REVIEW: DVD

Take an absent-minded, free-spirited, aspiring designer, toss in a turbulent marital affair and sprinkle with a dousing of doting, protective friends. Shake well, and you've got yourself the latest chick flick of the season.

"The Women," starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett-Smith, certainly lives up to its name. The film is of, for and by females and makes a statement with an all-female cast.

But gentlemen, don't reach for the remote just yet. While "The Women'" may seem off-putting in title and topic, the film packs just enough comic potential to constitute a fairly passable date movie or even a movie night for the most sentimental guy. But in all honesty, this DVD release is geared mostly toward girls' night in.

In fact, the entire film is essentially an all-girl gab-fest. Mary Haines (Ryan) is the subject of her friends' speculation when word circulates that her husband Steven may be cheating on her with the "spritzer girl" perfume saleswoman at Saks Fifth Avenue (Mendes). Mary's friends debate whether to tell or not to tell the oblivious wife of 13 years. Alas, the social grapevine is far too tangled for Mrs. Haines to stay locked out of the "vault" for too long. Her manicurist spins the gossip mill, and after Mary hears the bad news, she is paralyzed into a denial that leaves her unable to focus on her friends, her family or her needy adolescent daughter.

"The Women" is characterized by several figurative deaths and rebirths. With a marriage nearly six feet under and divorce papers in hand, Mary seems just ready to bury her relationship with Steven. Meanwhile, as magazine editor Sylvia Fowler (Bening) struggles to keep her head above the corporate waters at the office, Mary strives to launch an independent clothing line, quite separate from the business her father booted her from for "spreading herself too thin." Sylvia begins a new relationship as mother figure to Mary's daughter Molly and covers all the hard subjects while mom is aloof. Oh, and speaking of new beginnings, Mary's friend Edie (Messing) is pregnant again and this time hoping for a boy.

All of "the women" stick together through thick and thin — sometimes. While mommy-extraordinaire Edie's role is primarily to portray a contrast to the often parentally pacifist Mary Haines, Pinkett-Smith's character Alex exists almost solely for her hilarious running commentary and aggressive defense of Mary in the troubled wife's time of need.

Most interesting is the rapport between circa-college BFFs Sylvia and Mary. Perhaps even in terms of friendships do opposites attract, as the pals are corporate and casual, respectively. But in a film of such dynamism, labels are just temporary. By the end of the film, working gal Sylvia actually agrees to give her "real phone number" to a guy she meets; Mary sheds her laid-back, hippie style for a more city-chic look. The character we've known all along as the girl with the marriage is rather independent. Now about that marriage … you'll just have to find out.

There aren't many ways a film of this nature can fail. Yes, "The Women'" is clearly a cliché chick-flick, but the classification is by no means a cinematographic death sentence. The movie combines just the right amount of comedy, sentiment and scheme to sell. Although it's somewhat slow out of the starting gate, this picture eventually settles into a pleasant pace that requires little concentration to enjoy.

The plot is timeless, and in fact based on Clare Boothe Luce's 1936 namesake Broadway play and a 1939 movie adaptation. This time around, Diane English directs the remake's all-star cast. Interestingly enough, she does it in the absence of the film's most necessary characters: men. The movie's subject matter revolves entirely around them, but not one male makes an appearance in the picture. A deliberate statement? Perhaps, but nonetheless, any more characters would have been superfluous in this film. The women do just fine alone.

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