The Women (Blu-ray Disc)

Clothing designer Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), magazine editor Sylvia Fowler (Annette Benning), artist Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) and acclaimed writer Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett Smith) are best friends. They've seen one another through thick, thin and all the highs and lows in-between. But when it comes to light Mary's husband is having an affair with a department store perfume girl (Eva Mendes) things start to fall apart, the group's collective friendship in jeopardy as this emotional calamity attempts to play itself out.

A remake of the 1939 George Cukor classic and based on the acclaimed play by Clare Boothe Luce, writer/director Diane English's The Women is a two decade in coming labor of love. The filmmaker has been striving for ages to get this film off the ground, actresses as varied as Julia Roberts, Michelle Pfeiffer, Cher, Sandra Bullock, Anne Hathaway, Ashley Judd, Lisa Kudrow and Jodie Foster (just to name a few) all rumored to be taking part in the production at some point along the way.

The honest truth is, in comparison to Summer's megahit Sex and the City this one is smarter, better written, full of great dialogue and, by and large, better acted. The even more honest truth is that it doesn't capture attention near as well, feel half as immediate and it is so dated it's a crying shame English didn't get the chance to make it back during the late 1980's or early 90's when it might have actually resonated.

In other words, the film is a massive disappointment. It is so out of touch and out of step with modern feminine realities it almost requires carbon dating to ascertain just how ancient it really is. As wonderful as Cukor's version is it is still definitely a product of its time, and while the talented creator of "Murphy Brown" throws in some modern touches here and there the internal sensibilities and mores up for discussion border on being downright Stepford both in nature and in execution.

Even worse than that, however, English tries to have her cake and eat it to. She wants to have a discussion about anorexic images of beauty while also showcasing just those types of models in a climactic fashion show to in order to visualize just how glamorous and amazing her main character is. She wants to show her career woman editor standing up for what right only to stop fighting and cave at the first sign of trouble. It's all a bit troublesome, and just when I thought I could ride out the passé nature of the central story and be perfectly happy up would pop a frustrating double-standard to ruin all the good vibes.

The Blu-ray release of The Women is reflective of its meager box office performance. There are a collection of forgettable deleted scenes (none are interesting – not a single one – and considering the caliber of the cast that's a tad surprising) and two rather humdrum featurettes. Of them, only "The Women: The Legacy" is even remotely worthwhile, the short at least giving proper respect to the 1939 original.

Other than those, however, that's it. There's nothing else of note included here, and while the picture and sound are just fine, I can imagine the digital sharpness of the image is worth the extra dollars if a person is trying to decide between Blu-ray or standard definition editions of the film.

Why they'd even be pondering a purchase is beyond me. As superficial and annoying (and as long) as Sex and the City proved to be, it at least felt modern. The major problem The Women has is that it just doesn't exist in the now, and if these are the role models young ladies are supposed to want to emulate then they better find some slippers because if they do actually end up in the kitchen, I sure as heck know the majority of them aren't even remotely going to want to wander around barefoot.