This movie is of the latter case and in that category it's not a bad movie. Angela Basset goes to Jamaica, picks up a young guy (at least 20 years younger than her) and then spends the rest of the movie alternately enjoying her conquest and being embarrassed by the whole cradle robbing thing.
What's nice about this movie and what distinguishes a good chick movie from a lousy chick movie (or a good movie from a bad movie most of the time) is that there is a real honesty. Angela Bassett's crisis comes from being ambivalent and she plays both roles rather well. Everyone else is looking at her congratulating her on her being able to pick up such a young guy but she knows that they are laughing about the age difference as well. This entire movie is Bassett getting over her reservations about wanting this particular guy and it is nice to see the whole old-young couple gender role reversal.
The rest of the characters are pretty secondary. Whoopie Goldberg is Whoopie Goldberg but she's used well. Taye Diggs is fairly dull as a character. He's almost there exclusively to be understanding. He doesn't have any ambivalence, but since it's not his story, I don't think he's allowed to have any ambivalence. He still comes off as a sympathetic character with a good heart, so he's NOT just a young bimbo for Bassett to pick up - although I think there should be some of that thinking going on in the audience.
Overall, a good movie mostly for Angela Bassett's performance.
In this unconventional romantic tale, Stella is a divorced 40-year-old careerswoman with an adolescent son, yet she is also such a BEAUTIFUL modern-day Egyptian queen who leads a rich, fulfilling life and is quite lucky to have very good, loving friends who keep prodding her along whether she tries to hold back. So here she is whisked off to an exotic vacation in Jamaica where her life takes a very dramatic turn: she suddenly meets a very handsome, coltish young prince who is young enough to be her son. Yet our plucky heroine tumbles head over heels into love! Yet their blooming romance really went through a great deal of tests and trials, especially when the unlikely couple is living in a very traditional society with rather rigid ideas. But Stella's best friend had left behind a very special gift: her very own power to follow her heart no matter what.
Beautifully filmed, yet a bit long. And some viewers may be outraged at Stella's very sexy and sometimes revealing outfits - but so what? This sweet little flight of fantasy will help nurture and reassure older women that they are not yet over the hill and they can always begin to REALLY LIVE!
