Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

PG-13

Released Jun 7, 2002

1 hr. 56 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

44%

146 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A classic Southern tale of hilarious sadness set in a sleepy Louisiana parish. A group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated, eccentric mother, find forgiveness and acceptance, and let go of her painful past.

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Premiered May 07

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Critics Consensus

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is more melodramatic than emotionally truthful, and uneven in its mixture of time periods, actresses, laughter and tears.

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Joel H

I was a fool. I thought I could get past the awfulness of Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by staying focused on Ashley Judd and Sandra Bullock. I was wrong. I may not have been the target audience for this movie but, then again, I can't figure out who actually would enjoy this over-acted melodrama. It's so sappy and the sentiment is practically shoved down your throat. Perhaps this overly emotional cry-fest could be used to test the responsiveness of coma patients. If you put Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood on and the patient tries to suffocate themselves, they're going to be just fine.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/03/23

Full Review

Kyle M

Seeds of estrangement are planted by misunderstanding when not getting the full story, which can only be told and seen by outer perspectives who are neutral and still loving – which is relatable if one side truly accepts their meaningfulness. This topic really got reflected when diving into that sort of complexity between a parent, with protective layers of secrecy, and a child, whose innocence wanted to be protected and move on so no need to deal with the parent's problem(s). But it eventually shows it's a genetic thing nurtured by generational trauma as each grows to understand separately where the problem tends to lie when manifesting a possible case of history repeating itself through those genes. "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is based on Rebecca Wells's books accumulating into a classic southern tale of a rift between mother and daughter after the latter, who became a playwright, got interviewed in which she details her unhappy childhood, including her mother's unstable mentality. Though it's the inconvenient usual lost in translation of the misunderstood language, what built the trauma laid dormant and Vivi, the mother portrayed by Ellen Burstyn (like the demonic experience didn't mess her up in "The Exorcist"), declared her daughter Sidda (Sandra Bullock) dead, who only sees these latest actions as abusive continuation. While that may seem so, Vivi's lifelong friends the Ya-Ya Sisterhood knows the whole story that Vivi's distraughtly stubborn to not share with Sidda much earlier. As the true story of an emotional past comes to light, Sidda will determine forgiveness and acceptance to not just mend their relationship but also heal herself to break apart from the generational trauma. Wells eventually continues to dive into those books with two more released after the film with one showing the bonding formation of the Ya-Yas and another only introducing a new character separate from the main stories. "Little Altars Everywhere" is a short story collection chronicling Vivi's past alongside her girlfriends, while the eponymous source material details as afterthought being shared towards the next generation, which is Sidda wholesomely bringing in a full circle back to Vivi. Callie Khouri (pre-"Nashville") adapted both books into one story of generally flashbacking to previous events in horizontally progressive 180 out of narrative efficiency when the second book seems to retell its predecessor. Its layout is more special than the chronological direction that's been experienced with not enough scope to justify the other way around. Also, we're left to wonder what could've led to such reactions like why Sidda would describe it enough for her words to spell irrational proportions and why didn't Vivi help her case upon first onscreen impression. Our engagement gets hooked with lingering questions then sympathetically answered as more gets unveiled. There's well-edited comedic timing along the way, but the required pathos melodramatized stirred little besides finding relation over its discourse, thus rewarding it a nondiegetic thoughtful edge. Although, despite the wholesomeness through Sidda's resolve, the adapted story itself doesn't appear to grasp such. This could pit the film towards an unavoidable length that was only crafted to suitably satisfy the spectatorship determining its worth. If it had gone longer, it wouldn't be financially successful as it was, but nowadays it's about viewership being exposed to a polished story. The film focuses on prominent characterization as true ignitions to the plot, therefore omitting certain family members blocked from sharing their perspective on the matter. Does Sidda's siblings share her sentiment, as they too affected? If not, how and why is Sidda alone in the thought? The script seemingly went around from exploring other affected relationships that could've provided additional aid to the mother-daughter scarred relationship. Just being considerate and thoughtfully thorough in this remix compilation under creative structuring probably would've helped the film to achieve the books' acclaimed heights, as well justifying certain actions. Mainly garnered those looking for a good story over readers – and only they're aware of the truths, further strengthened by the star power like Sandra Bullock and Ellen Burstyn joined by James Garner as the fatherly innocent bystander who want both sides heal and Maggie Smith as one of the Ya-Yas with joint participations that's amusingly short of her mannerism with wisdom intact. Burstyn's approach is frankly over the top in becoming her character without helping her case or rather pursuing healthy correction till she sees clarity and managed to radiate slight emotional resonance, but sympathy got lost amidst concern. Bullock gracefully wins through her independent flair of outstanding tendency with professionally ethical, comedic charm as an appealing case. (Would it be a vice versa kind of thing depending on connected age group?). Shirley Knight and Fionnula Flanagan make up the rest of the Sisterhood as their collective antics alongside Smith and wittedly towards Burstyn causes amusement with nice delivery. Could've stretched more to conquer over its unevenness, but the cinematic landscape's understandable – though the unnecessary compel won't be satisfied considering the books aren't well known. "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" may not be quite polished as its source materials albeit the creative composition nor does the film form attaches much and uplifts like other similarly functional pictures released before and after, it cheers on therapeutically and with a nice cast to solidify a considerably average B-rating entertainment value based on reflective enjoyment. (B)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Horrible pacing and rather depressing to watch. Also frustrating due to lack of proper context or explaining what's going on. There's a whole scene of a woman crying about a dead baby but I can't understand what's going on because there is no explanation. Not recommended to watch, but if you like wasting more than one hour of your life, this is the movie you want.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a surprisingly good movie which combines dramatic situations with heart and humor

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/07/20

Full Review

Ken R

Was it screenplay writer/director Callie Khouri or her editor Andrew Marcus, who left so many viewers struggling to follow the endless string of crazy situations – that get thrown at them during this difficult to follow venture? A group of Southern women --who don't seem to have developed much beyond their childhood years -- gather together to reunite an estranged mother and daughter. The results are both predictable and somewhat vague but mostly just poorly presented. Maybe you need to have read Rebecca Wells book to figure who was who but from all the comments I've checked, even those that read the book were struggling to identify with many of the characters. The picture looks attractive, and some performances from an interesting cast are good - but the endless mixed up situations, just become unnecessarily hard work to keep up with. Singer/composer T Bone Burnett (and future husband of the director) wrote some interesting songs that add some interest along the way. The movie made some good money, so Southern Belles may have approved but, wonder how many others might last the distance?

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/21/20

Full Review

Audience Member

There are a few parts that are very sad however the music is amazing and the cast is great.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

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Callie Khouri

Director

Sandra Bullock

Siddalee Walker

Ellen Burstyn

Vivi Abbott Walker

Fionnula Flanagan

Teenay

James Garner

Shep Walker

Cherry Jones

Buggy

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Anne Cohen

Refinery29

The Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood was a little ahead of its time... it dreamed big, floundered and eventually petered out, making way for better versions of itself. But that doesn't mean it wasn't important.

Jun 3, 2019

Full Review

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Chick flick for mom; teens may not enjoy it.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 22, 2010

Full Review

Todd McCarthy

Variety

While there are pleasures to be had from watching so many grand actresses strut their stuff, the fact is that the overriding preoccupation here rests with surface impressions rather than psychological probity.

Sep 5, 2008

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll forgive your own mother (well, maybe). Bottom line - you can't help by go ga-ga for Ya-Ya.

Nov 7, 2019

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Sandra Bullock is great as Siddalee Walker, the angry and disgruntled woman who has a cross to bear with her mother and often exhibits the corky odd traits her mother does.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 29, 2009

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

I heard something in the audience I don't hear often any more: the sound of middle-aged women laughing.

Rated: B+

Jul 30, 2007

Full Review

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Synopsis

A classic Southern tale of hilarious sadness set in a sleepy Louisiana parish. A group of lifelong friends stage a rather unorthodox intervention to help a young playwright unravel the truth about her complicated, eccentric mother, find forgiveness and acceptance, and let go of her painful past.

Director: Callie Khouri
Executive Producer: Bette Midler, Mary McLaglen, Lisa Stewart, E.K. Gaylord II
Screenwriter: Mark Andrus, Callie Khouri, Rebecca Wells
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Gaylord Films, Sisterhood Productions, All Girl Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Brief Sensuality|Mature Thematic Elements)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 7, 2002, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $69.6M
Sound Mix: Surround

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