Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)

After years of mother-daughter tension, Siddalee receives a scrapbook detailing the wild adventures of the "Ya-Yas", her mother's girlhood friends.

Director:

Callie Khouri

Writers:

Rebecca Wells (novels), Mark Andrus (adaptation),

Stars:

Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Fionnula Flanagan

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sandra Bullock	...	Siddalee 'Sidda' Walker
Ellen Burstyn	...	Viviane Joan 'Vivi' Abbott Walker
Fionnula Flanagan	...	'Teensy' Melissa Whitman
James Garner	...	Shepard James 'Shep' Walker
Cherry Jones	...	Grandma 'Buggy' Abbott
Ashley Judd	...	Younger Vivi Abbott Walker
Shirley Knight	...	Necie Rose Kelleher
Angus Macfadyen	...	Connor McGill
Maggie Smith	...	Caro Eliza Bennett
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Younger Teensy Whitman
Katy Selverstone	...	Younger Caro Bennett
Kiersten Warren	...	Younger Necie Kelleher
David Lee Smith	...	Younger Shep Walker
Gina McKee	...	Genevieve Whitman
Matthew Settle	...	Lt. Jack Whitman

Storyline

Siddalee, a famous New York playwright, is quoted in Time magazine and infuriates her dramatic, Southern mother. A long-distant fight wages until her mother's friends (and members of the Yaya Sisterhood) kidnap Siddalee and take her "home" to the South, where they hope to explain her mother's history and to patch up the rift between mother and daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

playwright | louisiana | interview | secret society | flashback | 

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Taglines:

Mothers. Daughters. The never-ending story of good vs. evil.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, language, and brief sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]with trailer

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Divinos secretos

Filming Locations:

Burgaw, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$65,100 (South Africa) (4 October 2002)

Gross:

$199,958 (South Africa) (1 November 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

All Girl Productions, Gaylord Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina at the same time as A Walk to Remember.

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Goofs

When Teensy blocks Vivi on the bridge, Vivi slams on the brakes, causing tire marks. Yet, when Vivi gets out of the car, we don't see any tire marks behind her on the road.

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Quotes

Younger Vivi: [after throwing dinner on the floor] You can starve for all I care!
[storms out]
Little Sidda Walker: I'll make dinner, Daddy. Okay?
Younger Shep Walker: Thank you. I'll get the skillet. Don't touch it; it's hot.

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Connections

Referenced in Psych: Talk Derby to Me (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Ya-Ya"
(2002)
Written by Darrell Leonard and T-Bone Burnett

User Reviews

What's so divine about drinking too much?

`The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' is nothing short of self-indulgent twaddle. The entire premise of this movie seems to be about never letting any male come between the members of this girls' club. Vivi, this spirited leader, is this specially gifted person who is somehow stultified in her spiritual growth by circumstances. But besides riding in a car without her bra, what actions does she take for her growth? It's like it is everyone else's fault! She fantasizes but doesn't do anything, except drink and run away. Education anyone? Had Vivi's original beau, who was killed in the war, lived, one is expected to believe that things would have somehow been different. But the failure of Vivi's motherhood seems to have nothing to do with her husband. How many kids did she have? When was it that she discovered that she wasn't going to be mother material or, for that matter, wife material? This woman was supposed to be unusually bright! I did enjoy the relationship of the Ya-Ya's. One gets the impression, however, that some things were there just because they were part of some real life experience. For example, Maggie Smith's oxygen bottle isn't all that great a prop. Additionally all the accents are generic rather than from Louisiana. Sandra Bullock continuously plays an hysterical person who is occasionally waking up or calming down. Additionally, her character remembers a difficult childhood, but oddly, doesn't recall the really bad things until she begins to look at the scrapbook. While I can understand how she might want to block out being beaten with a belt while Mom was drunk, it certainly would be nice to have these things set as an emotional barrier before she starts re-reading it all. Why is she the only one with issues? Where are the rest of the kids? It took me about half the movie before I realized that the real hero is Dad. He just remains where he is supposed to be and does what he is supposed to do and more. Vivi moves out of their bedroom in the 60's and he just keeps on taking care of things. I am surprised that a man would be allowed such a portrait in a feminist movie. The real issue is that even when you forgive things, you have the etched stain of the sin, in this case the damage of some 30 years or more, alcohol, worry, desertion, emptiness and more. No one is carrying the effects of the pain in this movie. When Dad and Mom get back together, it looks like they have had a 10-minute spat. The question of forgiveness never gets the billing that it deserves. All the horrors are slowly piled onto one another. But does one have any choice but to forgive someone else when he or she needs it? Forgiveness isn't about the mind, but about the heart. It's a great lesson not to allow pride to stand in its way. That should have been the story of the movie before it bored you to death with the obvious clichés at the end.