Les divins secrets

This film is really a celebration of female relationships between; mothers and daughters, between girl friends and between wife and husband. There are numerous flash backs, but the film flows at a good pace that it is not a distraction at all.

The storyline is very light hearted to begin with, but gets darker. Ashley Judd does a great performance as an Alcohol addicted mother and Ellen Burstyn is also good as the older character, played by Ashley Judd. The humour is funny enough and does not go overboard. See this film with your girl friends, and make sure you bring a box of Kleenex with you. A two thumbs up.

`The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood' is about a mother/daughter conflict and then friends come to the rescue. A simple plot about some of our society's unimaginably complex unwritten and unspoken rules.

Ya-Ya is a wonderful cinematic experience. The acting and dialog are absolutely first rate and every major role is virtually perfect. They will be throwing darts at the cast credits to pick award winners. The movie is worth the price of admission just to see Maggie Smith perform even when she has no dialogue.

The movie's most remarkable aspect is what happens when it is viewed through a testosterone filter. It is illuminating to look at the IMDB voting demographics. One quarter of the males voting on this movie have given it a `1' out of 10 while only about 3% of the females gave it a `1'. Considering that there always appears to be a 3-5% background noise on any voting this an astounding gender discrepancy. As a 56 year old male it has only been in the last decade that I've had any inkling of the intricacies of female interactive dynamics. I suspect that puts me ahead of the curve as far as males go. As a society we indoctrinate our young females into the issues of the emotional power struggle, the dynamics of the `pecking order', and day-to-day collegial help and support at a level far removed from that which most males experience. I won't argue whether or not this is sexist but I believe the observation to be valid. This movie deals with these issues and, as such, I suspect the fundamental substance of the movie is illusive for much of the male audience.

At its heart this is not a chick movie. A `chick movie' is about things that female moviegoers like. This movie is about what it is to be raised a female in our society. Ya Ya 9/10

I liked this movie. I really did. Someone very close to me has a mother very much like this. It's reality folks, not everyone has a sensible loving mother that grasps the role of "motherhood" like a duck to water. Some people remain stuck in a selfish state where they blame everyone/thing else for all their unhappiness and the misdirection of their lives. I'm glad there's a movie that brought that subject to light. One user said the movie is celebrating an alcoholic, but that's untrue. You're watching a woman go further and further into a downward spiral of self-pitying despair and hatred for the events of her life. I also didn't find Vivi's mother to be evil, but she seemed to have been desperately trying to claim her role as a respectable wife. When your husband treats horses better than you, you get a little miffed. He dismissed her as his partner in life for a child she gave him, so the woman aimed her frustrations at her child, instead of her husband. At that time, what could she have really done to the husband? He would've beaten her most likely. I appreciated the fact that Vivi was flawed. Just humanly flawed and admitted it. It sucks that people have parents like this, but Sidda learned to deal with it in her own way. I'm glad it wasn't a typical reaction, like drugs or promiscuity. She just accepted her mother for what she is: flawed and screwed up. Motherhood doesn't make you unselfish and well-versed in letting go of your troubles. That's something you learn over time, and the movie showed that. It might take 40-odd years as it did them, or someone could get it the moment the child is born. What I got from the film is that your parents had dreams and nightmares before you came into the picture, and it takes a lot out of them to come to terms with being responsible for a life that they may or may not be ready for. I also really loved the part where Sidda begins to question her ability to be a good mother and wife. I think that resonated well. I certainly would start to wonder. Parents can screw up their kids easily I tell ya. It's not a responsibility to enter into lightly. I'm sure there were flaws like the accents of Louisiana and technical stuff, but altogether, the movie really reaches many levels.

Please! Not another girl-gang movie about nothing. Poorly acted, poorly cast and poorly written. The main characters in this movie are selfish, self-centered and hateful. The movie is has no humor what-so-ever and the only men are, as usual with this type of movie, lacking a backbone. This movie can not be compared to Steel Magnolias. The story had so many holes - it never addressed exactly what the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was; never told us what was in 'the book'; never really gave a good explanation why Vivi was so rotten, even after the 'recovery'; left Sidda's siblings in the flashbacks. The casting was so bad - none of the 'actresses' could manage the southern accents; the age difference between Vivi and Sidda was extremely noticeable; and why spend the money on the men in the movie when they could have just hired manequins to play the parts. They would have been more lively and animated. Isn't the man-bashing phase in our society over yet? Don't bother with this trash.

A chick flick for chicks of all ages, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" tells of four Louisiana ladies who establish their secret Ya-Ya sisterhood, bound by blood and oath and honor, at a young age and who remain friends over the years providing each other with friendship and support. The film's thin storyline is about one such "sister" (Burstyn/Judd) who has issues with her adult daughter (Bullock) and her sister Ya-Ya's who come to her rescue much to her dismay. What ensues is a warmly funny kind of jambalaya which makes up for its gaping plotholes with personality, charm, and rambunciousness as it stumbles through it story finally arriving gasping and wheezing at its feel good conclusion. Gagging material for grinches, most will find the "Ya-Yas" are just too damned much fun not to like on some level. (B)