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I had very mixed feelings about the movie.  Part of me was excited to see a familiar friend.  A new, extended episode of a show I loved.  That was just one part.  The rest of me was sure they’d find a way to screw it all up.  I was already unhappy with the series ending with Carrie and Mr. Big together, and I knew that relationship would be a major part of the movie.  At one point, I heard a rumor that the movie was going to start with Big’s funeral.  I may have been the only Sex and the City fan ever to be delighted by that prospect. Anyway, as the opening weekend of the movie drew closer, I found myself getting excited to see it.  Sort of the same way I always get excited for the Harry Potter movies and am ALWAYS disappointed.  You just can’t fit all the goodness of those books into a movie.  Even so, I was cautiously optomistic, yet bracing myself for the worst.

OKAY, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET AND PLAN TO SEE IT WITHOUT GETTING SPOILED - STOP READING

My two major hopes for the movie would be that Steve and Miranda would end up still together and that Carrie would not end up with Big.

I found myself really enjoying the movie from the begining.  I was happy to see Carrie’s apartment, Miranda, Steve and little Brady (who was played by the same kid from the tv show), Charlotte, Harry and their little girl Lily, Samantha and Smith and yes, even Mr. Big.  But not really.  I love the little details that threw back to the show.  Carrie still had the cell phone that she got in the series finale, only know it had duct tape holding it together.  There was a scene where Miranda and Carrie are in a restaurant with balloons and balloon strings hanging everywhere.  They fight.  Carrie tries to storm out and make a dramatic exit, but gets tangled in balloon strings.  I can think of several episodes where Carrie gets pulls a tablecloth away from the table with her or gets her purse caught on the chair on the way out.

I loved that they stayed true to how loyal and protective the ladies are of each other.  In the scene after Mr. Big dumps Carrie on what would have been their wedding day, the girls spring into action to take care of their friend.  One of the best single moments in the entire film was after Carrie beats Big with her bouquet, as he tries to talk to her, to defend himself, Charlotte grabs Carrie in a firm embrace and just scowls at Big pointing her finger at him and says “NO!  NO.”  Just perfect.  Later, she comes up with the perfect opening line if she ever runs into him again - “I curse the day you were born”.

Ok. let’s cut to the chase.  Steve cheats on Miranda.  He feels terrible.  She leaves him.  Eventually, they make up.  Yes, I got my happy ending for my favorite couple, but at what cost?  Character asassination?   I call it careless writing.  I don’t believe for a second that Steve would EVER do that to Miranda.  Steve’s endgame since the day we met him has always been Miranda.  I believe Miranda would cheat before he would.  Just because she’s screwed up about relationships.  When Steve had that look on his face before he told Miranda that he slept with someone else, I was waiting for a different kind of bad news - his mom died or his cancer came back.  That would have been an interesting turn for them.  But whatever.  I ultimately got what I wanted there.

Carrie and Big.  I was fine with the fact that it all worked out for them because I prepared myself for it.  I think it was not necessarily the smartest idea in terms of writing to make us hate the man for almost 2 hours then all of a sudden wrap it all up with a bow and make everything ok again.  I liked single Carrie.

Charlotte had a lot of back luck in the series.  I was glad to see her just having good things happen to her.

As a bonus to me, Samantha ended her relationship with Smith.  I liked Smith and I loved their relationship, but it was time to get back to the real Samantha.  I’m so glad the movie ended with the 4 gals toasting to Samantha’s 50th birthday, and not drowning her sorrows because she was alone, celebrating the fact that she was independent, happy and defined by her own worth, and not her relationship.

Basically, I enjoyed the movie a lot.  More than I thought I would.

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