KEY POINTS:
Rating: * *
The feminist in you will want to hate this movie but the truth is, it's just not that offensive. The women are idiots but so are the men. And the A-list actresses probably got paid more.
As we meet the women of the piece - too many to mention - the film serves up easy laughs as it uncovers their individual dating crimes. And while at first you may identify with them, the characters soon become so overblown and neurotic, they lose any semblance of reality.
The worst offender is Gigi (Goodwin), a wide-eyed romantic desperately looking for love in any shape or form. What starts as a mildly annoying character becomes downright infuriating as Gigi continues to go against all advice and logic and behave like a demented bunny-boiler. Even the likeable Goodwin struggles to pull off the caricature of Gigi.
Based on the best-selling book of the same name - which in turn was inspired by an episode of Sex and the City - the film attempts to sum up the book's main points with chapter headings and pieces-to-camera by "real" women and men.
But with only four chapters dividing the two-hour-plus film, they seem like an afterthought to relate the story back to the original book and inject some much-needed comedy into the piece.
Indeed, after the first half-hour, the humour dries up completely as we watch relationships slowly fall apart. By which point, the characters are so unlikeable you feel little emotion for their predicaments. The bitch in you may even smirk a little when a certain blonde is left dumped and alone.
And while the star-studded line up may seem impressive, it only serves to draw the long-winded film out even further. Drew Barrymore appears to be in the film for no other reason than to put her name on the poster.
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Ben Affleck, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long Director: Ken Kwapis
Running time: 129 mins
Rating: M
Screening: Skycity, Hoyts, Berkeley
Verdict: A-list cast, B-grade rom-com
- Joanna Hunkin
