Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Let's be realistic.

Great Film overall

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002): Dir: Callie Khouri / Cast: Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Ashley Judd, James Garner, Maggie Smith: About bonding and emotional scars left on others. Interesting setup turns into a sitcom with Sandra Bullock as a playwright interviewed where her views of her mother are not taken pleasantly. The Ya-Ya Sisterhood is four women who made a pact in their younger years. Ellen Burstyn plays Bullock's mother whose behaviour is so excessive that she sends Bullock photos with her face burned out. Likewise Bullock issues wedding invitations missing the date and time. The remaining sisters decide to drug Bullock and spirit her away where reflection and harsh growing up begins. Director Callie Khouri is backed with decent sets. Ellen Burstyn is too excessive with contrived reasoning. Sandra Bullock as her daughter is reciting tired material. Ashley Judd as young Burstyn delivers the one performance that works as she displays her pain and grief from her past. James Garner as Burstyn's husband is there for plot convenience. There are a few veteran actresses involved in this tripe led by Maggie Smith who is better than this material deserves. Theme regarding abuse passed down is evident while the pain of the screenplay is even more noticeable. In the end this is just a laughable contrivance right up to its corny ending. Score: 5 ½ / 10

I had postponed watching 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' because I thought it would be just another melodramatic glossy film like 'Steel Magnolias'. I finally got myself to see it last night. After all how bad could a movie, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Sandra Bullock, Maggie Smith, Fionnula Flanagan, James Garner and Shirley Knight, be? Now I can say that 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' did not disappoint.First of all, this is a performance oriented film. It is the acting by every single actor that makes this film stand above others. The movie has some great one-liners that are wonderfully delivered by the actors. Ellen Burstyn, Ashley Judd, Maggie Smith, Sandra Bullock, Fionnula Flanagan, Shirley Knight, Angus MacFadyen and James Garner are superb. Their line delivery and knack for comedy and/or subtle intensity is excellent.I found the timeline to be a bit inconsistent. The art direction in the 30s setting is brilliant. Detail is given to the costumes, makeup, gestures and language of the actors. However, the present day, which is supposed to be set in the 70s doesn't give that feel at all. I also would have liked to see more backstory on Teensy, Caro and Necie. After all, the story is about their sisterhood.Even though flawed, it's an interesting study on relationships. The balance of comedy and intensity is well done and it avoids being the 'tearjerker melodrama' that 'Steel Magnolias' is.

This movie has been underrated. It is fantastic. Sidda is a character like many daughters that have suffered from their parent's decisions. Vivienne is a flawed mother like many mother's. This movie is real, and will touch you straight to the heart on multiple levels. It is intelligent and soft. I did not realize all of the multitudes of layers in this story until I recently watched it. The acting is very good. This tale mimicks many families that have suffered problems, and it is very beautiful. I truly enjoyed it. It is underrated and very beautiful with the tales of friendship as well as family dysfunction. I know so many mother's and daughter's that have experienced this type of pain, and some forgive and some don't. This is a story of true mother and daughter relationships, and the wounds we carry on to other generations beneath us. I loved it!

No college sorority was ever as tight as the bond formed by Ellen Burstyn, Shirley Knight, Fionnula Flanagan, and Maggie Smith as the Ya Ya Sisterhood. So when one of them is in trouble, they all jump in to help.In this case Ellen Burstyn possibly the most neurotic of the four has just been cut good and proper by her daughter Sandra Bullock on a television interview. Bullock in a moment of candor says that her growing up in Louisiana was not the happiest childhood she could have had.Of course all the members of the Sisterhood read it and/or hear it and the other three think that it's time that Sandra gets told a few facts about mother and both their childhoods that she didn't know. These crazy old women actually slip Sandra a Mickey Finn and whisk her back to Louisiana for a little heart to heart.Even risking kidnapping charges, these women are really there for each other. We should all be lucky enough to have such friends.This is one of the best films of this new century so far to come out. I enjoyed every blessed nostalgic look back in flashbacks to the events that shaped the lives of Burstyn and Bullock. Ashley Judd's performance as Burstyn's character in young adulthood is also first rate.The great thing about the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is that not all of us, not most of us even get to live in ideal Donna Reed or June Cleaver like homes. We make it out of childhood the best we can, with what we can. The most important relationships each of these women have is with each other. That silly little childhood name they chose for their group is what sets them apart and what supports each of them through their individual crisis.Presiding through most of the film is Burstyn's husband and Bullock's father James Garner. In fact Garner through half the film has no dialog at all, but his facial expressions tell everything. He's a lot of the reason that Bullock made it through childhood as well.I can't recommend this film highly enough, it's about four of the best friends ever put on film.YA-YA forever.