Veteran producer/director Diane English (
The Lathe of Heaven,
Murphy Brown) helms this contemporized remake of
George Cukor's beloved proto-feminist comedy drama The Women (1939), an adaptation of Clare Boothe Luce's play. The English version follows the gossip, bitchy wisecracking, and overall disillusionment that erupt among a group of socialite friends when their dearest and most envied learns of her husband's marital infidelity at the hands of a backstabbing shopgirl. The all-female cast is fronted by
Meg Ryan,
Annette Bening,
Eva Mendes,
Debra Messing,
Jada Pinkett Smith, and
Candice Bergen, with supporting roles inhabited by
Bette Midler,
Cloris Leachman, and
Carrie Fisher. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide