Brief Synopsis of The Women
In modern day New York City, several well-to-do girlfriends go about their careers and lives. Bossy fashion magazine editor Sylvie Fowler (Annette Bening) is realizing how disconnected she is with today's young minds and trends, and is having a rought time of it. Later while getting a manicure, she overhears gossip concerning a perfume girl (Eva Mendes) and her secret beau, who turns out to be her best friend Mary Haines' (Meg Ryan) husband.
Sylvie struggles to come to terms with this shocking news of infidelity towards her best friend, and eventually confides in her circle of friends. As she tells her pregnant friend Edie (Debra Messing) and gay friend Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith), all three try and break the news to Mary as best they can. Long story short, Mary ends up finding out on her own through a series of coincidences, and she starts to question her life's decisions, her goals, and her own future, all with the help and guidance of her wisecracking mother (Candice Bergen).
This major event in Mary's life causes her friends to also question their own relationships, their connection to each other, and how honesty and integrity rules above all.
Overall Analysis of The Women
First off, it must be said that this film was around 13 years in the making. Having been the talk of the town for over a decade, this ambitious project was on the to-do list of almost every major female superstar, and had interested parties attached to it for years on end, only to move on to other projects as years went by.
Diane English, the film's director and writer, has been with the project since its conception, a plan to redo the highly popular original film from 1939, which itself also featured a who's who of top female performers of the time, such as Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Paulette Goddard, Joan Fontaine, and so on.
English's first turn at the director's chair of her own project, however, has its pitfalls. If anything, her plan to revamp the plot of commiserating over a friend's misfortune (Mary's husband's infidelity), also tried to turn into a tale of starting over, and making life changing decisions. However, with all of the goings on in this new version, there is too much on the screen to deal with, and the main essence of the original story gets lost in the overall message of female enpowerment. English's lack of directorial experience shows on the screen, as too much is trying to be said, hampering the original intent.
Interestingly, the film is aptly named, as the entire cast is female, right down to the secondary characters and extras. There are many supporting characters, and each in their own right do their best to add to the film's message. Among them are Bette Midler, Cloris Leachman (as Mary's housekeeper, in a memorable performance), Carrie Fisher, Ana Gasteyer, Joanna Gleason, and Debi Mazar.
Eva Mendes, as the temptress spritzer girl, has very little to do in this film, other than act bitchy, and play villain. Sadly, this has been the case in most of her films of late (including her most recent role in The Spirit), the poor girl has yet to find a role which will finally let her stretch her acting muscles, rather than serve as eye candy. One can hope.
The film's plot is simplistic enough, with easy going dialogue, and several moments of humor, which help take the audience through the slow parts. Cutesy without being overly sappy, The Women feels like a guilty pleasure for the ladies, very much in the same vein as Sex and the City has been in recent years.
Gentlemen, this is a film that you can see with your better half/significant other, as there's enough humor as so to not ostracize and alienate half its possible audience.
The Women DVD Features
The disc is rather simple, and has limited content in terms of extras, namely cast interviews, and a few additional scenes. The only notable feature is a small piece entitled "The Women: The Legacy", which explores the original film to its contemporary remake. The 1939 version is a memorable film, and is a fine example of how certain things should be left well enough alone.
6 out of 10 for being an unnecessary remake, though it is thoroughly funny at times
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