‘And Just Like That…’ review: ‘Sex and the City’ revival comes to HBO Max, sans Kim Cattrall
That character’s absence also allowed for the cast’s make-up changes, adding some women of color (Nicole Ari Parker, Sara Ramirez, Sarita Choudhury, Karen Pittman) as well as issues of race. and gender identity, but not notably class distinctions.
Bringing more variety into their orbits is welcome, and conceived by producer-writer-director Michael Patrick King, those relationships are intended to be awkward.
Even allowing that, though, there’s an art to writing compelling scenes, and the show’s approach to them often feels confusing. Ditto for the complexities involved in raising older kids in the case of Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), who essentially approximate the nativist cliché well-intentioned people who often say the wrong things.
For Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), her latest career hurdle involves taking her sex columnist credit to the podcasting world, even though she doesn’t know how to deal with a co-host his outspokenness (“Grey’s Anatomy’s” Ramirez).
Indeed, a large part of “And Just Like That…”‘s appeal has to do with its bold focus on women in their 50s, a demographic that is notoriously underrepresented in the media. image to attract younger audiences. If only the characters hadn’t continued to announce their ages, as if to remind viewers, who have probably aged with them, that the show has entered middle age.
The new series has some significant creative mishaps, and the episodes are a bit longer (most north is 40 minutes), reflecting a trend for more drama.
“We can’t just stay who we are,” says Miranda.
But they can. Because when it comes to “Sex and the City,” the more things change, the more they tend to stay the same. In that sense, “And Just Like That…” is an easy to understand title but could easily be replaced with “And Life Goes On…”
“And Just Like That…” premieres December 9 on HBO Max, which, like CNN, is a division of WarnerMedia.
