Ten minutes into the movie I checked my watch, closed my eyes and wished these four broads would jump into a convertible and drive off a cliff.

Now I know you are probably going to think that I am just some guys who doesn't understand "chick flicks". Well I would have to disagree, normally I have no problem with films made towards the demographics of women. But "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" is so very, very bad that I can not give it any slack.

First of all let me say that I did not read the book that this movie is based on and that is the first major hurdle to get over. The movie starts and you are supposed to know who is who and how it all fits together before you even get into a handful of scenes.

The movie starts out in the 30's when the aforementioned Ya-Ya sisters first set out to become one. In a cliché'd scene we see the four girls sit around in a circle and trade blood to become "sisters". Okay, that is fine I figured, it is just the first scene and we will now learn what the bond of these four really means as they grow into adults. Well I guess I better just stop thinking because all of a sudden we are thrust into a story that builds no characters and it took me half the movie to figure out who was who in all of the flashback scenes. As I sit here and write this review I still don't know if I figured it out.

Sandra Bullock plays the daughter of Ellen Burstyn and Ashley Judd plays the young Ellen Burstyn in a story that is told with what seems to be over a million flashbacks. The film is a really depressing piece of work that takes us through horrible childhood after horrible childhood with a few cute little memories thrown in so we don't go and get in that damn convertible I mentioned earlier.

The other thing that makes this film so painful to sit through was the great performances. If Ashley Judd did this role in a movie that was any good she would be getting some serious Oscar buzz. Ellen Burstyn, Maggie Smith, Finnula Flanagan and Cherry Jones also deliver fun work but it just doesn't add up. The actresses just can't make up for a pitiful script. James Garner and Angus MacFadyen keep the men on the same terrific level of the women, with some touching scenes with Sandra Bullock, as her father and fiancé'.

I saw this film with 330 other people and of the 330, there was 26 other men besides myself. I spoke to a friend of mine who has read the book and she said that film takes some real liberties in telling the story and once again the book is better than the movie.