56
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 78Austin ChronicleRussell SmithAustin ChronicleRussell SmithThe filmmakers go to obvious pains to add a bit of nutritive value to their sweet, frothy confection.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliFor once, with How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Hollywood offers a love story that concentrates on the simple nuances of the romance rather than smothering us in an overly- melodramatic narrative featuring old boyfriends, jealousy, and hard-to-swallow misunderstandings.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversWhether you regard Stella's getting her groove back as a feminist battle cry or as a silly wish-fulfillment fantasy, the movie delivers guilt-free escapism about pretty people having wicked-hot fun in pretty places.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe movie, adapted by Terry McMillan from her semi-autobiographical novel, is pointedly boundary-breaking in its positive portrayal of a May-September relationship between a younger man and an older woman.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertHow Stella Got Her Groove Back tries its best to turn a paperback romance into a relationship worth making a movie about, but fails.
- 60The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinA glossy, attractive, ultimately empty soap opera that -- despite being based on a true story -- never seems remotely plausible.
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe movie meanders on and on, like a bad sexual dream, until you finally wake up mumbling: Stella, please: leave that groove thang alone.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleRuthe SteinSan Francisco ChronicleRuthe SteinI'm not denying that a 40-year- old woman might be self-conscious about going around with someone this young. But the subject isn't interesting or provocative enough to sustain an entire movie.
- 50San Francisco ExaminerSan Francisco ExaminerIt's a fun movie - full of laughs and touching moments.
- 50Chicago ReaderLisa AlspectorChicago ReaderLisa AlspectorAll the comedy, tragedy, and various obstacles to romance seem to have been contrived to divert the story from its tendency toward pulp erotica.