Update and opening-up of the old Clare Boothe Luce play, memorably put on screen by George Cukor in 1939 (unmemorably by David Miller in 1956), still an all-female cast despite countless scenes in the street, in a department store, in a restaurant, in a hospital — it gets a bit ridiculous. The luster, even overlooking the wan photography, is lacking. Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Eva Mendes (the first two hog most of the screen time) hardly match the incandescence of Joan Crawford alone, never mind the added lumens of Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, and Paulette Goddard. And the checklist of feminist talking points gives it a rather grim and driven agenda. Where went the humor? Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, Candice Bergen, Bette Midler, Carrie Fisher; written and directed by Diane English. (2008) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.