Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood -- PG-13
Starring: Ashley Judd, Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn
Directed by: Callie Khouri
Showing: Showplace East 11
"Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is a tale of unusual families and friends and their grudges and peculiarities. The movie, based on the book of the same name, follows four childhood friends who bound themselves together forever through the rituals of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. This influences their lives as they mature and even as older women when they still give into their eccentric Ya-Ya ways.
The leader of the pack, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), stops speaking to her daughter, Siddalee (Sandra Bullock), when Siddalee accidentally gives a Time reporter the true details of her painful childhood with her mother. The article gets published, and so begins a mother-daughter feud they have both held inside for too long. The other three Ya-Ya's, who care very much for their odd friend Vivi, kidnap Siddalee and reveal to her the harsh secrets of her mother's past, the reasons for her bizarre nature and the cause of their distant relationship.
Burstyn, Maggie Smith, Fionnula Flanagan and Shirley Knight do excellent jobs in the roles of these older Ya-Ya sisters. The movie goes back and forth in time between the Ya-Ya's childhoods, adult lives -- where Ashley Judd gives a powerful performance as a younger Vivi -- and present lives, in order to build up to a crucial point in Vivi's life. This life changing event is supposed to give Siddalee insight into the feelings between her and her mother.
Although it seemingly does that for Siddalee, it is not as effective on the audience. The tension among the characters in the scene makes it seem like it was a devastating experience and the climax of the movie. It very well could have been, but unfortunately this scene was not developed enough. The plot sped right through it without giving it enough importance.
This movie is great for mothers and daughters to watch together, as well as life long friends. All the important personalities in this film are female except for two secondary male characters, one played by James Garner. This reflected the female-male ratio in the theater's audience. "Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is a movie most women can relate to, but may also come in handy to men who want to understand the strange ways of their mothers, wives and daughters.
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