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Mar 28, 2009Michael rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I'm a guy, but as a movie buff too, I had to throwi-in my 2 cents worth on a movie that is the quintessential chick flick. There are no on-screen male roles in this movies - no Mr. Big like in "Sex and the City" - whose style this tries so hard to emulate. It's a remake of a 1939 classic that also had no men - the entire cast of 130 actors were all female - so I give it props for applying the past to the present. I also like that it took the notion of viewing generational differences in women and their love lives. That was an eye-opener in pre-war 1939. It's no less relevant social commentary, today. "The Women" (2008) looks at almost all female generational perspectives under the sun thru' its characters: There's a family's matriarch, played irreverently by Candice Bergen; and her winsome but wayward daughter Mary, played by Meg Ryan; and their smart, pushing precocious, grand-daughter/daughter. Add to that Sylvie - Mary's college best friend, still single, childless, but editor of a popular woen's fashion magazine - played capriciously by Annette Bening (wow -she looks and acts more and more like Diane Keaton - the woman Warren Beatty used to be with before he married Bening: Check it out - she's "Annette Hall"!); and Edie, Mary's other best friend -the antithesis in style and demeanor but with lots of kids and expecting another - played just crazy enough by Debra Messing; and rounding out the "best friends" circle is Jada Pinkett Smith's all too forgettable role as a lesbian fifth wheel. Eva Mendes, as "the other woman", effectively brings out the claws, and adds to an eclectic ensemble cast including Cloris Leachman, Bette Midler, and a not-too-Princess Leia-like Carrie Fisher! With a packed all-star female cast like that... who needs men? They're almost always alluded to in a negative context, anyway! Mary's two-timing father throws her out of the family business. Mary's own no-good cheating husband is also a cad! Sylvie's boss threatens to fire her unless she becomes more chic. Edie's husband is always "knocking her up". Bette Midler's character has dumped 5 husbands for one bad reason or another. Sheesh - Is it any wonder Jada Pinkett's character only wants to bed women?! To make this all work, of course, a lot of what takes place in the movie had to be "thrown-off" - not played straight or seriously, but semi-glossed - like the nail-polishing Sylvie first gets from an all-too talkative manicurist with a knack for gossip and spilling the beans on Mary's unfaithful husband. That scene set the tone for the movie - light and airy with just enough seriousness as to feign respect for the problems of women world-wide, while playing slap-stick with truth and reality in its quest for laughs. It worked for me - more times than it didn't! But what do I know - I'm just a guy... Watching it with an equally split group of men and women, I have to report that the men were far more forgiving to this film, despite the fact it clearly paints men out to be the villains in most relationships. I expected to see greater acceptance from the women in our group - but some of them were totally unforgiving, while the rest were unhappy with the stereotyping and that so much was 'thrown-off' in order to exact a comedic twist to the various ironies the film tried so hard to reveal in women's lives. The one redeeming grace we all agreed on was that this is a film that teaches this one eternal lesson: That before finding love with a man, a woman must truly love and know herself. As a man, I echo that as a lesson relevant to all genders! If you really want it to work - you better love yourself before trying to love others! And for that reason, (plus I'm a Meg Ryan/Candice Bergen/Annette Bening fan!) and the fact this movie makes you think, when it does get serious on its audience every now and then - I have to say: I liked it well enough to recommend it!