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THE WOMEN The 1939 screen version of The Women, based on Clare Booth Luce's play and helmed by "woman's director" George Cukor, has been refashioned as a Sex and the City wanna-be, in the process losing the smoldering conflicts and zesty subplots of its classic predecessor. In that version, Norma Shearer's angelic society woman had to decide whether to stay married to a husband who dared to dally with Joan Crawford's skanky shopgirl. With nary a male in sight but an all-female-cast to die for (Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine were also part of the ensemble), the picture examined females as complicated beings forced to simultaneously respond to social duties, duplicitous acquaintances, and the demands of their own independent hearts. Predictably, this new version opens with a nod toward modern materialism and then proceeds to offer contemporary stereotypes rather than memorable individuals. Here, everything has been smoothed out to the point of tepidity: Eva Mendes (as the hubby-swiper) is merely naughty where Crawford was lethal, and Russell's role as a backstabbing "frenemy" has been transformed into Annette Bening's tough-yet-tender magazine editor. Meanwhile, Meg Ryan (as the jilted spouse) doesn't stray too far from her established screen persona, while Jada Pinkett Smith's casting in a worthless role (cut it, and the film doesn't change) demonstrates that writer-director Diane English was more interested in covering all demographics (black and lesbian, in the case of Smith and her character) than in making any salient points about 21st-century girl power. **
OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3:
APPALOOSA: Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris.
BATTLE IN SEATTLE: Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron.
BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA: Drew Barrymore, Salma Hayek.
BLINDNESS: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo.
FLASH OF GENIUS: Greg Kinnear, Lauren Graham.
HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst.
MOVING MIDWAY: Documentary; Godfrey Cheshire, Robert Hinton.
NICK AND NORAH'S INFINITE PLAYLIST: Michael Cera, Kat Dennings.
RELIGULOUS: Documentary; Bill Maher.