"The Women" by Diane English (2008)

“What do you think this is, some kind of nineteen-thirties movie?” asks exasperated Meg Ryan at one point and it makes you chuckle, as its a clever nod to 1939. classic. In fact, this new version of George Cukor's legendary catty, snappy, witty and hugely entertaining movie carefully follows its distant cousin but only to the certain point - we recognise set ups, we recognise scenes, we even occasionally know the lines but everything is adapted to modern sensitivities. In other words, to translate something that was deliciously dated and old-fashioned into politically correct incarnation means that the fabric of the whole story changed almost beyond recognition.

"The Women" was universally and mercilessly panned by critics everywhere, to the point that several actresses got nominated for the title of worst actress and apparently everybody had a great fun kicking the movie down. Partly because of the snobbery - it's not 1939. classic (I wonder how many critics actually saw the original) - partly because of the pure misogyny. Only widely read and influential Roger Ebert had a sense to point that all-female cast might be oddity in current market dominated by action picture and comic book superheroes - than again so it was 1939. version but that one had several most charismatic actresses of the golden era of Hollywood and Egbert concludes that movie industry today simply don't care for nurturing new Joan Crawford or Bette Davis. Where director and script writer Diane English perhaps slipped is that she really worked hard to eliminate all the outdated and now-embarrassing ideas from the original and wanted to present her ensemble not as a catty, backstabbing bunch of 1939. but as energetic, ambitious and empowered friends who support each other. Sounds fine on the paper, but erase all the cattiness out of it and the final result is neither funny nor entertaining - without razor sharp dialogues, these dames are just a neurotic, self-centred gang who often sound like snooty teenagers. 

I have approached the movie with some preconception, expecting that I will dislike it because it is not and it can never be 1939. original. And it's not. In fact, I perfectly understand people who were annoyed by sheer audacity to tinkle with still perfect and unassailable original. On the other hand, once you just forget about the original and go with the flow, this is completely new movie and its message and gravitas speaks to a modern viewer much more than any of the  high-hatted prima donnas earlier, no matter how entertaining they were. If there is not much laugh (I hardly ever giggled, where during 1939. classic I almost sputtered the wine out of my nose), occasional dialogue line was surprisingly serious and deep. Not exactly comedy nor drama, the movie floats somewhere between these two and it probably works the best for the audience who is not familiar with the original. Both Candice Bergen and Bette Midler in supporting roles are actually more interesting than their younger colleagues.