Product Details

• Actors: Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, Whoopi Goldberg, Regina King, Suzzanne Douglas
• Directors: Kevin Rodney Sullivan
• Writers: Ronald Bass, Terry McMillan
• Producers: Deborah Schindler, Jennifer Ogden, Ronald Bass, Terry McMillan
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: May 25, 1999
• Run Time: 124 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305203512
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #169,979 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Based on Terry McMillan's best-selling novel, How Stella Got Her Groove Back stars Angela Bassett as a 40-year-old, Manhattan stock trader and single mom whose static life gets a jolt during a vacation with her pal (Whoopi Goldberg) in Jamaica. Sparks fly when Bassett meets a 20-year-old stud (Taye Diggs) who has an ambivalent career path but a great body and lots of sexual energy to burn. After some prodding by Goldberg's warm-funny secondary character, Bassett gets it on with the fellow--and proceeds to worry about what she's doing with a man half her age. The film is most enjoyable in its sunny, exotic early scenes and becomes more formulaic once the unlikely couple transports their will-we-stay-together-or-won't-we tensions back to the Big Apple. But director Kevin Rodney Sullivan goes out of his way to make a movie unabashedly thick with fantasy and wish-fulfillment for female audiences (it's Diggs who reveals a lot more flesh than the regal Bassett). This is a Saturday-night movie all around. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ageism incarnate, January 1, 2004

By 

Charismatic Creature (Anywheresville, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Stella Got Her Groove Back (DVD)

Someone just has to say this. When this movie was filmed in '97 (it was released in '98), Angela Bassett was barely 39 and Taye Diggs was almost 26. That is HARDLY the massive, upsetting, life-altering age difference suggested by the script or the novel it was based on. Furthermore, Angela Bassett is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood (or anywhere for that matter), totally buff, and could probably pass, easily, for 28 or 29.

On the other hand, Taye Diggs, a very handsome guy, is no kid. He's a big guy, and mature looking and acting. I am sure he could have been cast easily in a part for a 30 or 35 year old.

So there is no discernable or meaningful age difference here and that queers the entire premise of the movie! Not to mention, just to confuse things more, Digg's character is shown to be from an affluent, educated family and headed for medical school. His work as a Jamaican "pool boy" is just a summer job.

This renders the whole concept a total cheat. It really would be shocking (and manipulative) if a rich, middle-aged woman from the US took sexual advantage of an uneducated young boy from a third world country. You'd see the sexual exploitation right off. It's so muffled here that we are drowning out any real thoughtfulness with our cries of "you go, girl!"

A sobby subplot (very unbelievable) with Whoppie Goldberg addes nothing to the mix.

It is quite interesting how our culture accepts romances with older men/younger women without so much as a blink, but let a gorgeous fit woman in early middle age have a slightly younger boyfriend, and it's supposed to be a big deal. It isn't. And this movie isn't much of anything.

Try making a movie about the above issue (why it's OK for an old geezer to take a young trophy wife). That might be a challenging flick.

In short: a waste of film, except you get to watch Angela Bassett which is worthwhile anytime.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I Wasn't Wild About This One, But It's Worth a Look, June 27, 2002

By 

The Groove (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Stella Got Her Groove Back (DVD)

Terry McMillan's followup to "Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," was dismissed by some critics as a fluffy beach romance novel. It definitely had its spunk, but suffered from an overall blah-ness that weighed it down. The movie version has similar problems. Our heroine, played by the fierce talent that is Angela Bassett, is a broker trying to balance her career and being a single mom. She, along with her best friend (Whoopi Goldberg), takes a vacation to Jamaica, where she falls for the striking Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs, whose Jamaican accent fades in and out throughout his otherwise solid performance). The problem? She's 40. And he's 20. You can pretty much imagine the issues these two have to face, as they decide whether or not to start a "serious" relationship. "How Stella..." is a pleasant movie, despite the often sappy touches that almost mar the film. The love story itself is fairly predictable, although the supporting roles from Suzzane Douglas and the always-dependable Regina King are pretty good. Don't go looking to get blown away by this movie. Like the novel on which it's based, it will pass your time nicely without requiring any deep thought.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The book was better, April 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How Stella Got Her Groove Back (DVD)

This movie has a promising start, but falters midway through. Where the book was entertaining and fun, the movie changes the story to insert dramatic subplots that did not exist in the book and make it more of a downer. Also, the picture on the cover promises much more Jamaica than is delivered - the movie does not focus on Jamaica as much as the book did, which minimizes its escapist potential. The casting is excellent and the acting good, and there are many funny parts, but on the whole the movie is simply average. Wait for it to come on TV, but don't spend your money on it. Buy the book instead and take it to the beach.