How Stella Got Her Groove Back

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.