(rated PG-13,117 mins.)
What is a Ya Ya? Apparently a bunch of Yo-Yo Southern belle girlfriends who stick together through good and evil. As children and lifelong friends, the Ya-Yas (Maggie Smith, Fionnula Flanagan, Shirley Knight and Ellen Burstyn) bonded via a knife prick on their palms and some bizarre ritual with hideous homemade hats. Fast forward years later, and Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), a southern drama queen, is pouring herself another shot of whiskey to console herself over an interview her daughter, Sidda Lee (Sandra Bullock), a New York playwright, gave to the press about her bad childhood. Sidda Lee wallows in self-pity and lots of drawn out dialog as the three other Ya-Ya’s kidnap her to their home on a Ya-Ya mission. They hope to smolder out the bad mother/daughter flames, to eventually reconcile the two. And so the story goes on and never seems to end except for a handful of lively flashbacks where the movies true star Ashley Judd portrays Vivi (as a young Ellen Burstyn) really bringing the character to life. Bullock’s sole purpose is a catalyst to release decades of memories from some way-too-thick Ya-Ya Sisterhood scrapbook. Maggie Smith (Gosford Park) is deadpan droll and the best of the bunch, while Burstyn and Flanagan make for a feisty pair a la “Thelma and Louise”. The last friend (Knight), has a minor role as does the underused James Garner as Vivi’s husband. Screenwriter Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) tackles (and does a good job) as director adapting the Rebecca Well’s best-seller, but the book’s structure doesn’t really lend itself to the screen – flashbacks work better when you’re turning pages. While the story is spicier/deeper than a “Steel Magnolias” and not as smooth as “Terms of Endearment” (but not as manipulative either), we never feel we’ve learned anything new about dysfunctional families that hasn’t already been-there-done-that. This is not only a chick flick but more a senior citizen flick as any woman of 50 will go ga-ga for Ya Ya!
What is a Ya Ya? Apparently a bunch of Yo-Yo Southern belle girlfriends who stick together through good and evil. As children and lifelong friends, the Ya-Yas (Maggie Smith, Fionnula Flanagan, Shirley Knight and Ellen Burstyn) bonded via a knife prick on their palms and some bizarre ritual with hideous homemade hats. Fast forward years later, and Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), a southern drama queen, is pouring herself another shot of whiskey to console herself over an interview her daughter, Sidda Lee (Sandra Bullock), a New York playwright, gave to the press about her bad childhood. Sidda Lee wallows in self-pity and lots of drawn out dialog as the three other Ya-Ya’s kidnap her to their home on a Ya-Ya mission. They hope to smolder out the bad mother/daughter flames, to eventually reconcile the two. And so the story goes on and never seems to end except for a handful of lively flashbacks where the movies true star Ashley Judd portrays Vivi (as a young Ellen Burstyn) really bringing the character to life. Bullock’s sole purpose is a catalyst to release decades of memories from some way-too-thick Ya-Ya Sisterhood scrapbook. Maggie Smith (Gosford Park) is deadpan droll and the best of the bunch, while Burstyn and Flanagan make for a feisty pair a la “Thelma and Louise”. The last friend (Knight), has a minor role as does the underused James Garner as Vivi’s husband. Screenwriter Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) tackles (and does a good job) as director adapting the Rebecca Well’s best-seller, but the book’s structure doesn’t really lend itself to the screen – flashbacks work better when you’re turning pages. While the story is spicier/deeper than a “Steel Magnolias” and not as smooth as “Terms of Endearment” (but not as manipulative either), we never feel we’ve learned anything new about dysfunctional families that hasn’t already been-there-done-that. This is not only a chick flick but more a senior citizen flick as any woman of 50 will go ga-ga for Ya Ya!