The Women (2008, Warner Bros./Picturehouse)
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Critics and film fans often tsk and tut when a studio fast-tracks a picture in an effort to shove something out while the iron is hot, but even if you give a film all the development time in the world — like, say, over a decade — that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a success. Witness Diane English’s remake of The Women, which emerged from an interminable series of delays this year, only to be pelted with horrible reviews and box office indifference. At 13 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, The Women was one of the worst films of the year.

Or was it?

English’s take on The Women wasn’t a film I ever planned on seeing — although I think Clare Booth Luce’s play is gut-bustingly funny, I’ve never been a big fan of George Cukor’s 1939 adaptation, and anyway, even under the best of circumstances, it’s probably not a good idea to make your directorial debut with a huge cast of famous names like Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, and Eva Mendes. And after reading some of the reviews (”A chick flick that’s the very reason why guys hate them” — Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine), I went into The Women expecting something punishingly awful.

The first thing that needs to be said, then, is that The Women is probably not as bad as you’ve been led to believe. (more…)