Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Stella's got a spunky loving son, a big numbers job on the money markets (if it counts) and great-fitting pink running pants. But since she and her husband split, something's been missing. Still, a 40-year-old girl will dream, and when Stella appears to herself in a luscious vacation ad, Jamaica beckons - even if it takes her merrily dissolute friend Delilah (Goldberg) to force the issue. Lo, strapping Winston Shakespeare (Diggs) sees the shine in her, but as the fling turns serious, her cares return - he's half her age. Shirley Valentine meets Harold and Maude. The package holiday movie has its place and, as Waiting to Exhale suggested, Terry McMillan's cosmetic novels of the heart provide ideal material for this very literal type of cinematic escapism. Bassett is consistently watchable, but what with Stella's increasingly rambling relationship hesitancy, and Diggs' studious Jamaican accent adding 15 minutes to the running time, it's a long haul for such a flighty outing.Author: NB
User reviews of this film
-
- Reina Robinson said...
- Posted on Mar 23 2009 20:50 This movie wa great!!! and i am now a huge Michael J. Pagan Fan... His latest movie he has is called Chain Letter.. it looks so scary in excited!!!
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Producer: Deborah Schindler
Cast: Angela Bassett, Whoopi Goldberg, Regina King, Suzzanne Douglas, Taye Diggs, Michael J Pagan, Sicily, Carl Lumbly full cast
Duration: 124 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Review: Penélope Cruz more raunchy than ever in 'Nine'
Dave Calhoun reports on Rob Marshall's Oscar-touted musical with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a troubled director
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now