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How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Produced by	Ronald Bass Terry McMillan Deborah Schindler
Written by	Terry McMillan (book & screenplay) Ronald Bass (screenplay)
Starring	Angela Bassett Taye Diggs Whoopi Goldberg and Regina King
Music by	Michel Colombier
Editing by	George Bowers
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	August 14, 1998
Running time	124 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000
Gross revenue	$37,672,350

How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a 1998 romance film, directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan. The film stars Angela Bassett, Taye Diggs, Whoopi Goldberg and Regina King. This film is an adaptation of Terry McMillan's bestselling novel by the same title. The original music score was composed by Michel Colombier.

Plot

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 a rather ironic turn of events, Plummer announced in June 2005 that he was gay, and McMillan filed for divorce.

Cast

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing mostly R&B and reggae music was released on August 11, 1998 by MCA Records. It peaked at 8 on the Billboard 200 and 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and was certified gold on September 22, 1998.

Awards & nominations

1999 Acapulco Black Film Festival

• Best Actress — Angela Bassett (won)
• Best Actor — Taye Diggs (nominated)
• Best Actress — Whoopi Goldberg (nominated)
• Best Director — Kevin Rodney Sullivan (nominated)
• Best Film (nominated)
• Best Screenplay — Terry McMillan (nominated)
• Best Soundtrack (nominated)

1999 NAACP Image Awards

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture — Angela Bassett (won)
• Outstanding Motion Picture (won)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture — Whoopi Goldberg (won)
• Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress — Michael J. Pagan (nominated)

See also

• Female sex tourism

External links

• How Stella Got Her Groove Back at the Internet Movie Database
• How Stella Got Her Groove Back at Allmovie
• How Stella Got Her Groove Back at Rotten Tomatoes