How Stella Got Her Groove Back is a 1998

1998 in film

-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...

 romance film

Romance film

Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...

, directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Kevin Rodney Sullivan is an American film and television actor and film director. He is married to wife Nita Sullivan, and has a daughter, Nicole L. Sullivan.-Early Life and Acting Career:...

. The film stars Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett

Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...

, Taye Diggs

Taye Diggs

Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...

, Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

 and Regina King

Regina King

Regina King is an American film and television actress. She is well known for her role as Mary Jenkins's studious daughter, Brenda Jenkins, on the 1980s sitcom, 227, and for her critically acclaimed supporting role in the feature film Jerry Maguire...

. This film is an adaptation of Terry McMillan

Terry McMillan

Terry McMillan is an American author. Her interest in books comes from working at a library when she was sixteen. She received her BA in journalism in 1986 at University of California, Berkeley. Her work is characterized by strong female protagonists.Her first book, Mama, was published in 1987...

's bestselling novel by the same title. The original music score was composed by Michel Colombier

Michel Colombier

Michel Colombier was a French composer, songwriter, arranger, and conductor.- External links :*...

.

Plot

Stella (Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett

Angela Evelyn Bassett is an American actress. She has become well known for her biographical film roles portraying real life women in African American culture, including singer Tina Turner in the motion picture What's Love Got to Do with It, as well as Betty Shabazz in the films Malcolm X and...

) is a very successful, 40-year-old stock broker raising her son and living in Marin County, California

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

 who is persuaded by her New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

) 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

Taye Diggs

Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...

), who is 20 years younger. 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.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack containing mostly R&B and reggae music was released on August 11, 1998 by MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

. It peaked at 8 on the Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 and 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...

 and was certified gold on September 22, 1998.

Awards & nominations

1999 Acapulco Black Film Festival

American Black Film Festival

The American Black Film Festival is an independent film festival that focuses primarily on works by Black members of the film industry. It has been called “the nation’s most prominent film festival.” The festival is held annually and features full-length narratives, short films, mobile...

• 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)