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Good movie but grossly overrated

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998): Dir: Kevin Rodney Smith / Cast: Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, Whoopi Goldberg, Regina King, Suzzanne Douglas: Dull to the point where I didn't care whether Stella ever got her groove back. What she needs back is her dignity after being part of this hokey flat romance. Stella is a mother and career woman who travels to Jamaica with a friend. Stella finds romance where age difference becomes an issue. Angela Bassett plays Stella whose job is written off inappropriately before sending her through predictable developments. Director Kevin Rodney Smith is aided by beautiful photography but his screenwriter must have been basking in the Jamaica sun too long because the story written here isn't anything to summarize on a post card home. Taye Diggs is the one performance that survives obvious clichés because he is the one with the plot point to prove. Whoopi Goldberg plays Stella's friend whose conclusion is pointless. She just throws in the odd one-liner to remind viewers that she is indeed a comedianne. Regina King also makes an appearance that she hopefully won't have to regret. This is not a good film. In fact it is not even romantic for those couples into a date night. Convincing argument about age and romance watered down with boredom to the point where I wished Stella would take her groove elsewhere. Score: 3 ½ / 10

I liked the look of this movie and it's plot line from the get-go. Stella may be rich,successful,attractive and "all that" but she's burned out on her job and really has no social life to speak of. She's always either at work or at home. You'd lose the "groove" of your life (not to mention your mind) if you had to keep that up for a long time! Thankfully,in steps her good friend (played by Whoopi Goldberg) who takes her on a long overdue vacation and gets her to unwind and relax and stop thinking about back home and the problems that go with it. The scenes between Goldberg and Bassett are fuuu-nny! Especially the guy who's trying to pick up on Goldberg. Stella then meets a young man nearly 20 years her junior and Whoopi encourages her to go for it (to put it in G-Rated form). SHe's reluctant but she goes for him and he goes for her and he ends up living with her. naturally,being just about out of his late teens,he still has very immature ways about him (like enjoying the movie "Booty Call").If you need to know the rest about their relationship,I highly suggest renting or even buying the movie. Now so far it sounds like I'm doing a "10 star" review,well,I'm not. I've deducted 2 stars for the "terminal illness" of Goldberg's character,who then passes away. Up until then,I was really enjoying this movie,writing that kind of story and scene in was truly unnecessary.The main point to me about this film is,you can have it all and have worked hard for it but if it consumes all your energies,you truly will have no life or groove left. Let loose once in awhile and do what makes you happy. (END)

It's typical of IMDb to have mindless action films earn an average of 7 or better, but for some reason a light film like this suffers from anti-romance, anti-female-lead bias that permeates this site. It is an enjoyable film with good music and the usual good acting from Angela Bassett. There are some good comedic moments, and good dialogue among the female friends in the movie. If you put aside the baggage of what happened with McMillan's real life marriage, you should like it.Now that I've gotten my review out of the way, I have to say the one thing that bothered me about the film is that it makes Jamaica look like a great place to visit--when in fact it is an island guilty of gross human rights violations, where gay people live in fear for their lives and sexism is de rigeur. I cannot get past that simple injustice even when watching a movie, especially this one where a woman who could afford to go anywhere in the world chooses to give her travel dollars to the place that deserves them the least!

It was picked out of my girlfriend in the video-store, and I didn't have so high hopes for it. I was wrong. The movie is funny, romantic and there are enough nice looking babes as well as men (esp. one man acc. to my gf) :)Absolutely highly recommended for a saturday evening.