I entered the Ritz East with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. Excitement because, well, this was Sex and the City the movie. Fear because after six seasons of a fun (albeit not always well-written) show and a surprisingly satisfying finale, how could doing a follow-up movie possibly be a good idea?

Turns out that both emotions were perfectly justified. There was plenty to be excited about: a reunion of four of my favorite television characters (though it sometimes shames me to admit that). A generous heaping of closet porn. (The dresses! I wanted them all—even the ones I knew I wouldn't actually be caught dead in.) As far as TV-to-film spinoffs go, this is a pretty good one. It captures the essence of what made the show so enjoyable: four friends who, despite excessive (and sometimes inexplicable) wealth and success, have the kind of conversations that you have—or want to have—with your girlfriends. Their closets may be excessive, but their friendship, to the observer, is anything but.

The script, written by Michael Patrick King with Candace Bushnell's blessing and oversight, is full of funny scenarios that allow the four main characters (played, as we all know, by Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon) to shine. It's not exactly work that requires the demonstration of serious acting chops—chops that some of the movie's actors actually possess—but it's good fun, more than a few laughs, and an opportunity for nostalgia (if one is permitted to be nostalgic about a show that only ended four years ago). The four leads are obviously comfortable diving back into their roles, as are the supporting actors (Chris Noth, Jason Lewis, Mario Cantone, Lynn Cohen, and Willie Garson) whose appearances over the six seasons of SATC ranged from the obscene to the mystifying, but never fell short of memorable. The only significant new addition to the cast is Jennifer Hudson (of Dreamgirls fame), playing Carrie Bradshaw's smart, sassy personal assistant/web designer. There's a lot to love about the movie.

But that being said, it wasn't a complete home run. One of the things that worked best about SATC, the series, is completely lacking from the movie: the brevity. Once a week for six seasons, fans of the show would get a half an hour of punchy, fast-paced dialogue and more or less over-and-done-with plot lines. Sure, the die-hards amongst us might have watched five episodes of the show back-to-back once the DVDs were released—but we could stop at anytime. Not so with the film which, clocking in at almost the length of those five episodes (about 140 minutes), often lacked the quickness of the series. It was like watching a mini-season of the show, but with less satisfying results—especially when one considers that there was genuine closure at the end of show. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I never once wondered, after the final credits rolled, what would happen next: Carrie and Big seemed together for good, Samantha had finally committed to somebody, Charlotte was adopting a baby from China, and Miranda had resigned herself, seemingly happily so, to being a wife and mother. I got my happily ever after, and I didn't care what happened next. So the movie, with its three years later setting, was fulfilling a desire that I didn't have with results that weren't completely satisfying. I enjoyed the majority of the movie, sure, but in the end, I kind of just wished they'd left things at the series finale.

Image via Internet Movie Poster Awards Gallery