"Sex and the City" opened this weekend to mixed reviews but boffo box office of $56 million . While some critics hailed the return of Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, others found the film, four years in the making, not worth the wait. However, loyal female fans flocked to the film, which pushed past "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" to claim the top spot.

While the movie's audience may be made up mainly of women, film reviewers are mostly men. The two-hours-plus comedy scored a middling 54 at both Meta Critic and Rotten Tomatoes. Though the film will no doubt continue to heat up the box office this summer, will it be frozen out of awards races next winter?

The divided opinion among critics was not due to gender. For example, Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly graded the movie a B+ and Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times was as impressed. But Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times awarded the film only two stars while Manohla Dargis of the New York Times delivered one of her most withering reviews of the year.

Without the wholehearted backing of key scribes, the film is unlikely to figure in any of the various critics awardsfests. Remember the TV show was snubbed by the Television Critics Assn. despite four nominations. And just as the small screen edition failed to strike it rich at the Emmy Awards (winning best comedy series only once), don't expect the big screen version to make much of an impression at the Academy Awards (save for a nod for costumer Patricia Field).

However, the movie might make a better impression on Golden Globe voters. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have separate categories for dramas and comedies/musicals and lead performers. The TV show won three of its six nominations for best comedy series (2000, 2001, 2002), while Sarah Jessica Parker went four for seven in the race for best lead comedy actress (2000, 2001, 2002 , 2004).

Parker's costars didn't enjoy the same success, perhaps because of increased competition. At the Golden Globes, supporting stars of comedy and drama TV series are combined into one category. Cattrall won only one of her four Globe TV nods (2003), Nixon went 0 for 4, and Davis lost her sole nomination. As the Globes do the same with supporting stars of movies, it will be an uphill battle for any of these three to get a nomination.

The four of them did better at the SAG Awards, earning five ensemble nods with two wins (2002, 2004) and a single win for Parker out of her four solo nods (2001) though Cattrall lost both of her bids.

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