The Women

A happily married woman (Meg Ryan) learns that her husband is cheating on her and turns to her circle of friends for support. Clare Boothe Luce’s stinging 1936 comedy of bad manners, betrayal and false friendship has enraged generations of feminists with its jaundiced view of New York’s idle female rich; writer-director Diane English gives them their revenge by updating Luce’s merry catfight into an episode of Sex and the City with Ryan as Sarah Jessica Parker and Annette Bening as Kim Cattrall. Fans of the series will miss Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, while those who remember the classic 1939 film will pine for Rosalind Russell, Joan Crawford—and Luce. English follows Luce’s first act fairly well, but when she starts making her sisterhood-is-powerful changes, the movie runs into serious trouble.