DVD Review: The Women

Get ready for the talk of the town when The Women arrives on Blu-ray and DVD December 23. The Women follows fashion designer, Mary Haines, who seems to have it all until she finds out that her husband is cheating on her with the perfume girl from Saks Fifth Avenue. As all hell breaks loose, Mary contemplates the fate of her marriage as she and her circle of tight-knit friends question their own friendships and relationships.

Review:
The Women is based on the successful 1939 movie and Broadway hit by Clare Boothe Luce. In this update, the film centers around Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), who while having a manicure, finds out her husband is having an affair with a perfume sales girl (Eva Mendes) at Saks. This however wasn’t news to her friends, because her best friend Sylvia Fowler (Annette Bening) found out days earlier while getting her nails done from the same gossiping manicurist.

The circle of friends surrounding Mary is about as diverse as you can imagine. There’s Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett Smith) who is the African-American lesbian, there’s Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) the artist hippie who is pregnant with her fifth child, and there is Sylvia Fowler who is the never-married successful magazine editor who won’t comprise her beliefs to sell magazines… Or perhaps she will.

It’s a catty drama that is reminiscent of an older less entertaining Sex in The City. Over the top in so many areas, and even with an all-star cast, there are just too many characters and too much claws-out melodrama. The film is billed as a comedy, and while there are funny moments, it felt like much more of a drama to me. Did I mention that there are absolutely no guys in the film? Not a single one. They are alluded to throughout the film, but only cast their shadows over the deeper dramas taking place. I’m all about the women empowerment, but I don’t think eliminating the male sex from the movie is an element that needs to be done in order for that to be accomplished.

As far as special features with the Blu-ray release, it comes with additional scenes and various featurettes with the cast talking about issues of female empowerment, body image, and self-esteem for girls.

Review by Emma Loggins

Grade: C+
Official site: http://www.thewomenthemovie.com/
Buy on Amazon: The Women

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