"Sex and the City: The Movie " is a genuine cultural phenom. The opening of the film last weekend was a mega-success exceeding all expectations.

Audiences were predominantly female, with sold-out cinemas from New York City to San Diego (ditto from North Dakota to North Carolina).

It 's unusual for a so-called "chick flick " to dominate the ultra-competitive summertime box office. "Indiana Jones " is standing tall and "Iron Man " still has some weight. Yet they both took a beating from Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha.

Media coverage has tried to assess how and why Carrie & Co. induce such massive "female bonding. " Then there 's the other question: Why are men turned off? Vast swaths of the male population will not -- under any circumstances! -- go see this movie.

What 's up?

The superficial critique goes something like this: Guys want nothing to do with a full-length movie about four women who are obsessed with shoes, men and shopping. But there 's more.

The amount of male contempt directed against "Sex and the City: The Movie " speaks to a profound case of envy. And I don 't mean jealousy about designer clothing or expensive bags or the ridiculously overpriced shoes Carrie indulges in.

It 's the friendships that run so deep -- that 's what the men are envious about.

In the film, though all four of "the girls " are well out of their 30s, their rapport thrives. Despite the passage of time and the shifts in their lives due to marriage, children, careers and geography, all four still connect profoundly.

This is, for most men, insufferable. Why? Because it 's so unlikely to be happening in their own lives. Friendships among men are a rarity as the middle-aged years unfold. Of course there are drinking buddies and sports-related get-togethers. But if alcohol or competitive team sports were withdrawn from those equations? Well, you do the math.

Anybody who has ever seen a representative sample of the "Sex and the City " television series knows that many dramatic and comedic elements are in the mix.

All the blather about shoes and clothes, that 's secondary to personal issues, job crises, family losses and romantic yearnings -- all of which add up to a boatload of drama heavily laced with risque language and bold dialog.

As for male characters, they 're crucial and varied. From Steve Brady to "Smith " Jerrod and the all-important Mr. Big, the men are presented well.

Dominating everything, however, is the sheer depth of the friendships that make Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha as much of an airtight unit as the Beatles once were.

When my 17-year-old son asked me why I was so hooked on the reruns of "Sex and the City, " I pointed to a picture of the Beatles that I treasure. He looked confused. So I told him a story about one of the more insightful things once said about the original Fab Four.

A made-for-TV movie in the '70s chronicled the emergence of the Beatles as a pop music force in the early 1960s. In that script, a major character suggests that to understand the band it 's best to think of the four of them as one unified being. In other words: John was the brain. Paul was the heart. George was the soul. Ringo was the muscle.

Individually, each was merely interesting. Together, they were wizards.

Fast-forward to "Sex and the City: The Movie. " A similar magical charisma is at play. And millions of viewers are reacting to the Beatlesque energy, the sparkling wit, the contrasting temperaments and the non-stop repartee for the most legitimate of reasons.

We want that kind of buzz in our own lives and relationships. But maybe we have to have something like those friendships to appreciate what 's up there on the screen. I wonder: What major Hollywood film could possibly cause untold numbers of men to orchestrate opening-night parties and assorted theme activities? Is there such a film?

I don 't know. But I think it 's telling that a zillion guys were gung-ho to see the new Indiana Jones flick, because like most action-adventure male heroes, Indiana Jones is, in essence, a man alone.

That 's the guy thing in a nutshell: individual heroics as opposed to being part of a group of kindred spirits. Superman? Rocky? Rambo? Zorro? The majority of heroes in Westerns? Or in war films?

Almost always, they 're solitary.

Maybe most threatening of all is that the unconditional love sustained by Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha plumbs the depth of feeling that we 're supposed to experience only within our families and our marriages.

But they 're an alternative family unit in a parallel universe, as were John, Paul, George and Ringo during the early halcyon days of the Beatles. That 's a rare, alchemical bond. It 's a rapport that is beyond category.

It is, indeed, something to aspire to. If the new Fab Four ever decide to harmonize on a classic from the old Fab Four 's songbook, "We Can Work It Out " would sound terrific.

Moore is an author in Madison.