Few movies are perfect. I saw one the other night. I also met some very interesting characters. No, they were unforgettable.
Vivi Joan Abbott Walker hasn’t asked for much out of life—only to be happy and famous and pleased all the time. Count three strikes there, but she’s still swinging.
Shep Walker only wanted Vivi and he was willing to stand in line or to play second fiddle for the only girl he’d ever love. Was he ever loved enough in forty years of marriage? How much is enough?
Siddilee Walker has it all—fame, a bit of fortune, and Connor, her Irish fiancé, who is counting the days until they are wed. Broadway is her baby and the limelight could be her downfall, especially if she continues to let her guard down and talk to reporters, in this case "Time" magazine, about her past.
Mama Vivi saw the article that included remarks about their questionable mother-daughter relationship and all hell has broken loose.
Enter the "Helping Hanna" members of the notorious "Ya Ya Sisterhood", a fearsome foursome of purposeful women ever since the sisterhood was founded when they were little girls by Viviane "Vivi" Walker, "Queen Dancing Creek".
In times of trouble, the sisters band together. They unite to save the day. It’s always been that way. Vivi and Siddi are at war. Siddi thinks she knows the whole truth about the ugly past, including the abandonment. Vivi knows the whole truth but has never found the courage or had a strong enough desire to set the record straight. She could never trust Siddi to understand and who’s to say that Siddi would believe her anyway.
The sisterhood springs into action. New York City, here they come. Siddi will have none of it. To her, Vivi is a selfish, self-serving absentee mother who never thought of anyone but herself. She can have her big house with its fancy trimmings and all that goes with her lavish life style. Siddi wants none of it. As for the sisters, they can go straight back to Louisiana.
"Princess Naked as a Jaybird" and "Countess Singing Cloud" did not come north in order to go home empty handed.
Drastic measures prevail and this wonderful tale only gets better and better.
There follows revelation upon revelation and memory after memory. Truth heals—after it stops hurting.
Our characters are unforgettable because the cast is unforgettable. Sandra Bullock has the hit of her life on her hands as Siddi, the Broadway starlet with a lot to learn about forgiveness and dumping guilt. Ellen Burstyn gives a golden performance as Vivi Walker, whose painful past is still being shouldered by too many innocent victims. Ashley Judd plays the young Vivi in stellar fashion. All the "sisters" are wonderful, especially Shirley Knight and Maggie Smith. James Garner plays Shep Walker to perfection with lines like "If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, what paves the road back from hell?"
Allow me. Reconciliation. The road back from hell is paved with reconciliation, genuine contrition and unconditional forgiveness. That’s a tall order, but not for a Ya Ya.
Don’t miss this one. The ending will have you dancing ‘til your socks melt.
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