bnorthup
07-16-2002, 05:20 PM
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (PG-13)
At the Circus
*** 3 stars
Senior citizen chick flick
By Brent Northup
Even though director Callie Khouri pours considerably too much sugar into her cinematic cup of Southern tea, “The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” still manages to warm the heart and provide some genuine insight into family love and family quarrels.
"Ya Ya" marks a distinctly different tone for Khouri who wrote the screenplay for “Thelma and Louise.” Instead of heavy layers of feminist anger mixed with dark satire, she softens considerably here to portray women in a more loving, less political way. In fact, the film’s weakness is its tendency to be too sweet, which was not a problem with “Thelma.”
Often compared to “Terms of Endearment” and “Golden Girls”, “Ya Ya” begins with a scene where childhood girlfriends swear to be friends forever. Their secret cheer of “Ya Ya!” becomes their lifetime bond. The script then shifts forward from adolescence to later years.
The conflict begins when daughter Sidda, a successful playwright, consents to do a “Mommie Dearest” interview for a national magazine. Sidda (Sandra Bullock) reveals some skeletons from her family closet and sends her mother Vivi (Ellen Burstyn) into depression.
Ya Ya girls to the rescue! Vivi’s friends come to her side to help. Fionnula Flanagan as Teensy, Shirley Knight as Necie and Maggie Smith as Caro devise a plan. They “kidnap” Sidda to a country home, where they are determined to help her see the good side of her overbearing stage-mother.
The scrapbook opens and the flashbacks begin.
Depending on your tolerance for sentiment, what follows is either a genuinely touching journey through Vivi’s life – or an overly optimistic tome that intends to solve a lifetime family crisis in one neatly orchestrated week by the sea.
As for me, I decided to give “Ya Ya” the benefit of the doubt. The insight into friendship is honest. The nearly all-female cast directed by a female director clearly provides depth intentionally lacking in most male “buddy movies.”
I compare it more to “On Golden Pond,” than to many other films. The graying years are given some non-stereotypic depth. It’s a chick flick, where the hair is more likely gray than blonde – and when bodies are honestly diverse, rather than homogeneously thin.
I’ve wondered if many of the critical reviews were not a bit too defiantly “male” in their perspective. I think “Ya Ya” has been panned a bit too harshly for being too feminine – when, in fact, that’s exactly what it wants to be.
Granted, it slips into melodrama too often and is far too simplified in presenting its “cure” for a mom-daughter feud, but it does believe in friendship – and a salute to that fading American value is welcome anytime.
END
At the Circus
*** 3 stars
Senior citizen chick flick
By Brent Northup
Even though director Callie Khouri pours considerably too much sugar into her cinematic cup of Southern tea, “The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood” still manages to warm the heart and provide some genuine insight into family love and family quarrels.
"Ya Ya" marks a distinctly different tone for Khouri who wrote the screenplay for “Thelma and Louise.” Instead of heavy layers of feminist anger mixed with dark satire, she softens considerably here to portray women in a more loving, less political way. In fact, the film’s weakness is its tendency to be too sweet, which was not a problem with “Thelma.”
Often compared to “Terms of Endearment” and “Golden Girls”, “Ya Ya” begins with a scene where childhood girlfriends swear to be friends forever. Their secret cheer of “Ya Ya!” becomes their lifetime bond. The script then shifts forward from adolescence to later years.
The conflict begins when daughter Sidda, a successful playwright, consents to do a “Mommie Dearest” interview for a national magazine. Sidda (Sandra Bullock) reveals some skeletons from her family closet and sends her mother Vivi (Ellen Burstyn) into depression.
Ya Ya girls to the rescue! Vivi’s friends come to her side to help. Fionnula Flanagan as Teensy, Shirley Knight as Necie and Maggie Smith as Caro devise a plan. They “kidnap” Sidda to a country home, where they are determined to help her see the good side of her overbearing stage-mother.
The scrapbook opens and the flashbacks begin.
Depending on your tolerance for sentiment, what follows is either a genuinely touching journey through Vivi’s life – or an overly optimistic tome that intends to solve a lifetime family crisis in one neatly orchestrated week by the sea.
As for me, I decided to give “Ya Ya” the benefit of the doubt. The insight into friendship is honest. The nearly all-female cast directed by a female director clearly provides depth intentionally lacking in most male “buddy movies.”
I compare it more to “On Golden Pond,” than to many other films. The graying years are given some non-stereotypic depth. It’s a chick flick, where the hair is more likely gray than blonde – and when bodies are honestly diverse, rather than homogeneously thin.
I’ve wondered if many of the critical reviews were not a bit too defiantly “male” in their perspective. I think “Ya Ya” has been panned a bit too harshly for being too feminine – when, in fact, that’s exactly what it wants to be.
Granted, it slips into melodrama too often and is far too simplified in presenting its “cure” for a mom-daughter feud, but it does believe in friendship – and a salute to that fading American value is welcome anytime.
END