Yo, Steph--

You got a couple of facts wrong. For instance, Lilly, the youngest daughter, states not once but several times - and then echoed by her two sisters as well - that she was in the "fourth grade," not "kindergarten," as you state. And, to complete the mischaracterization of Lilly, the actress's name is "Marlene," not "Marleen."

Oh well, as they say. But you are pretty correct for most of the rest. As for Dane Cook, you gave him, as they say, a "walk." I almost had to avert my eyes (and ears) whenever he was onscreen, he is that obnoxious. He literally made my teeth ache. I have no idea what it is he does on those cable specials, but special is not the word I would use to describe them. And as for Ms. Binoche falling for Cook's Mitch - one is more likely to find diamonds in an armadillo's butt than a woman with that much class deigning to speak to, much less sleep with, Mitch.

After reading this a.m.'s review of the movie, I was so looking forward to it. I wanted to love it, but I couldn't. It nearly lost me in those mushy bookstore scenes, capped off by the sheer yuck quotient of the tea scene. Until he got to his wife, when it allowed the characters to feel, ie, breathe. Then, with the intro of that Dane Cook character, raw nerves began to jangle. And so much of the humor fell flat. Neither is Carrell the easiest character to care about; all in all, tho, he did okay. The rest of the cast did its best - especially the three daughers. Wiest gets a "nah," and as always, Mahoney gets a "yeah, ok." (I still think the best role he ever did was the forlorn prof in "Moonstruck"). I dunno, maybe it's just me, but there was too much acting and not enough reacting. Lots o' lines being delivered, but not to other characters; with the exception of the daughters to their father.

For the cinephiles out there, here is a truly hilarious and sweet family movie, "Eulogy." Fabulous cast, with the always great Zooey Deschanel, Hank Azaria in his best movie role ever as her dad, Piper Laurie as her hilarious nana, Debra Winger doing a marvelous turn as a total bitch, etc. The tweener twins playing Ray Romano's kids will probably break your kidneys - they are that funny. You don't know me, but you will thank me for this recommendation.

Whoa! Take a step back folks! Yeah, Carrie et al are shallow blahnikas, but they are . . . not really real! Emily G, poor thing, exists on what has been portrayed as the SATC "dark side." That is far more lamentable, no? I read the Times' article in full, and believe me, I have been touched far more by the humanity of the SATC characters' predicaments than poor Emily's. Think back to the death of Miranda's mom, and recall the heartbreaking moment when the writers let Samantha out of potty-mouthed box, when she was practically undone by the depth of her emotions. And over the years that SATC ran, there were far more touching moments in virtually every episode than could be counted in the Times' piece, again sad to say. All of the clothes and shoes and la-la-la was only the backdrop to when the characters on SATC were allowed to express true emotions. And, IMHO, none portrayed those moments better than SJP. She is a splendid actor.

Beyond the simple mantra, "don't move, don't move, don't move," there is an even more insidious scenario. Picture this: You move to California (as a "good soldier should") and it turns out that you really don't hate it as much as you thought you would. You almost come to "like" living in such a god-forsaken place. I mean, who but an utter idiot could ever love living in California (I do, but I was born, raised and miseducated here and don't know any better). Yet, it still has not for one moment taken over that place in your heart occupied by that place from whence you came. Okay, so here you are, and you've been here for a couple or three years, and your boss comes to you and says, "I need your help, trooper. A situation came up which calls for your immediate relocation to . . . Omaha! I'm sorry, this comes from on high and is an irrevocable decision." And if your company doesn't have anything going on there now, it won't be long before it does, or somewhere else equally desirable. On the other hand, Omaha is probably closer to where you came from than good ole CA! See ya soon! (NOT!)