Chaps aren't painted in a particularly flattering light in this chiffon-weight dramedy for the Sex and the City crowd.
The male of the species only feature unseen and unlamented as evil skirt-chasing husbands and/or vindictive fathers whose selfish actions cause poor ickle Meg Ryan's mascara to run.
She's Mary Haines, a happily married (or so she thought) superannuated homemaker with an adorable 12-year-old daughter, a clapboard castle in Connecticut and a sideline as a clothes designer.
However, her perfect world is shattered when she discovers her hotshot hubby is having a fling with Eva Mendes' Saks Fifth Avenue sales assistant and her dad fires her from the family rag firm. It's so bloody Vanity un-Fair.
Still, help is at (manicured) hand from her coterie of girly buddies. There's chic-n'cynical magazine editor Annette Bening, ditzy mother hen Debra Messing (who appears to have been dressed by her four-year-old) and glamorous lipstick lesbian Jada Pinkett Smith.
Director Diane English updates the 1939 George Cukor with 21st century sass but it's not exactly easy to sympathise with this gaggle of girlfriends in these credit crunched times.
"I've hit bottom," whinges Mary. Well, no dear - you've still a nice big mansion, a housekeeper, a nanny, an SUV, the financial clout to rent a Manhattan loft.
Still, while you won't be crying ol' Meg a river, you'll enjoy the company of Messing and Candice Bergen (as Mary's mum) who bring the smarts of Will And Grace and Boston Legal to proceedings.
Absolutely one for the ladies.
12
