Themes: Vacation Romances, Age Disparity Romance, Looking For Love
Main Cast: Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, Regina King, Whoopi Goldberg, Suzzanne Douglas
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Terry McMillan and Ron Bass wrote this screenplay based on McMillan's semi-autobiographical best-selling novel (over 2,000,000 copies in print before the release of this film). San Francisco stockbroker Stella (Angela Bassett), a 40-year-old divorcee, has a nice Marin County home and an 11-year-old son, Quincy (Michael J. Pagan). With Quincy off to see his dad, Stella and her best friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg) vacation in Jamaica, where she meets sexy, good-looking Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs). He's the man of her dreams in every way except one -- he's half her age. Even so, a romance develops. Grammy Award-winning songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis supervised the film's music and produced the R&B-slanted soundtrack album. Shown at the 1998 Urbanworld Film Festival (NY). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
With its swaying palms and breezy ocean vistas, as vicariously relaxing as anything on film, How Stella Got Her Groove Back starts like a study of rejuvenation, a restorative experience for both the title character and the viewer. But like the book on which it was based, Kevin Rodney Sullivan's film loses some impact when it retreats home to the United States and becomes a melodrama, tackling such diverse topics as disease, family, and May-December romance. To be sure, Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg bring oodles of sisterly chemistry and screen presence, and Taye Diggs, in his film debut, looks exquisitely at ease as a studly charmer. Watching these elements intermingle against a gorgeous backdrop would have been excuse enough for a film. Perhaps Terry McMillan's book should have stopped there, because once Stella relocates her groove, the plot slides into the rather ordinary story of unlikely lovers trying to overcome their differences. The movie has the strange feeling of reaching its catharsis and then pursuing its plot threads past the point where the credits should have rolled. Minus a half-hour from its 124 minutes, How Stella Got Her Groove Back would have been more effective escapism, while still able to touch on some of the deeper concerns of these women. With its additional agendas, it's still worthwhile -- it's just not quite as groovy. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Michael J. Pagan - Quincy; Sicily - Chantel; Richard Lawson - Jack; Barry "Shabaka" Henley - Buddy; Lee Weaver - Nate; Glynn E. Turman - Dr. Shakespeare; Phyllis Stickney - Mrs. Shakespeare; Lou Myers - Uncle Ollie; James Pickens, Jr. - Walter; Carl Lumbly - Judge Boyle
Credit
Marc Dabe - Art Director, Francine Maisler - Casting, Ruth E. Carter - Costume Designer, Steve Danton - First Assistant Director, Kevin Rodney Sullivan - Director, George Bowers - Editor, Ronald Bass - Executive Producer, Jennifer Ogden - Executive Producer, Terry McMillan - Executive Producer, Michel Colombier - Composer (Music Score), Chester Kaczenski - Production Designer, Jeffrey Jur - Cinematographer, Deborah Schindler - Producer, Eric Orbom - Set Designer, Christopher S. Nushawg - Set Designer, Judi Giovanni - Set Designer, Susumu Tokunow - Sound/Sound Designer, Ronald Bass - Screenwriter, Terry McMillan - Screenwriter, Terry McMillan - Book Author
Stella (Angela Bassett) is a very successful, 40-year-old stock broker raising her son and living in San Francisco, California who is persuaded by her New York girlfriend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg) to take a well deserved, first-class vacation to Montego Bay, Jamaica. As she soaks in the beauty of the island, she encounters a strapping young islander, Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs), who is 20 years her junior. His pursuits for her turn into a hot and steamy romance that forces Stella to take personal inventory of her life and try to find a balance between her desire for love and companionship, and the responsibilities of mother and corporate executive.
The character "Winston Shakespeare," (played by Taye Diggs in the movie), is based on McMillan's husband, Jonathan Plummer. Plummer is Jamaican and is more than 20 years younger than McMillan. In June 2005, Plummer announced that he was gay, and McMillan filed for divorce.
