How Stella Got Her Groove Back

About How Stella Got Her Groove Back

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 best selling novel by the same title. The original music score was composed by Michel Colombier. The film's tagline is: "Sometimes you have to break the rules to free your heart."

Stella (Angela Bassett) is a very successful, 40-year-old African-American stock broker living in San Francisco, California who is persuaded by her colorful New York girlfriend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg) to take a well deserved, first-class vacation to Kingston, 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 June 2005, Plummer announced that he was gay, and McMillan filed for divorce.