I admit it, I've been a SATC fan for years. As a stay-at-home mom, the weekly peeks into the stiletto-clad, Cosmo-swilling lives of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha were a welcomed relief from blow-out diaper days and colic-filled nights. I reveled in the girls' rich and full social lives, coveted their steadfast friendship, was grateful for my husband after watching their train wrecky relationships, and soaked in the clothes, the clubs, and the SHOES! Oh, those insanely expensive, ankle-breaking, awe-inspiring shoes!

When the series ended, so did my connection to the women with whom I had nothing yet everything in common. There was a time of quiet mourning after the final episode when Big's real name was revealed and the final credits rolled. But it was a great and fitting finale that showed growth in all of the main characters. Miranda put her family's needs before her own both physically and emotionally, moving to Brooklyn and opening her heart and home to her mother-in-law. After WASPy Charlotte gave up her dogged quest to become pregnant, she was getting her heart's desire via a Chinese adoption. Samantha found a man interested in more than just sex and for the first allowed herself to be emotionally vulnerable. Carrie and Big FINALLY realized they belong together when the commitment-phobe flew all the way to Paris to finally tell Carrie she was "The One."

With the release of the movie, I had the good fortune to be invited to a Mommy Needs a Cocktail/SATC opening night party in Virginia this past weekend. After a few Cosmos with a group of women I had either just met or had known cyberly for years, we filed into the theater excited for the opportunity to finally catch up with the fabulous foursome. I found it utterly charming that nearly the entire viewing audience was comprised of women wearing dresses and heels, usually in groupings of four just like the main characters.

When the movie started, it felt like champagne and strawberries after a long fast. The fashion provided a feast of non-stop eye candy. Carrie models outfits from the depths of her closet, stars in an amazing Vogue fashion shoot, and the gang sits in the front row of a fashion show. There are amazing hats, funky bags, and a pair of blue Manolos that will take your breath away. I even liked the crazy bird hat!

But as I sat there there was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized that aside from a few amazingly emotional scenes (one on the landing of the stairs at the New York Public Library, another involving a confession so pained you want more than anything to hug the tortured actor) it was........eh. All the prior character growth in the finale has been removed like an unsightly bikini line.

Samantha finds monogamy boring and not for her. Raising a child has not loosened up Charlotte one bit, she's a boring Stepford wife who has sex 3-4 times and week and won't even eat anything but prepackaged American pudding at a gorgeous Mexican resort. Miranda has reverted to her self-centered ways to the point of ignoring her husband's sexual needs for half a year. Big will freely open his wallet to Carrie but won't go outside his comfort zone to give her something she's spent years dreaming about. Worst of all, she still accepts his emotional leftovers.

And recycling seemed a be key feature throughout the film, but not the environmentally conscious-kind. In the movie:

• Charlotte's stomach made that familiar rumbling sound, this time due to Montezuma's Revenge not gourmet food poisoning.
• Instead of a "Carrie" nameplate necklace, there is a "Love" key chain
• A pregnant person's water breaks at a highly inopportune moment, but thankfully not on Carrie's shoes this time.
• Carrie takes out her frustrations on innocent flowers: white roses are sacrificed this time instead of Berger's pink carnations.
• And in an unfortunate turn of events, even Sarah Jessica Parker's New York City premiere gown was used before.

I've read many fan reactions and know that my disappointment in SATC is a minority opinion, most people say they love, love, loved it. In true Carrie Bradshaw fashion, I can't help but wondering if age might play a role in this.

As a parent, I was interested in seeing how motherhood would affected the girls as half were now mothers themselves. However, in the movie the children were treated with less significance than the designer handbags in the film. Charlotte brings innocent little Lily to several gatherings of "the girls" which seemed highly out of character as Charlotte is a known prude and Samantha is famous for her explicit overshares. Both Brady and Lily could have been played by dolls, so minor were their roles.

In fact many of the secondary characters (Stanford, Anthony, Harry, Magda) do little more than appear in cameo appearances, which was disappointing. I'd much rather see more of Stanford and less of Samantha prancing around with her new dog.

To me, the movie felt more like an artificial series of conflicts created in order to quickly wrap it all up with a Louis Vuitton bow at the end. After four Sexless years, I expected nearly two and a half hours of it to blow my mind. However, with an opening weekend of over $55 million, it's apparent that even so-so Sex is better than no Sex at all. The movie is worth seeing, but is more satisfying if you keep your expectations to a minimum.

SATC Movie(click thumbnails to view gallery)