Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002

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I never truly knew what the term "Chick Flick" meant, until I walked into the theater to see Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood. There were no - that's zero, nada, zilch, nil - no People Of The Testosterone Persuasion in my audience. Man, you could smell the estrogen coursing through that room. I bet Clairol made a fortune from the blue hair dye those old girls scarfed up. Goodness, that was a scary group. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) Drama Queen Vivi Abbott Walker (Ellen Burstyn) has a fit when daughter Siddalee (Sandra Bullock), a playwright coming into her own, disses Vivi (or so she thinks) in an interview in A Major Magazine. Vivi and Siddalee have a Falling Out, resulting in Vivi being disinvited to Siddalee's upcoming marriage to Connor McGill (Angus MacFadyen). Vivi's friends Caro (Maggie Smith), Necie (Shirley Knight), and Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), intercede on Vivi's behalf, by kidnapping Siddalee and dragging her back home to the backwoods of Louisiana. There, they show her the Secret Scrapbook of their group - called the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood" - in hopes that by recalling memories of a time when the Ya-Ya's were young and not very different than her, they can help Siddalee understand Vivi and her various Issues. THE UPSHOT Needless to say, this is the kind of flick only a chick (or a man In Touch With His Feelings) could really appreciate. But this Chick didn't quite get there. I could appreciate the individual performances well enough. Maggie Smith was a delight, dropping her British accent and drawling her way through the movie as Caro the smokestack. Shirley Knight's vacant Necie was cute, and as the firebrand Teensy, Fionnula Flanagan was almost a dead ringer for Olympia Dukakis in Steel Magnolias. Angus MacFadyen's brogue brought a charm to his Connor McGill that the previously-cast Ron Eldard might have missed. And though I didn't much care for the usually-solid Ellen Burstyn, I found Ashley Judd's version of young Vivi quite nice - to a point. It is this Point that ruins the movie for me. Point blank: I didn't get what Vivi's Major Damage was supposed to be. When the final shoe dropped, I said to myself, "That's it? That's the Secret? Puhleeze!". Somehow, I don't think that's quite the reaction they were going for. The major problem I had with Ya-Ya (beside it being too derivative of Steel Magnolias, and until the last scene, forgetful of the flavor of Louisiana) was that it was transparent, trying too hard to Make A Statement. You could too easily see the actors behind the characters, the setups behind the vignettes. As charming as Judd was as young Vivi, by her second flashback, you knew they were painting her the Loving Mother; and having spent so much time in that mode, her Change - given much shorter shrift - made little sense (and even less drama). And because the rest of the story depended on this supposedly Dramatic Point having more impact than it did, everything that happened afterward, was made lesser for the effort. Strangely enough, given the strength of the other performers around her, only Sandra Bullock came away unscathed in this movie. Past the Ya-Ya's chewing of the scenery, past the de-ballsing of James Garner [ouch! that had to hurt], Bullock's relatively low-key performance was one of the more enjoyable aspects of this film. I guess it's true what they say: sometimes, less really is more. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE If you're the type that doesn't mind a flick top-heavy on sentimentality, Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood isn't the worst choice you could make. But I ever hear someone yell "Ya Ya!" again, I'll do Damage. DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/