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Someone noted in the run up to the much advertised release of the Sex and the City movie that it would be easier finding a needle in a haystack that it would be to find a straight guy eager to see this film. Well last time I checked I was both a) a guy, and b) straight, and whilst "eager" is perhaps not the most appropriate adjective to describe the feeling in that part of my brain aware of the impending release, I was admittedly quite looking forward to it.

HBOs Sex in the City aired its last episode 4 years ago and it was an unquestionably hugely successful. Smartly written and very well performed, it was a series benefiting from great casting, most notably in Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, neither of whom had found more than limited success as actresses before Sex, and both of whom won multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for their work on the series.

Costars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davies couldn't match the charisma of the other two but both brought something to their roles and the chemistry between the four was always abundant on screen, which made the tabloid tales of infighting somewhat surprising. It was this supposed rivalry that kept the movie from happening. First mooted when the show wrapped, it has been a fairly protracted effort in bringing it to the big screen but judging by this Monday's US numbers, fans of the show have been waiting patiently and turned out in force on opening weekend.

That last episode saw Carrie and Big (and if you have no idea who Carrie and Big are you've done very well in getting this far - thanks for trying but you'll probably want to give up any time now) finally commit to a relationship with each other and the logical centrepiece for the movie was always going to be their marriage. This being 2 hours and 20 minutes as opposed to just 20, there was obviously going to be a snag along the way and you'll be hard pressed not to guess what it'll be long before the seeds of doubt are sown into the plot. Like the vast majority of the TV episodes, the film completely focuses on Carrie and, like the vast majority of the TV episodes it is all the better for it. Nixon and Davis try and give their scenes some gravitas: Nixon succeeds, Davis fails - particularly with an embarrassing "No, no" wail at Big; Cattrall rather more effortlessly makes her scenes hugely enjoyable. She was always the comic focus of the show but wasn't always quite as funny as she is here.

Seeing it in LA with a packed theatre was an experience in itself. Sitting next to me was a very small dog who had either been smuggled in by the SITC-cast-member-wannabe or who was such a big fan of the show that he didn't want to miss the big screen version. The human members of the audience were very vocal. Whoops of delight greeted the opening credits, cheers and tears met the closing credits and generous laughter and applause lauded even the slightest of jokes. To be fair the film is successfully humorous - Samantha once again gets all the best lines, like she always has, but then Cattrall did always have the best comic timing of all the cast. A line about Samantha being last happy 6 long months ago and "that being quite good for LA" went down particularly well with the hard-bitten West Coast crowd. It was not hard to discern that the movie did everything these people were expecting and that they collectively gave it a very hearty thumbs up. I don't mind admitting I agree with their verdict.

Michael Patrick King, who writes and directs, has a surefire hit on his hands because he has essentially just filmed an extended episode of a show that was a huge success. If it ain't broke, don't fix it they say. It wasn't and he hasn't tried to. Fans of this will lap it up and everyone else will probably not watch it anyway. The opening credits serve as a "here is what you missed" for anyone dragged along but really this is quite unapologetically not a film for them. This is for those that wanted to wear the Manolo Blahniks and Jimmy Choos of the characters, to engage in adult sex talk in swanky NY clubs or to fantasise about dating rich guys who'll buy you a penthouse Manhattan apartment at the drop of a hat. Which one of those fantasies was the reason I watched? The Jimmy Choos obviously.