The Women is a 2008 American comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Diane English and starring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Carrie Fisher, Cloris Leachman, Debi Mazar, Bette Midler, and Candice Bergen.

Clothing designer Mary Haines lives in a beautiful suburban Connecticut home with her wealthy financier husband Stephen and their 11-year-old daughter Molly.

When Sylvie learns from chatty manicurist Tanya that Stephen is having an affair with Crystal Allen, a perfume salesgirl in Saks Fifth Avenue, she confides in the ever-pregnant Edie Cohen but hesitates to tell Mary, who discovers the news from the same woman after getting a manicure herself.

As she begins to get her life in order, she makes an effort to bond with Molly, who reveals her father's relationship with Crystal is unraveling and reunites with Sylvie, who has quit her job.

With this knowledge in hand, Mary sets out to repair her fractured marriage as she prepares to unveil her new line of womenswear in a fashion show attended not only by boutique owners but the buyer from Saks as well.

She wanted to present a version in which the female characters were strong and self-reliant and supported and defended each other rather than resort to treachery and catty remarks to achieve their goals.

Because the concept of women going to Reno in search of a divorce is archaic, she needed to eliminate this aspect of the original plot from her treatment, which necessitated deleting several characters from the story.

The following year, Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan agreed to co-produce and star, with James L. Brooks as director and a supporting cast that included Blythe Danner, Marisa Tomei, Debi Mazar, and Candice Bergen.

Over the next few years, Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Uma Thurman, Whitney Houston, and Queen Latifah were among those to express interest, but none were attached officially.

Scott of The New York Times called the film "a witless, straining mess" and added, You wait in vain for a moment of snappy repartee, of fresh emotion, of grace or charm or pathos...If The Women had managed to give its various impulses some kind of coherent shape or tone, it might be worth arguing about.

As it is, the movie wanders and wallows, stumbling toward screwball before veering in the direction of weepiness and grasping at satirical urbanity along the way...Rarely has class struggle, or catfighting, for that matter, been so tediously waged.

[7]Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times observed, While the original film...saw itself as a catty entertainment about New York society women coping with the infidelity of the husband of one of their friends, English has something grander and more complex in mind...This version sees itself as both a farce and a manifesto, a glorification of female friendship and a celebration of women's need for self-realization...All that would be a handful to pull off for the most experienced filmmaker, but English has never directed before, and it shows.

"[11] Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett Smith each garnered a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress.