ramblings, random musings, fascinations, rants, raves and revelations

I have been a great fan of SATC since I first heard it. I’ve seen it being promoted at Obar the last time I went out with Jay, Guise, Jc and a Baguio guy. So you can just imagine how jealous I was when Jay told me that they have already watched it. Even if it was almost impossible for my schedule to allow me to see it, I persisted… and I won. I went to the theater alone [as I always do if I really want a movie because I don't wanna be disturbed] and saw the movie - over two hours long. It was a 4:00 showing - which meant that by the time all the commercials and previews of upcoming movies were over, the movie actually started around 4:20. It was over around 6:45ish. I don’t think I moved the whole time. That’s one of the reason I also love watching movies alone, especially if I’m totally engrossed to it. When I was still at SVI, I’m usually at the theatre by 4pm and stay till 8:30 as my shift starts at 9pm. Same reason I used to have a big collection of pillows because I get to buy one each visit. The theater was big - and it was crowded but there were some empty seats. There was also a showing at 4:30. The lobby of the theater was packed and the line to get in the movie was long. In the theater there were very few men. It was easily at least 95% women there. There were a few faithful husbands, boyfriends, SATC male fans there, though. One thing I noticed was how many single women were there - women attending by themselves. Really amazing.

SPOILER ALERT! Ha! I’m telling you, don’t continue reading this if you have plan of watching it. Just checking to make sure you want to know what happens in the movie before I get to the good stuff. All the major storylines and occurences in the movie will be divulged here.

First of all, no one died in the movie. The hoopla before the movie came out about a major character dying was just something started to generate interest, I guess. It worked. All through the movie, I kept waiting for a major character to die. I’m glad no one died. Except for Charlotte experiencing a bout of Montezuma’s Revenge on their trip to Mexico, there weren’t even any illnesses in the movie. It was a feel-good movie. No deaths needed.

The movie started off with Carrie talking about the four friends and about how years have passed since she and Big got back together in Paris. She has now published three books. She and Big are together - and they’re very happy. Miranda and Steve are together. Brady is older — looked like the same child played him — cute little redhead. Charlotte and Harry have their adopted daughter from China. Her name is Lily! [Which I loved!] Samantha and Smith have moved to Los Angeles for his career, but Samantha flies to NYC often to be with her friends.

Carrie and Big are looking for an apartment - They find a gorgeous one except that the closet is small. Big says they can afford it and that he will re-build the closet so Carrie will have the closet of her dreams. They don’t talk about getting married.

Then the four women go to a jewelry auction and hear the story about the woman who lived with a guy for ten years - only to come home one day and be locked out. So she auctions off all the jewelry he gave her to make enough money to get by. Carrie thinks of her own situation, and eventually mentions to Big that she’s concerned about her situation - of having no security. So they round-about discuss their way into being engaged. Vogue magazine wants to do a spread about getting married at 40 - highlighting Carrie and Big’s wedding. So out come the designer gowns, the celebrity photographers - and the wedding gets “bigger than Big.” It starts out small with only 75 guests. Then it grows until there are over 200 guests invited. Big feels overwhelmed with everything, but he keeps it to himself.

Meanwhile, Miranda and Steve are having their own problems. With their busy lives, it has been over six months since they had sex. Steve ends up having sex with someone else - and he confesses to Miranda. For Miranda, the marriage is over. She moves out and finds an apartment and refuses to even consider Steve’s abject apologies and pleas for her to take him back. She refuses to take his phone calls or to see him.

So at Carrie and Big’s rehearsal dinner, Steve shows up to talk to Miranda. He begs for forgiveness. Miranda doesn’t want anything to do with him. After leaving the scene with Steve, Miranda goes back into the dinner where Big asks her if she’s okay. Still upset over her confrontation with Steve, Miranda tells Big that he and Carrie are crazy to be getting married because marriage messes up everything. Big’s misgivings about the big hoop-de-doo wedding are reinforced. He calls Carrie that night, and she tells him that it’s still her - that it’s still them - that it’s okay. And he feels better.

The next day everyone arrives at the library where the wedding is to take place - everyone but Big. He keeps trying to call Carrie so she can reassure him, but Lily had picked up Carrie’s phone - and so Carrie doesn’t get any of Big’s phone calls.

His limo pulls up to the library, but he doesn’t get out - and finally he decides he can’t go through with it, and he starts driving away. When Carrie finds out he’s not coming, she leaves. Meanwhile, Big realizes what he’s done [”What have I done?”], and he heads back - his limo meets Carrie’s limo mid-street. They both get out and Carrie yells at him and hits him with the bouquet and get back into her limo and goes to Charlotte’s house where she is dazed and practically catatonic.

Samantha is unsuccessful in cancelling the honeymoon plans - and so she buys extra tickets - and the four women head off to enjoy Mexico and to help Carrie. Carrie is in a “Mexicoma” - sleeps for days - when she finally agrees to eat, they have to feed her. Eventually she gets out of bed. They return to NYC where they’ve worked to get Carrie’s apartment back [She had sold her apartment and moved in with Big]. When she enters the apartment, it is piled with boxes, and she decides that she needs an assistant. She hires Louise [Jennifer Hudson] from St. Louis, who is in NYC to “find love.”

So months go by. Charlotte gets pregnant - is afraid to continue running because she doesn’t want to lose the baby. However, she does get back into running. When she is only a week from her due date, she happens to see Big in a restaurant. She angrily confronts him for hurting Carrie - but she’s interrupted by her water breaking. Big insists on taking her in his always-waiting limo to the hospital. Charlotte ends up having the baby - another girl. The baby is named “Rose.” When Carrie comes to the hospital, Harry tells her that Big wants to talk to her - and Big wonders if Carrie has read any of the letters he’s sent. Letters? Carrie hasn’t received any letters from Big. She goes back to her apartment to look for letters. We’ll pick up on Carrie’s storyline after catching up with the other characters.

Charlotte and Harry now have Lily and Rose - they are firmly into their happily ever after.

Miranda and Steve finally decide to go to counseling and after awhile the counselor tells them not to see each other for a couple weeks. Then after they’ve had time to think things through, if they want to get back together, they should meet. If one doesn’t want to get back together, then that person wouldn’t meet at the prearranged place. They decide to meet in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge. Of course during the two weeks Miranda agonizes about what her decision will be. Steve worries that Miranda will always hold his unfaithfulness against him. But in the end their love for each other overcomes the negatives. It’s a tender scene when Miranda starts walking towards the middle of the bridge - sees Steve walking toward her. She “never looks back” - and she and Steve walk hand in hand into their happily ever after.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Samantha is getting frustrated with monogamy. While she remains faithful to Smith - despite many temptations - she finally decides that although she loves Smith, she loves herself more. So she and Smith have a tender farewell - and Samantha leaves for her solitary and sexually active happily ever after - in New York.

As the months have passed, Carrie has gotten back into life - not dating but getting her apartment back together and starting to work on her new book about love - but not having much success with the book. She refuses all contact with Big - and immediately after hiring Louise she asks her to make it where she won’t ever see any email from him. After Rose is born and Carrie hears from Harry that Big had sent her letters, she figures out that the “letters” are emails - and she finds that Louise had put the emails in a file on her computer rather than deleting her. She reads the letters - each one a classic love letter from literature - and one was written by Big - telling her that he will always love her.

The day comes when the apartment that she and Big were going to share was going to be sold - and she goes there to get the new Manolo Blahnik’s that she had left there. She goes into the apartment and opens the beautiful closet that Big had built for her. There’s Big - with the shoes in his hands. He tells her that he had come to get the shoes for her. It’s the first time they’ve seen each other since their disastrous non-wedding day months before. They fall into each other’s arms…Big tells her that she’s the love of his life and he apologizes. She says that the wedding months ago was too big and wasn’t about “them.” Then he gets on his knees and proposes. He says that this is when a ring is needed - to seal the deal. Instead, he gets one of the Manolo Blahnik’s and puts it Carrie’s foot - and they’re engaged.

A few hours later they get married at a courthouse. As they’re leaving the courtroom that is filled with couples waiting to be married, Big asks Carrie if she’s really okay with it just being the two of them there, and she says she is. He says that it would be so much better if “the girls” were there to share their joy and “that’s why I called them.” They go through double doors, and there are the girls. The next scene is of them all celebrating at a Waffle House looking place - everybody laughing and happy. And thus Carrie and Big start their happily ever after.

The movie closes with the four women celebrating Samantha’s “fifty and fabulous” birthday at a restaurant and looking forward to the next fifty.

The audience at the movie theater erupted in applause at the conclusion of the movie. It was very good. Not absolutely outstanding - but satisfying all in all.

P.S. And oh! Sanford and Anthony got together, too, which is really funny considering how they reacted to each other in the TV series.