Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is more melodramatic than emotionally truthful, and uneven in its mixture of time periods, actresses, laughter and tears.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is more melodramatic than emotionally truthful, and uneven in its mixture of time periods, actresses, laughter and tears.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
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Screenwriter Callie Khouri makes her directorial debut with this adaptation of a pair of popular novels by author Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere. Sandra Bullock stars as Sidda Lee Walker, a New York playwright who opens a can of emotional worms with her estranged, boozy mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), when she discusses her painful childhood and particularly Vivi's less-than-enviable mothering skills in a Time magazine article. The eccentric
Louisiana drama queen Vivi has already been barred from her daughter's oft-delayed wedding to her fiancé, Connor (Angus Macfadyen), so the article sends her into a rage. Coming to the rescue of the relationship are Necie (Shirley Knight), Caro (Maggie Smith), and Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), a trio of bickering women, who, along with Vivi, formed a secret society of feminist empowerment and friendship 60 years earlier that they dubbed the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The Ya-Yas kidnap Sidda and bring her home to Louisiana, where they reveal to Sidda via a carefully maintained scrapbook her mother's painful past (with Vivi portrayed in flashback by Ashley Judd), effecting a rapprochement between mother and daughter. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood also stars James Garner. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
While there are pleasures to be had from watching so many grand actresses strut their stuff, the fact is that the overriding preoccupation here rests with surface impressions rather than psychological probity.
[T]here's alcoholism, there's child abuse, there's all sorts of tragedy, but it's handled in a sitcom manner, which is completely wrong for this material.
Sandra Bullock is great as Siddalee Walker, the angry and disgruntled woman who has a cross to bear with her mother and often exhibits the corky odd traits her mother does.
Better make the most of the first ten minutes of this execrable melodrama (directed by the scriptwriter of Thelma & Louise), because from then on it's the yackety-yack sisterhood in spades.
Seeing the film, my initial, gut perception of those who form real life Ya-Ya Sisterhoods stands: these are women with way too much time on their hands.
Though [Khouri] has an obvious flair for exploring the inner workings of the female mind, she unfortunately glosses over a pinnacle moment in the story and inevitably lets the viewer down.
A tal irmandade Ya-Ya é de uma bobagem extremada, e o roteiro tem buracos incríveis, deixando de lado vários pontos sobre os irmãos de Burstyn e Bullock, que são mencionados, mas nunca vistos.
...it becomes clear that these two hours would be better spent reflecting on our own treasured memories than getting confused by this group's sordid past.
Since, at least as relates to its central plot, Ya-Ya cheerleads for the pure life-living gusto of its gaudy heroines, some spirited overacting and slathery screenwriting is less a liability than a guilty pleasure the movie is wholly in on.
It is the actresses' irreproachable ability to tap into the feminine psyche, to capture the beauty of female friendships and to demonstrate the complex love and loathe relationship often found between mothers and daughters that elevates this movie.
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