Plot : Vivi (Ellen Burstyn) & her eldest daughter Sidda (Sandra Bullock) have been at war for years, but the relationship reaches a crisis point when Sidda is interviewed by TIME magazine. Sidda's new play is the toast of Manhattan, and flush with success, Sidda conveniently forgets that whatever she tells TIME she's also telling the world. Cut to Vivi reading her copy of TIME and bellowing: "How could she? She was supposed to be 'the good one'!" Vivi's husband (James Garner) cannot calm her down, so he defers to her three bosom buddies (Fionnula Flanagan, Shirley Knight, & Maggie Smith). These three have kept Vivi's secrets for decades, but they decide that the time has come to clear the air, so they concoct an "intervention." They kidnap Sidda, with the help of her fiancé (Angus MacFadyen), and bring her back home to Louisiana. They show Sidda a huge scrapbook which contains "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," photographs, letters, and other mementos which track the four friends from adolescence to middle age. The heart of the film is its flashbacks, from the excitement of the Atlanta premiere of Gone With The Wind, to the romance of World War II, to the stresses and strains of parenthood. The plum in this bowl of cherries is Ashley Judd, luminous & heart-breaking by turns as Vivi in her prime.