Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood [WS]

Director: Callie Khouri Callie Khouri

Overview

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 fianc?, 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.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/03/2009
UPC:	0883929089178
Original Release:	2002
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:56:00
Sales rank:	14,316

Special Features

Closed Caption; 8 additional scenes; Cast commentary with Ashley Judd and director/screenwriter Callie Khouri ; Filmmaker commentary with Callie Khouri, executive producer Lisa Stewart, producers Bonnie Bruckheimer and Hunt Lowry, editor Andrew Marcus and composer T Bone Burnett; 2 Featurette: Unlocking the secrets of Ya-Ya sisterhood; Ya-Ya sisterhood scrapbook; Alison Krauss Sitting in the Window of My Room music video; Theatrical trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sandra Bullock	Siddalee Walker
Ellen Burstyn	Vivian Jane Abbott `Vivi' Walker
Maggie Smith	Caro,Younger Shep Walker
Fionnula Flanagan	Teensy
Shirley Knight	Necie
Ashley Judd	Younger Vivian
James Garner	Shep Walker
Katy Selverstone	Younger Caro
Jacqueline McKenzie	Younger Teensy
Kiersten Warren	Younger Necie
Caitlin Wachs	Little Vivi
Mary Katherine Weiss	Little Caro
Alyssa May Gold	Little Teensy
Nicki Tschudi	Little Necie
Matthew Settle	Jack
Cherry Jones	Grandma Buggy
Angus Macfadyen	Connor
Gina McKee	Genevieve
David Rasche	Taylor Abbott
Leslie Silva	Willetta
Sarallen	Older Willetta
Ron Dortch	Chaney
Fred Koehler	Pete Abbott,Pete Abbott
Allison Bertolino	Little Sidda
Austin R. Cooper	Little Shep Jr.,Baylor
Sarah Huck	Lulu
Deborah Hobart	Aunt Louise
Clint Lienau	James Jr.
David Bridgewater	Dr. Beau Poche
Veda Wilson	Shirley
Mark Joy	Mr. Whitman
Michael Mattison	Officer Roscoe Jenkins
Gil Johnson	Younger Chick
Boyd Kestner	Adult Shep Jr.
Barbara Weetman	Female Interviewer
Gillian Johnson	Younger Chick
Suellen Yates	Stage Manager
Don Baker	Confessional Priest
E. Michael Hewett	Airplane Man
Robert Longstreet	Pilot
Mark Jeffrey Miller	Lyle Johnson
Nina Repeta	Lady at Gas Station
Michael Moyer	Pawn Broker
Taj Mahal	Swing Band Singer
Ann Savoy	Chanteuse
Ursula Burton	Sister Solange
David Mansfield	Composer
T-Bone Burnett	Composer

Technical Credits

Callie Khouri

Mark Andrus

Rebecca Wells

Callie Khouri	Director,Screenwriter
M. James Arnett	Stunts
Bonnie Bruckheimer	Producer
E.K. Gaylord II	Executive Producer,Producer
Avy Kaufman	Casting
Walter Kiesling	Special Effects
Hunt Lowry	Producer
Mary McLaglen	Executive Producer,Producer
Bette Midler	Executive Producer,Producer
Lisa Stewart	Executive Producer
Mark Andrus	Screenwriter
Rebecca Wells	Screenwriter
Kim Drummond	Sound Effects
Scott Elias	Producer
Tom Proper	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Another popular women's novel joins the sorority of Southern chick flicks with Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which counts Fried Green Tomatoes and How to Make an American Quilt among its precursors. It commits few obvious gaffes, but in a genre this familiar, with such select appeal, a film needs at least one strong departure to attain distinction. Without that, it's too much of the generic recipe, equal parts regional whimsy and tepid melodrama. One problem is that the film hasn't much to do with the sisterhood in question, nor the perfunctory mysticism that binds it together. Hence, the viewer struggles to integrate this gaggle of quirky yentas into the worthier tale of mental instability passed through the generations. It's a shame that director Callie Khouri can't make better use of Ashley Judd and the risks she takes as a mother coming unglued. Instead of the incisive directness one might expect from the scribe who wrote Thelma & Louise, Khouri fumbles Judd's illness by failing to attribute it to anything concrete, generating doubt toward the character rather than a needed sympathy. Meanwhile, Khouri opts to handle the present tense in a manner just this side of broad comedy. Picky fans may quibble with other alterations to Rebecca Wells' material, such as softening James Garner's character from dysfunctional collaborator to guiltless victim. The less discriminating ones will probably be as content as need be, and savor the film's soul-searching agenda.