THE WOMEN
CAROLINE: It’s all about the women in “The Women,” mainly Meg Ryan and Annette Bening, in this remake of a 1939 movie that I’ve never seen.
RYAN: Nor have I. That’s why I had to bring my friend Eric to the screening with us. He loves the original movie and can offer some insightful comparison. This is a chick flick in the sense that it’s about relationships and women’s issues, and I thought it had some fantastic moments.
CAROLINE: There’s nary a dude to be found in the entire movie. Even in the wide shots of NYC streets with lots of extras, there is not one man. I kinda dug that.
RYAN: I found it a little bit strange. I almost missed the testosterone.
CAROLINE: Something was definitely lacking since the movie is so much about marriage, fidelity and relationships that I really wanted to see the fights between the men and the women, and you don’t get any of that.
RYAN: Before we talk about the plastic surgery in this film, let’s talk about the set design, the costumes, the shoes and the make-up.
CAROLINE: I loved it all except for Meg Ryan’s extreme frumpiness in the first half of the movie. I know she’s supposed to be a harried and frazzled mom, but I felt bad for her. She looked shapeless, and her hair was kinky and horrible.
RYAN: I hear you, but she turns a corner in the second half and her outfits become so tailored and cool that I was able to forgive the first half.
CAROLINE: Yes, she does beyond a 180 in the second half, thank God. Once her hair was straightened, she looked 8,000 times better. I had no idea what an impact hair can make.
RYAN: Annette Bening is a little “Devil Wears Prada”-ish as a fashion editor, and her outfits are great too. Debi Mazar?
CAROLINE: Loved her, but I didn’t think she’d be playing a manicurist. I guess that’s what you get for having a thick New Yawk accent. Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett Smith were cute too, but they had quite secondary roles.
RYAN: Carrie Fisher is in it for a brief moment, and all I could think was, “What is she wearing?”
CAROLINE: Honestly, I barely recognized her. She didn’t look like herself.
RYAN: It’s the years of tough living. Bette Midler has a very small role, and it’s very campy. Her eyebrows were weird though.
CAROLINE: I thought her hair was worse. I really hope that was a wig. She’s funny though, and there were several laugh-out-loud moments in the movie, but overall it lacked something for me. I don’t know if it was the script or what, but I wasn’t loving it like I’d hoped.
RYAN: It didn’t surprise me as much as I thought it would. It’s not the same kind of romantic comedy as “Sex and the City: The Movie.” It’s a big year for women’s films though, which I appreciate. I’d definitely watch this again on cable if I came across it.
CAROLINE: Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed it for sure. But it didn’t flow seamlessly as a movie. I’m not quite sure what the problem was. But I love all these actresses.
RYAN: Me too, even Jada Pinkett Smith, who I don’t normally like. She’s very funny as a lesbian. Eva Mendes wasn’t vampy enough for me though. She looked hot but I would have preferred a younger Gina Gershon in the role.
CAROLINE: I love her and she looked fabulous, but I agree she wasn’t perfect in the role. Let’s talk about the B.P.S.
RYAN: Oh, the bad plastic surgery! For starters there’s Candice Bergen who plays Meg Ryan’s mom; but they kind of make a joke about her getting a face-lift in the movie, so it’s all very tongue-in-cheek. After seeing the trailer, I kept thinking how great Meg Ryan looks and that her B.P.S. has settled down. And though she does start to look cuter as the film progresses, I couldn’t tell if it was because her B.P.S. was improving or if it was just because she straightened her hair.
CAROLINE: Exactly. For the first half of the movie, she resembled The Joker in a Priscilla Presley-esque way. Her lips are better than they used to be but her face is still scary. That nose is terrifying. It looks like she’s had 15 nose jobs. But who is this movie hasn’t had plastic surgery other than maybe Eva Mendes and the little girl who plays Meg’s ‘tween daughter?
RYAN: Annette Bening is aging gracefully. She must have had some work done though.
CAROLINE: I’m sure she has, but it’s good work. And she’s still got some lines and wrinkles, which is nice. Overall, I liked the spirit of womanhood and the female empowerment in the movie, but it just didn’t do it for me as I’d wanted it to.
RYAN: The problem is that the drama isn’t dramatic enough. The catfights weren’t evil and bitchy enough. Did you notice the bad looping in some scenes too?
CAROLINE: OMG! There’s a scene toward the end with Meg Ryan and Annette Bening that’s so touching it almost made me cry, but the looping is so bad! It distracted me. Meg’s mouth was not moving in sync with her lines.
RYAN: I don’t want to blame the actresses though. It must be the editor’s fault.
CAROLINE: Or the sound engineer. Bottom line?
RYAN: I enjoyed this movie. It’s totally for the girls and the gays. I’d recommend it on the big screen.
CAROLINE: I liked it too, though it’s not the best movie ever. It covers a lot of life’s milestones, which I enjoyed, and the great actresses make it worth seeing. Any woman who’s 30 or older will relate to something in the movie. I’d recommend it too, but you don’t have to rush to the theater immediately to see it.
RYAN: Eric, how did it compare to the original?
ERIC: I liked it, but I think the update from the original movie was tough, and the script was a little weak. It’s hard to balance bringing it up to date and keeping true to the issues that women dealt with back then. The first one is much campier and more catty. I’m a purist, so I liked that one better, but I thought this one was cute and a nice complement and nod to the original.