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A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie has been underrated. It is fantastic. Sidda is a character like many daughters that have suffered from their parent's decisions. Vivienne is a flawed mother like many mother's. This movie is real, and will touch you straight to the heart on multiple levels. It is intelligent and soft. I did not realize all of the multitudes of layers in this story until I recently watched it. The acting is very good. This tale mimicks many families that have suffered problems, and it is very beautiful. I truly enjoyed it. It is underrated and very beautiful with the tales of friendship as well as family dysfunction. I know so many mother's and daughter's that have experienced this type of pain, and some forgive and some don't. This is a story of true mother and daughter relationships, and the wounds we carry on to other generations beneath us. I loved it!

Movies that feature "women-only" themes are few indeed and at any given time we can count their existence on one finger. Hollywood loves reminding us that "it's a man's world, baby" and I would hazard a guess that 95% of current box office offerings are male-centered (That is, male = hero, victim, anti-hero; with a female = smart talking' and lookin' and barely visible unless required to provide booty, tears, or encouragement to - you guessed it, the male!).So when a movie with a female-centered cast and theme (trivialized by the term "chick flick") is served to us, I watch with a wary eye and a hopeful heart. Why? Because most chick flicks are written, directed, and produced by men...maybe that's why there are so few of them! To the credit of The Divine Secrets of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood, it didn't disappoint my heart or my head.The Ya-Ya Sisterhood takes the universal theme of mother-daughter conflict and serves it up as refreshingly as a mint julep on a scorching day. Taking place in Louisiana, this movie leads us through a merry romp of friendship and fierce loyalties, stopping along the way to tug at our heart strings and drag out the tissues (don't all good chick flicks?).The plot centers around a young director (Sandra Bullock) who is estranged from her Old School Southern Belle mother (Ellen Burstyn) and nervous about her upcoming nuptials. Through the "divine" intervention of the Ya-Ya's - a three woman tag-team of family friends - (played by Maggie Smith, Shirley Knight, and Fionnula Flanagan) the daughter is able to heal old familial wounds and welcome her new role as daughter, wife (and future mother).Yet, layered within this beautiful film is three levels of female experience, told through the life of Maiden-Mother-Salty Sage women Burstyn and Ashley Judd. (I'd like to see Judd get a nod at the next award show for this multi-faceted role.) Add to that a funny and tender juxtaposition of the men in their lives (James Garner and Angus MacFadyen) and everyone is sure to get their Ya-Ya's out! Unforgettable in every way!

No college sorority was ever as tight as the bond formed by Ellen Burstyn, Shirley Knight, Fionnula Flanagan, and Maggie Smith as the Ya Ya Sisterhood. So when one of them is in trouble, they all jump in to help.In this case Ellen Burstyn possibly the most neurotic of the four has just been cut good and proper by her daughter Sandra Bullock on a television interview. Bullock in a moment of candor says that her growing up in Louisiana was not the happiest childhood she could have had.Of course all the members of the Sisterhood read it and/or hear it and the other three think that it's time that Sandra gets told a few facts about mother and both their childhoods that she didn't know. These crazy old women actually slip Sandra a Mickey Finn and whisk her back to Louisiana for a little heart to heart.Even risking kidnapping charges, these women are really there for each other. We should all be lucky enough to have such friends.This is one of the best films of this new century so far to come out. I enjoyed every blessed nostalgic look back in flashbacks to the events that shaped the lives of Burstyn and Bullock. Ashley Judd's performance as Burstyn's character in young adulthood is also first rate.The great thing about the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is that not all of us, not most of us even get to live in ideal Donna Reed or June Cleaver like homes. We make it out of childhood the best we can, with what we can. The most important relationships each of these women have is with each other. That silly little childhood name they chose for their group is what sets them apart and what supports each of them through their individual crisis.Presiding through most of the film is Burstyn's husband and Bullock's father James Garner. In fact Garner through half the film has no dialog at all, but his facial expressions tell everything. He's a lot of the reason that Bullock made it through childhood as well.I can't recommend this film highly enough, it's about four of the best friends ever put on film.YA-YA forever.

One writer called this "A chick flick for chicks of all ages." This is probably a fair description, though I hate the term "chick flick" and find that a majority of the movies that touch me most deeply probably fall under that "category." Beyond this, however, I believe this is a wonderful movie for anyone. including males who are not afraid of their "feminine" side, their sensitive side. I have always been a big fan of James Garner, and have recently become a huge Sandra Bullock fan (which is why I bought this DVD in the first place). But while I was very pleased with their usually excellent performances, the entire cast was truly outstanding. And while the focus of the film was on female friendships and mother-daughter relationships, it also speaks of human relationships in general, in all their joy and pain and complexity, and of the power of love - not to eliminate the problems or overlook them - but to transcend them. A great movie - give it a try!