Big screen spin-off from the television series about the sex lives of four designer label-clad New York girlfriends. It seems that Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) has finally hooked Mr. Big (Chris Noth) for good. The happy couple have moved into the swankiest apartment they could find and they're about to tie the knot. Meanwhile, Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is still unsuccessfully hankering after a baby, Samantha (Kim Catrall) is deeply dissatisfied with long-term monogamy, and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is less-than-happy with her husband Steve (David Eigenberg) after he admits to having cheated on her. In fact when the mightily-miffed Miranda bumps into Mr. Big at the wedding rehearsal, she tells him that he's crazy to get married as it ruins everything. Unfortunately for Carrie, this angry remark leads Big to do some serious re-thinking... As light and frothy as the Vivienne Westwood wedding gown that's an unofficial fifth star, the film version of Sex and the City is both captivatingly stylish and sweetly sentimental. Viewers who loved hanging with Carrie Bradshaw and her three pals during the series' TV run will feel as though no time has passed. Except that it has: Carrie and Big are poised to make a Big Commitment; Miranda and Steve are facing the breakup of their wonderful family; Charlotte and Harry have added to their brood; and Samantha (are we sitting down?) has been devoted to hunky Smith for five full years. Still, in all that time, the women's style, conviviality, and appetite for bons mots have only grown. When practical attorney Miranda learns that Carrie is considering moving in with Big (in possibly the coolest apartment in Manhattan), she can't help but frown in that but-you-might-lose-everything way. Carrie's retort: "For once, can't you feel what I want you to feel--jealous?!" The cast is spot-on, as always. is effortless as the angst-ridden yet practical, stylish yet vulnerable Carrie. is deliciously decadent as Samantha, but she's wiser now and knows herself and her needs for a real relationship. , as Charlotte, has quietly become the most gorgeous among the beauties, her sleek presence both winsome and sophisticated. And (Miranda) shows nuance as a woman torn between betrayal and grudging hope. Supporting roles include Candice Bergen as the Vogue editor who anoints Carrie "The Last Single Girl in New York," and Jennifer Hudson, as a starry-eyed, ambitious romantic who represents the new generation of SATC women. Through it all, New York is a benevolent cocoon that envelopes and nurtures the women and their friendships and careers. No matter that none of them appears to have any semblance of "real" family; as long as they have each other, and Manhattan, all will be right with their world. --A.T. Hurley