of stage buy you a LOT of clearance. Monologues can pop out of nowhere when we know the medium supports them. Film soliloquies can usually look pretty dumb.(insert list of exceptions)

I might suggest catching what is probably a good rendition of the stage version over at Repertory Theater Company -- yeah you probably know about it because you guys already have a link back to this review (dang you're good).

Anyway, anyone braving the both of them, I'd love to hear the tale.

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Alex Bentley Staff

Jason,

Nope, haven't seen the play. I can imagine the absence of men in the play is more believable since there's not, you know, hundreds of people on stage (at least, not usually).

But, like I said in the review, it's not the absence of men that bothers me but the way in which English does it. I know we're supposed to suspend our disbelief when watching movies, but seriously, not one man just walking in the background on the streets of New York City?

I guess what it comes down to is that English could've been much more subtle about the lack of men and focused entirely on, uh, the women, but instead she hit us over the head constantly by essentially saying, "Hey, look -- no men here!"

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Jason Rice Verified

::Eva Mendes is as great of a bitch in it as Joan Crawford!!

Touché, yeah, that's an act to follow.

Well, Alex, on behalf of the few Y chromosomes out here, thanks for taking one for the team. We owe ya!

1 year, 1 month ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )