Directed by Callie Khouri

Written by:
Novels by Rebecca Wells
Adaptation by Mark Andrus
screenplay by Callie Khouri

Sandra Bullock .... Sidda
Ellen Burstyn .... Vivi
Fionnula Flanagan .... Teensy
James Garner .... Shep Walker
Cherry Jones .... Buggy
Ashley Judd .... Younger Vivi
Shirley Knight .... Necie
Angus MacFadyen .... Connor
Maggie Smith .... Caro
Jacqueline McKenzie .... Younger Teensy
Katy Selverstone .... Younger Caro
Kiersten Warren .... Younger Necie
Gina McKee .... Genevieve
Matthew Settle .... Jack
Leslie Silva .... Willetta
Ron Dortch .... Chaney
Frederick Koehler .... Pete Abbott
David Rasche .... Taylor Abbott
David Lee Smith .... Younger Shep Walker
rest of cast listed alphabetically
Don Baker .... Confessional Priest
Allison Bertolino .... Little Sidda
David Bridgewater .... Dr. Beau Poche
Alex Cooper .... Baylor
Austin R. Cooper .... Little Shep Jr.

Produced by
Bonnie Bruckheimer .... producer
Scott Elias .... associate producer
E.K. Gaylord II .... executive producer
Hunt Lowry .... producer
Mary McLaglen .... executive producer
Bette Midler .... executive producer
Tom Proper .... associate producer
Lisa Stewart .... executive producer

Original music by T-Bone Burnett, Bob Dylan (song), and David Mansfield

Cinematography by John Bailey

Film Editing by Andrew Marcus

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, language, and brief sensuality
Runtime: 116
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

The Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Various Artists - Soundtrack - 2002

With the soundtrack to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, O Brother, Where Art Thou? producer T Bone Burnett has compiled another gently nostalgic gem. Filled with covers of jazz standards, sparse blues picking, and traditional Cajun pieces, Sisterhood matches Brother in ambiance and impeccable musicianship. The highlights are numerous: Bob Dylan's lively song waltzes with a raspy narrative, Lauryn Hill uses acoustic plucking to complement her soulful croon, and Bob Schneider contributes an understated love-ballad rumbling with piano. Even the cover songs are first-rate; Macy Gray jive-jumps through a faithful Billie Holiday cover, and Tony Bennett slows things down with a dapper and distinguished Nat "King" Cole homage. Despite the diffuse genres covered, the superior quality of Sisterhood's songs renders these differences negligible, and the album's pacing ensures a pleasing alternation of styles that never lags. In fact, there's nary a bad song on the entire album. The divine secret's out--Sisterhood is an essential listen. --Annie Zaleski

1. Assi Dans La Fenetre De Ma Chambre - Blind Uncle GaspardMusic
2. Drug State - Jade VincentMusic
3. Found Love - Jimmy ReedMusic
4. C'est Si Triste - Ann SavoyMusic
5. Lulu Revenue Dans La Village - Ann SavoyMusic
6. C'est Un Peche De Dire - Ann Savoy
7. My Mother's Son-In-Law - Macy Gray
8. Keeping Out Of Mischief Now - Taj Mahal
9. Little Rain - Jimmy Reed
10. Ain't That Lovin' You Baby? - Jimmy Reed
11. Dimming Of The Day - Richard & Linda Thompson
12. Selah - Lauryn Hill
13. Got Love If You Want It - Slim Harpo
14. Lonely Avenue - Ray Charles
15. Sitting At The Window Of My Room - Alison Krauss
16. Walk In Jerusalem - Mahalia Jackson
17. If Yesterday Could Only Be Tomorrow - Tony Bennett
18. Waiting For You - Bob Dylan
19. The World Exploded Into Love - Bob Schneider

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
by Rebecca Wells
Wells is a Louisiana-born Seattle actress and playwright; her loopy saga of a 40-year-old player in Seattle's hot theater scene who must come to terms with her mama's past in steamy Thornton City, Louisiana, reads like a lengthy episode of Designing Women written under the influence of mint juleps and Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. The Ya-Yas are the wild circle of girls who swirl around the narrator Siddalee's mama, Vivi, whose vivid voice is "part Scarlett, part Katharine Hepburn, part Tallulah." The Ya-Yas broke the no-booze rule at the cotillion, skinny-dipped their way to jail in the town water tower, disrupted the Shirley Temple look-alike contest, and bonded for life because, as one says, "It's so much fun being a bad girl!"

Siddalee must repair her busted relationship with Vivi by reading a half-century's worth of letters and clippings contained in the Ya-Ya Sisterhood's packet of "Divine Secrets." It's a contrived premise, but the secrets are really fun to learn.

Little Altars Everywhere: A Novel
by Rebecca Wells
"It can wear you to a nub, trying to be a popular person and a good Catholic all at the same time." So says Sidda, one of the characters inhabiting Little Altars Everywhere. Author Rebecca Wells uses her considerable acting talent to perform this abridgment, adding even more spark to her already lively characters. Everyone--Shep, Vivi, Willetta, and the rest--is given a distinct voice, and Wells plays each of them to the hilt. More like a recording of a one-woman show than a mere reading, Altars is an excellent example of how entertaining audiobooks can be. (Running time: 3 hours, 2 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney

Sidda Lee Walker (SANDRA BULLOCK), a prominent young playwright living in New York City, is a long way from her Louisiana hometown and a nice safe distance from her loving but highly dramatic and eccentric mother, Vivi (ELLEN BURSTYN). And that's the way she'd like to keep it.

When a Time Magazine profile on Sidda implies that Vivi was not a good mother, Vivi is outraged and the two women get into a fight that threatens to destroy not only their relationship but Sidda's tenuous wedding plans with a man who has waited seven years for her to get over her fear of raising a family of her own.

Enter the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (FIONNULA FLANAGAN, SHIRLEY KNIGHT, MAGGIE SMITH)... Vivi's intrepid gang of lifelong friends, eager to restore peace no matter what it takes.

To truly understand Vivi, the Ya-Yas believe, Sidda must know who her mother was as a young woman. A high-spirited beauty who valued love and loyalty above all else, young Vivi (portrayed by ASHLEY JUDD) was dealt many disappointments in life but was also blessed with an indomitable sense of humor, an adventurous spirit and three best friends. Together, this inseparable foursome shared both good and bad times with grace and humor, celebrating each other's triumphs for more than 40 years, which they recorded in a scrapbook stuffed with letters, ticket stubs, dried corsages and photos -- otherwise known as the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

Taking matters into their own hands, the Ya-Yas stage an unorthodox intervention to bring mother and daughter back together. With their help, and the help of the Divine Secrets, Sidda will begin to unravel the truth about her complicated and unconventional mother, find forgiveness and acceptance and let go of her painful past.

We went as a group, there were eight of us, and we wore hats. Well, ok, I wore a hat and two other of my girlfriends were brave enough to wear a hat. I thought the hats were important? they are very feminine, it takes bravery, and they make a statement. The hat I wore was, well, a little over the top. It was a modern creation of a 1904 style, but it was the hat I needed to wear. You see I made that hat. I didn?t make the hat for me, but for a friend who never got to see it. The hat went to her funeral. It seemed important to wear that hat to our outing to see ?The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood.? I?m glad I did. I wore a hat for a friend that has been gone 1 ? years and sat next to a woman who has been my close friend for almost 28 years, and we watched Ya Ya.

Garner looks at her with an expression of love and responds ?When I said for better or for worse, I knew it was a coin toss.? Unconditional love, commitment, forgiveness, these are the key ingredients that make life work. It will work with your children; it will work in your marriage; it will work with your relationships; it will work in your life. God understands this. So He sent unconditional love, commitment and forgiveness. He sent it in a form we could understand. He sent, Jesus.

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