Sex, the City and Me (TV 2007)

A businesswoman (Parish) edged out of her job when she falls pregnant, takes her employer to court.

Director:

Philippa Lowthorpe

Writers:

Simon Bent, Philippa Lowthorpe

Stars:

Sarah Parish, Ben Miles, Daniel Lapaine

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Parish	...	Jess Turner
Ben Miles	...	Michael Thompson
Daniel Lapaine	...	Patrick Turner
Shaun Dingwall	...	Tony
Burn Gorman	...	Lawrence
Raza Jaffrey	...	Shafi Amid
Abigail Cruttenden	...	Ali
Carmel O'Sullivan	...	White Sonia
Corey Johnson	...	Jeff Moran
Elliot Levey	...	Jackson
Lucy Robinson	...	Janet Reynolds
Sandra Bee	...	Joyce
Sarah Lancashire	...	Ruth Gilbert
Alice Coulthard	...	Waitress
Dearbhla Molloy	...	Marcia

Storyline

Jessica 'Jess' Turner, the only female trader in a City firm, shamelessly cheats on her doting husband Patrick with her equally adulterous boss Michael Thompson to obtain early promotion and unfair bonuses. When the Turners chose to have a baby, Jess basically intends to leave it with a nanny after maternity leave. But the boys have decided to keep temp Tamara, promoted her former deputy Shafi Amid to co-team-leader and divided her accounts. Despite a lawyer's warning a trial would cost about the possible compensation and ruin her career anyway, she turns hostile on all colleagues and insists on formal proceedings against Thompson. The firm plays hardball too, no competitor will hire her. This egocentric attitude ends up estranging even her husband, but after a hesitation she pushes on to court.

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Plot Keywords:

trial | infidelity | adultery

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Sex and the City

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Did You Know?

Connections

References Sex and the City (1998)

User Reviews

Missed opportunity

Sex, the City and Me deals with an important, compelling subject (the persistent sexism in the City of London) and has a very good cast. It begins very well, with the characters addressing the camera directly, in an almost Brechtian manner, shaking up the conventions of TV drama. It's also brave in that the central character is pretty unsympathetic, but we are forced to side with her.

But then something goes astray. The clichés come out: the two-faced boss; the boorish, alpha-male colleagues; the ice-maiden HR boss; the adoring nerd; the vile American; the back-stabbing younger woman; even the hippyish sister who doesn't have the big bonuses, but is happy. The husband is so wet, you could grow cress on him. The only character who defies these out-of-the box tropes is Sarah Lancashire's solicitor, who is unconvincing, but at least you can't predict exactly what she's going to say and do after five minutes.

The final resolution is simply ludicrous, a deus ex machina ploy that's set up, left hanging, forgotten about, then thrown in just when we think everything's done and dusted.

This is an issue that many still don't take seriously. It's a pity that we need such a lazy, unambitious script to make it palatable to a mass audience.