Rating: 
Summary: Half is more like it because of no apologies.
Review: It may seem like I'm giving away the movie in this review, but I'm only siting the flaws that really bugged me. The acting is done well and the humor (when there is any) is fairly good. But if you want to truth as to why I'd give such a low score to "such a good movie" then please be sure to read on.
The movie talks of all the pains of alcoholism with the mother and the psychoticness of the grandmother and her over-obsession with church. These issues screw up the entire family tree making everyone doubt themselves and their worth. While in the end, there is understanding with the kids that the mother needed help, (they never where let in on it that the mother had a problem) there was no apology made for having to go through what they did. It's beaten around the bush at an apology, but the mothers stupid pride is still to much in the way to have made it anywhere near a good ending. The out-takes were what made the movie in my opinion and they shouldn't have cut any of those scenes. As it was they left the viewer wondering what was so bad that the mother went through in life to turn out so bad, but in the movie as a whole they make no real reason. Lacks reality in characters. The daughter (played by Sandra Bullock) was great, but she wasn't really given any comfort for all that she had to go through (beatings, abandonment and guilt) and at times was made to feel bad for not being more tolorant. There is only so much burden a child should have to bear for their parents faults and problems. This movie only skims the surface of the issues that a child of an alcoholic has to deal with and gives no real resolve, hope, or guidance for coping. Don't look to this film for encouragement.
There are times when the plot moves well and other times when the story seems to stand still, thats fine to describe that life felt like that, but to put that in a movie just makes it plain boring.
Maybe the book is better. If so then read it first and look to that instead of this movie. For those who think this is all the children of alcoholism go through you have a lot to learn.
Rating: 
Summary: Heart-Grabbing
Review: At different times in a womans life at least one segment of this movie hits home and brings back memories. Some good and some bad, but, it makes of us what we are. I laughed so much my spouse that I had lost it and then not an hour later I cried with all the actors. I love this movie because it helps in many ways remind me of my mother and our relationship and not knowing all the facts at the time. Then it passed on to my children. I watched it two time consecutively to make sure I didn't miss anything. I recomend this to all mothers, daughters, and best friends!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Secrets from a Ya Ya....
Review: I didn't read this book, but I received the DVD as a Christmas Gift from my son, who watched the film and enjoyed it. I didn't see the movie in the theater. All my friends refused to go because of the title. They knew nothing about the plot or the film, just didn't like the title. They are from the North.Nothing is exact, all things are general, but in reading the mixed reviews of this film, it appears more southern women than their northern sisters liked the movie, and more guys than usual enjoyed a chick-flick. There is no way to avoid this IS a chick-flick, but it does hit the mark (under some of the excessive props) about the relationships that are interwoven into a woman's life (OK, mostly a SOUTHERN woman's life). Being originally from the South (Florida is only geographically south), I understood this story from the perspective of my youth, but admit I know next to nothing about how most northern females spent their time growing up. There are some very good things about this film. The music is absolutely wonderful. A lot of thought went into selecting just the right music and that work and attention to detail shows. Sandra Bullock finally had a role as an adult. Ashley Judd gave her best performance ever. The casting through the multiple layers of flash-backs was superb. Watching Ashley in certain specific scenes you felt as if you were magically watching scenes Ellyn Burstyn filmed in the days of her youth and also we feel we know exactly how Ashley will age, the gestures, the voice, and facial expressions were phenomenal....great work. Viewers believing these characterizations are overdrawn or 'unbelievable' should meet the mother of one of my friends...she is Vivi (Ellen Burstyn). Once again I felt some magic was going on and I was watching my friend's mother on the screen. The members of the sisterhood had various personalities, but they were real and true-to-life, they complimented one another, and they never stood in the way of true friendship. The relationship between mothers and daughters is a delicate one to be sure, but one to be treasured. Viewing this film with your mother and discussing it with her in detail would definitely add to pleasure to be gained from the experience of seeing this movie. This plot line displays beautifully how painfully little some daughters know about the real history of their mother's past and their mother's psyche. Time and social changes definitely wreak havoc in relationships between members of varying generations. Secrets and shame water the individual personal-history details until these life experiences grow into weed-infested shrub fences between the generations. Thus the value of friends. Life-long friends who will intercede to cut back the fences, reveal the secrets, and mend the damages of time. Everyone needs this type of friend, some of us have them and some don't. Those that do, should treasure them. A word about the men. Southern men do seem to understand female qualities and relationships a little more than their northern counterparts. James Garner was perfectly cast in his role as Shep Walker, Vivi's husband. After all he is James Garner, extremely capable actor, not Maverick, you know, that was just another role. The love he felt for Vivi was apparent both in the flashbacks and present day scenes. When a woman has a man who understands her, accepts her for who she is, and loves her because and in spite of it, he too is to be treasured. Sidda (Sandra Bullock) had such a man in her life in the character of Connor (Angus MacFadyen) which is why he was willing to cooperate with the sisterhood to help the woman he loved smooth out the wrinkles in her mother/daughter relationship, thus paving the way to finally attaining his own future happiness. That he understood that particular need was an asset to his personality, one that all men don't possess, and Connor wasn't even from the south. The DVD contains some very interesting commentaries and featurettes and the friendships that grew during the filming between the females playing the various roles at different ages, regardless of their true chronological age, becomes very apparent in many ways in the special features. It is no secret that women are different from men, that is a positive thing, and this film celebrates these differences and reflects on some of the specific problems and some of the very special pleasures women experience because they are female. View the film, learn from it, be reminded by it, enjoy it. Not a perfect film for sure, but one that does a splendid job at portraying southern woman; warts, wonderfulness, and all.
Rating:
Summary: The Blah, Blah Sisterhood
Review: I love Maggie Smith, but please Maggie stick to English characters........
Rating:
Summary: Ya Ya Voodoo At It's Best!
Review: It all begins in a dark theatre in New York, the main character, Bolivia, (they changed her name from the one in the book) pisses off her mother with a scintillating interview about how her mom used to take naps while she defrosted chicken in the microwave! This interview is published in "Spank" magazine (also changed from the movie). Her mother, an avid reader of "Spank" reads the interview and goes into a southern outrage! She won't even speak to Bolivia! So, the Ya Ya's, an ancient group of friends join forces once again, dropping a date rape pill in Bolivia's drink, and dragging her doped up body (played by Sandra Bullock) to the nether regions of the south! This DVD has deleted scenes which are vital to the movie making sense, such as the dragon battle and the Revisionist Mermaid! It's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Not Just a Girls Movie
Review: Some of the excellent reviews already posted here say
that this is a "girls movie" and the guys should go out
bowling while their wives, girlfriends, etc. watch it.
I first saw it in DVD on a 5 hour flight from Chicago to
Anchorage, and really liked it, incuding the T-Bone
Burnett and Louisana/New Orleans music.
The two guys in the movie --played by James Garner
and Angus MacFayden, hold their own, although I thought
Garner was a real Saint for patience after being shut
out of his wife's bedroom for years. What ever happened
to the impulsive, high-energy Garner of Maverick? He would
have knocked the bedroom door down.
When I got home, I rented the VHS version and watched it
with my wife. She didn't like it as much as I did. So
go figure. And the VHS seems to miss some of the choice
music tracks from the DVD. Big loss.
Go see it, and I'll bet you will enjoy following all these
real characters, and will tap your toes to the music!
Enjoy!
Earl Finkler
Rating:
Summary: The Divine Secrets of Feminine Hygiene Ad Sisterhood
Review: This film will make you feel so fresh, fresh like flowers. Watching it will make you conjure visions of women in white dresses on trellised swings or perhaps riding horses. It takes you to another land where feminity is so overbearing it scents the air like a lead balloon.
Gush over all things feminine. Lose your masculine nature in this perfumed tranquil sea of herbal tea and sisterly relationships that should, in a sane world, make you want to vomit.
I just don't get it. The same way I don't get why all the women in those douch ads are smiling. They all look like Stepford Wives and the ads are either about tampons or douch. That is this movie. It walks, it talks, and it stinks like when you walk into an elevator with a woman wearing ALL THE PERFUME IN THE WORLD!!
LORD SAVE US FROM ALL THIS GUSHING FLOWWERY SCENTEDNESS!!
If women ruled the world it would smell exactly like the way this movie smells. Like an a roomful of scented candles, glade airfresheners, incense sticks, bath beads, herbal teas and all these other things that women seem to find so neccessary to cope with life.
And then they want men to smell the same way and like it. Well, I ain't bathing for a month...so there!!
Rating:
Summary: Yawn-Yawn Sisterhood
Review: There's really nothing special about this movie, and Callie Khouri should almost feel bashful for going from "Thelma and Louise" to this. The only thing that's effective about the movie is its ability to evoke emotions courtesy of typical chick flick devices -- the mother/daughter confliced relationship, girly-girl friendships. I suppose it's much more enjoyable viewing this if you've read the book, because you can tell how it's trying really hard to capture the vibrance the book is so famous for. However, it seemed to me much more like a string of 10-minute skits of little schoolgirl plays.
Rating:
Summary: Totally not a chick flick!
Review: This movie had my laughing out loud so often that the people on the airplane with me were staring at me funny the whole time. Granted, there were some scenes that were pretty sad, and some that were kinda sweet, but over-all, funny movie. Maybe I just enjoyed it because most of the women in my life are "insane" just like the women in this movie, but I'm sure a lot of guys can relate to that too - come on, how many of you guys can say that you've never known an insane woman? At least here, you get to laugh at them, instead of being plagued by them! I'd say the only "chick flick" aspects of this movie are that nothing explodes, and most of the characters are women, but other than that, nothing! Who says a guy can't like a movie that makes him laugh? Trust me guys - watch this movie and laugh your butt off as you realize that all women are truely insane, and it's not just your's ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: Ya-Ya Brings Girls Together
Review: I have never read the novel but my mother had, and she said it didn't stray far from the movie, which we both attended. People who are looking for a movie that has a definite resolution at the end are off base here, because this movie is more about the process of understanding what your mother went through than who lives happily ever after. My mother and I related to this movie, though I'll admit she never beat me with a belt in the pouring rain! This helped me to understand that our generations are byproducts of generations past, and we will always carry with us some part of our mothers, whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not.
My favorite scene is the scene with Vivi in her car where she almost hits her friend, who has stopped on the road blocking her path. If you've seen it, you know which one that is! The reason I like it is because choice words are used by women in their sixties, which is hilarious to me. I also say it's a metaphor, it shows that true friends will stop you when you've gone too far down the wrong path.
This heartwarming movie will make you laugh, probably make you cry, and definitely make you rethink your relationships. I know it got me thinking about mine.
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