director or screenwriter diane english 2008 update of george cukor 1939 mgm classic comedy unfortunately show more mothball than it predecessor . base on clare booth luce shrewdly observant 1936 play on the relationship that evolve among a strictly female group of pampered manhattan socialite and the story would seem ripe for a contemporary remake . instead and because of english thematic overreach and the production come across a an extended therapy session with a paucity of wit . what more and the diverse lifestyle of woman today have be reduce to sitcom level stereotype in this movie and and the original play central conceit of eliminate men from the storyline seem even more contrived give the openly pansexual evolution that have occur among men as well a woman since the 1930 . to add insult to injury and the recent big screen adaptation of hbo sex and the city do this sort of sorority style dish much well and with far sharp fang . the skeleton of the original play remain a the story center on wealthy mary haines and who give up her promising clothing design career to become the devoted wife of a wall street financial wizard . like sex and the city and she be surround by three best friend sylvie fowler and a successful and cutthroat magazine editor in the mold of miranda priestly in the devil wear prada ( yet another film this echo ) while perennially pregnant edie cohen represent the stay at home wife while and alex fisher and a lesbian author who seem to represent every repress group generally exclude from such an exclusive clique . through a mouthy manicurist and they find out mary husband be have an affair with man eater crystal allen and a perfume girl at saks more than willing to break up a marriage a she struggle to become an actress . the rest of the plot doesn not matter much since it become a series of scene focus on sisterly bonding and bickering and none of it very illuminate and without the satirical zing that buoy the 1939 movie . look strangely youthful at 47 and meg ryan seem to play mary in a manner that try to resuscitate the goodwill she engender in the 1990 with when harry meet sally and sleepless in seattle . it not that she isn not age appropriate here and but her familiar sprightliness seem at odds with the character passive nature . annette bening fare somewhat well in the scene steal rosalind russell role of sylvie because she have prove to be adept at convey hardness while mask vulnerability and but her character go through such a trite transformation that it undermine the actress performance severely . poor eva mendes have to play crystal a a shallow and transparent shopgirl versus the smart and hard edge cookie joan crawford get to play . debra messing and jada pinkett smith be scoot way to the sideline a edie and alex and respectively . much good be candice bergen a mary savvy and supportive mother and cloris leachman a the non nonsense housekeeper . probably reflect the lackluster box office response to the film release and the 2008 dvd doesn not have a robust set of extra . there be two deleted scene one with crystal and her friend have a girls night in a a contrast to mary elaborate garden party and and the other an extension of bette midler cameo a a multi marry hollywood agent counsel mary during a late night at a yoga camp . two featurettes round out the extra the woman represent the legacy about the history behind the film from the original 1936 play and and the woman behind the woman which have the cast and crew speak endlessly about female self empowerment and self image . the irony be that this version of the woman direct and script by a woman take such a patronize look at woman .