HOW STELLA GOT HER GROOVE BACK (Twentieth-Century Fox) Sitting through "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," adapted from the novel by Terry McMillan, is like listening to the private fantasies of any number of young women -- black, white, Asian, etc. -- who feel dissatisfied with their lives but too timid to make major changes. The movie, two hours of sumptuous-looking wish-fulfillment, should appeal greatly to this audience, provided they're willing to overlook some substantial problems in the material. Stella, the ostensibly grooveless heroine, is played by the stunning Angela Bassett, who couldn't look out-of-sorts even if she went without sleep for a week. Although Stella has a prime position as an investment banker, an almost eerily polite pre-teen son Quincy (Michael J. Pagan) and a magnificent San Francisco home, she's been sleeping single in a double bed for many moons. During an impromptu journey to Jamaica with her ribald best friend Delilah (Whoopi Goldberg), 40-year-old Stella slips into the arms of the improbably named Winston Shakespeare (Taye Diggs), a 20-year-old dreamboat debating over whether or not to attend medical school. This is the kind of film that has to go to great lengths to tell us Winston is very intelligent, since his behavior throughout the story suggests otherwise. Although the duo seem to have nothing in common except a penchant for making love in rooms bathed in the glorious glow of a sunset or doing it in the shower while warm water outlines their magnificently chieseled bodies, Stella finds it difficult to walk away from her casual fling, especially since she returns home to find her gossipy sisters (Regina King and Suzzanne Douglas) want to speak of nothing else. The age difference seems to shock most everyone in Stella's circle to no end, although one of the curious flaws of "Stella" is that Bassett and Diggs don't look like they're a generation removed from each other; it's not exactly Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. The Jamaica sojourn -- easily the best and most enjoyable portion of the movie -- gives way to multiple conversations and debates over the wisdom of pursuing a hot young lover. Winston eventually comes to visit Stella and ends up spending more time playing video games with Quincy than seeking out a career. When Stella and Winston go to the movies, they end up seeing what looks like a sex comedy rather than the more sophisticated entertainment she prefers, and Stella admits to Delilah Winston has been messing up the bed with, of all things, Cocoa Puffs. Is Stella robbing the cradle? Is Winston robbing the grave? Will the movie ever include a single scene that doesn't feel wholly manufactured? "Stella" comes straight from the "designer problems" school of screenwriting, a genre in which stories are built around wealthy, gorgeous people who have to create their own miseries in order for anything remotely dramatic to occur. Like designer clothes, these kinds of worries are far above the means of most of us. Stella, for example, loses her job even though she appears to be the only one in her office who ever works and she's certainly the only African-American woman in the place; can you say "instant lawsuit"? Most of us, faced with unemployment, would immediately begin a job hunt and avoid unnecessary expenses. But our gal Stella wings to Jamaica, lives it up, flies back to the islands again, jumps on a plane to New York at the drop of a hat, moves Quincy and Winston into the Waldorf, and then hires a limo to take her home from the airport. Yet she somehow finds time to fret over how she's going to make next month's mortgage payment as she and Winston dine out at an elegant-looking bistro. In the midst of so much glittering cotton candy, Bassett comes across as a pillar of strength and credibility, even if you can't imagine such a terrific woman would ever spend a night alone or waste time listening to the disapproval of friends and family. Diggs has a great smile but Winston exists primarily as a concept rather than a a character. Goldberg and King contribute refreshing sass, although Whoopi should think twice about any future projects that call upon her to die with dewey eyes and a tremble in her voice. James Sanford
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