Loyal Sex and the City fans won’t be disappointed with writer/director Michael Patrick King’s two and a half hour marathon of men and Manolos.

Picking up a few years after the conclusion of the television series, not much has changed for the fabulous foursome: Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is still with the infamous Mr. Big (Chris Noth) while Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) is balancing life as a mother, wife and lawyer in Brooklyn with her son and husband, Steve (David Eigenberg); Samantha (Kim Cattrall) has moved to Los Angeles with her young boy toy Smith Jerrod (Jason Lewis) to support and manage his acting career, and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is living in marital bliss with her husband Harry (Evan Handler) and their adopted daughter. These four fashionable Manhattan women continue their saga of life, love, and of course sex, in a witty, clever and oftentimes heartbreakingly sad film.

The relationships between the women are at the core of the series, and King brings these complex friendships to the big screen as well. The movie primarily focuses on Parker’s character, but Nixon, Davis and Cattrall all match Parker’s performance, delivering on both emotional and comedic levels. At times, the movie pushes the boundaries of an R-rating with raunchy sexual humor, but the laughs never jeopardize the three-dimensional portrayal of the characters, and they even work to draw a few male viewers.

Despite the crude humor, SATC delves into deeper and darker issues than the series ever tackled. These problems are relatable to most women: the difficult struggle of maintaining personal identity while being in a relationship, the challenging confines of marriage and the sting of infidelity and its damaging repercussions. However, the most powerful aspect of the movie does not involve the girls’ relationships with their male counterparts, but comes instead through their relationships with each other. An argument between Miranda and Carrie is realistically compelling, while the girls’ protective nature over Carrie when Big jilts her on their wedding day speaks deeply to the strong emotional bond between the four. Despite the focus on sex, love and marriage, and despite the materialistic undertones of the movie, the truly beautiful aspect of the film is the friendship between the four girls – scenes between Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte are funny, touching, sometimes heartbreaking and always honest.

As a result of the women’s dominating presence in SATC, some of the supporting actors deliver substandard performances. Mr. Big, whose character is so one-dimensional on the show (quite frankly, he’s a jerk), is suddenly endowed with a brand new personality and with that, brand new emotions, fears and neuroses (a whiny jerk). Consequently, his performance seems somewhat forced. However, his presence is necessary as a catalyst for all of the drama—and boy, does he cause drama.

Jennifer Hudson’s useless role as Carrie’s assistant, Louise, only further reinforced my belief that Hudson should only be on-screen if she’s singing. I found myself resenting her every appearance, wishing that her scenes with Carrie were replaced with scenes containing the other, more interesting girls.

Hardcore fans will love the movie, regardless of its flaws. Clothing montages, including the brief appearance of the infamous pink tutu worn by Carrie for the television series, will delight SATC followers and provide couture eye candy for those who are not familiar with the series. Fans will also delight in the appearance of minor characters from the show: Vogue editor Enid Frick (Candice Bergen), and the fabulous duo, Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) and wedding planner Anthony (Mario Canton).

While it is often difficult for a TV series to make the leap to the big screen, Sex and The City handles the problem effortlessly by remaining true to the series. I won’t ruin the ending for you, but some big decisions are made by all of the characters that are surprising, even shocking. Ultimately, whether you agree or disagree with their choices, there’s no denying that the four SATC girls are faaabulous!