The Women
Diane English


Four women friends go through thick and thin in the city of New York.
With such a familiar premise and a sitcom-ish quality to the script and acting,this feels like a two-hour pilot for a Sex And The City knock-off.
When Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), who seems to have it all, finds out her husband is having an affair, her friends – magazine editor Sylvia (Annette Bening), housewife Edie (Debra Messing) and writer Alex (Jada Pinkett Smith) – rally around her.
Despite the modern-day setting, there is something really dated about The Women. Is it Ryan’s curls? Or the fact that she chooses not to confront her husband about his philandering ways? That is so 1930s.
Oh wait, that was when the original by George Cukor was made – in 1939.
The film even ends with that tired cliche – a birth scene, though Messing gives it her all and even makes it mildly funny.
But given the cast assembled, including Candice Bergen, Carrie Fisher, Bette Midler and Eva Mendes, one would have hoped for a little more spark and a little less fizzle.
(ST)