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:

The Secret Is Out

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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. [us]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

Near the beginning of the film, there is a shot of the Belasco Theatre in New York, where Sidalee's play is about to start performances. The Main marquee and windows on the theatre display the marquee for her play. However, one of the marquees over the entrance has a general marquee that reads "See a Broadway show just for the fun of it!". The Shubert Organization (which owns the theatre) only uses these generic marquees in a theatre that is currently empty and no upcoming show is booked into it. This marquee would never appear on a theatre that is in previews/has a show about to open.

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Quotes

Sidda: [about Connor] Don't you think it's fishy that we're not married yet? I mean, he started asking me the first year and I always resisted, don't you think that's fishy?
Teensy: [defensive] Why is that fishy?
Sidda: Because! Something must be wrong. I've been hitting the snooze button on my biological clock for a long time. I mean, on paper it all works out, you saw him, who wouldn't wanna have babies with him? But every time I get right down to it, something just stops me, it just stops.
Caro: And you don't have any ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The Office: Hot Girl (2005)

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Soundtracks

"You You Darlin'"
(1938)
Music by M.K. Jerome
Lyrics by Jack Scholl

User Reviews

Na-Na?

I liked this movie. I really did. Someone very close to me has a mother very much like this. It's reality folks, not everyone has a sensible loving mother that grasps the role of "motherhood" like a duck to water. Some people remain stuck in a selfish state where they blame everyone/thing else for all their unhappiness and the misdirection of their lives. I'm glad there's a movie that brought that subject to light. One user said the movie is celebrating an alcoholic, but that's untrue. You're watching a woman go further and further into a downward spiral of self-pitying despair and hatred for the events of her life. I also didn't find Vivi's mother to be evil, but she seemed to have been desperately trying to claim her role as a respectable wife. When your husband treats horses better than you, you get a little miffed. He dismissed her as his partner in life for a child she gave him, so the woman aimed her frustrations at her child, instead of her husband. At that time, what could she have really done to the husband? He would've beaten her most likely. I appreciated the fact that Vivi was flawed. Just humanly flawed and admitted it. It sucks that people have parents like this, but Sidda learned to deal with it in her own way. I'm glad it wasn't a typical reaction, like drugs or promiscuity. She just accepted her mother for what she is: flawed and screwed up. Motherhood doesn't make you unselfish and well-versed in letting go of your troubles. That's something you learn over time, and the movie showed that. It might take 40-odd years as it did them, or someone could get it the moment the child is born. What I got from the film is that your parents had dreams and nightmares before you came into the picture, and it takes a lot out of them to come to terms with being responsible for a life that they may or may not be ready for. I also really loved the part where Sidda begins to question her ability to be a good mother and wife. I think that resonated well. I certainly would start to wonder. Parents can screw up their kids easily I tell ya. It's not a responsibility to enter into lightly. I'm sure there were flaws like the accents of Louisiana and technical stuff, but altogether, the movie really reaches many levels.