Suellen Yates Movies
- 2002
- PG13
- Add Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to QueueAdd Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to top of Queue
Screenwriter Callie Khouri makes her directorial debut with this adaptation of a pair of popular novels by author Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Little Altars Everywhere. Sandra Bullock stars as Sidda Lee Walker, a New York playwright who opens a can of emotional worms with her estranged, boozy mother, Vivi (Ellen Burstyn), when she discusses her painful childhood and particularly Vivi's less-than-enviable mothering skills in a Time magazine article. The eccentric Louisiana drama queen Vivi has already been barred from her daughter's oft-delayed wedding to her fiancé, Connor (Angus Macfadyen), so the article sends her into a rage. Coming to the rescue of the relationship are Necie (Shirley Knight), Caro (Maggie Smith), and Teensy (Fionnula Flanagan), a trio of bickering women, who, along with Vivi, formed a secret society of feminist empowerment and friendship 60 years earlier that they dubbed the "Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The Ya-Yas kidnap Sidda and bring her home to Louisiana, where they reveal to Sidda via a carefully maintained scrapbook her mother's painful past (with Vivi portrayed in flashback by Ashley Judd), effecting a rapprochement between mother and daughter. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood also stars James Garner. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
Originally intended for theatrical release, The Angel Doll is an adaptation of Jerry Bledsoe's bestselling novel of the same name. Set in the South of the '50s, the story focuses on "Whitey" Black (Cody Newton), a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who befriends middle-class youngster Jerry Barlow (Michael Welch) while the two share a paper route. Jerry learns that Whitey wants to purchase a "very special" doll as a Christmas present for his terminally ill sister. Not only does Whitey meet with opposition from the locals because his sister has polio and is thus regarded as "contagious," but the doll he wants is nowhere to be found in his hometown. Thus it is that Whitey and Jerry embark upon a lengthy, adventure-laden journey in search of the elusive doll, meeting people of all sorts (and all temperaments) along the way. Keith Carradine is top-billed as the adult Jerry Barlow, while Diana Scarwid is given the extremely difficult (and highly contrary) role of Whitey's drink-sodden mother. Filmed in 2002, The Angel Doll was not widely seen until it was picked up for cable play by the Lifetime network in 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Carradine, Betsy Brantley, (more)
