How to Make an American Quilt

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Tear Jerker with an All-Star Cast
Review: "How to Make an American Quilt" is one of my favorite "chick flicks." And hopefully labeling a movie as a "chick flick" doesn't immediately damn it into some lesser category. When I want to curl up in a quilt on a rainy day and sip hot cocoa and watch a movie, "American Quilt" would be a perfect choice. This is one of the few times when I liked the movie far better than the book--which I read second. From the moment that I hear the first strains of the movie's soundtrack, I'm ready to grab a box of Kleenex and settle in.

In "American Quilt," Finn (Winona Ryder) comes to spend the summer with her grandmother Hy (Ellen Burstyn) and great aunt Glady Jo (Anne Bancroft) in Grasse, California. Her plan is to finish her master's thesis while considering the marriage proposal of her long-time sweetheart, Sam. Finn's inability to stick with a project--she's changed thesis topics countless times--seems about to derail her relationship with Sam. Amazon.com's main review criticizes the movie adaptation of the Whitney Otto novel for focusing too much on Finn. I thought that Finn's attempt to sort out her feelings about relationships, while talking to the other women in Hy and Glady Jo's quilting group, sewed the story together quite well. As Finn is pondering whether a modern, intelligent woman can preserve a sense of self within a marriage, one by one, her grandmother, aunt, and their friends share the stories of their marriages or their most significant relationships. Older women sharing their life experiences to help guide a younger woman rang very true to life.

Poet Maya Angelou turns in a surprisingly powerful performance as the leader of the quilting group. Her story of how, as an unwed mother, she came to work for Hy and Glady Jo's mother, is one of my favorites. She holds her own with this great actresses. Bancroft and Burstyn are wonderful as sisters whose love for each other has endured, despite betrayal. Samantha Mathis, as the young Sophia Darling, is stellar as the diver who can't wait to shake off the dust of her small town and explore the world, and who discovers that realizing such dreams aren't so easy.

As a quilter, I absolutely loved the various quilts seen in the movie. I appreciated the detail of including fabrics seen in the flashback scenes into the blocks that each woman contributes to the friendship quilt. The quilts that Anna shows to Finn--including an old slave quilt that was especially designed and made for the movie and a baby quilt featuring African animals--are some of my favorite quilt designs.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Tear Jerker with an All-Star Cast
Review: "How to Make an American Quilt" is one of my favorite "chick flicks." And hopefully labeling a movie as a "chick flick" doesn't immediately damn it into some lesser category. When I want to curl up in a quilt on a rainy day and sip hot cocoa and watch a movie, "American Quilt" would be a perfect choice. This is one of the few times when I liked the movie far better than the book--which I read second. From the moment that I hear the first strains of the movie's soundtrack, I'm ready to grab a box of Kleenex and settle in.

In "American Quilt," Finn (Winona Ryder) comes to spend the summer with her grandmother Hy (Ellen Burstyn) and great aunt Glady Jo (Anne Bancroft) in Grasse, California. Her plan is to finish her master's thesis while considering the marriage proposal of her long-time sweetheart, Sam. Finn's inability to stick with a project--she's changed thesis topics countless times--seems about to derail her relationship with Sam. Amazon.com's main review criticizes the movie adaptation of the Whitney Otto novel for focusing too much on Finn. I thought that Finn's attempt to sort out her feelings about relationships, while talking to the other women in Hy and Glady Jo's quilting group, sewed the story together quite well. As Finn is pondering whether a modern, intelligent woman can preserve a sense of self within a marriage, one by one, her grandmother, aunt, and their friends share the stories of their marriages or their most significant relationships. Older women sharing their life experiences to help guide a younger woman rang very true to life.

Poet Maya Angelou turns in a surprisingly powerful performance as the leader of the quilting group. Her story of how, as an unwed mother, she came to work for Hy and Glady Jo's mother, is one of my favorites. She holds her own with this great actresses. Bancroft and Burstyn are wonderful as sisters whose love for each other has endured, despite betrayal. Samantha Mathis, as the young Sophia Darling, is stellar as the diver who can't wait to shake off the dust of her small town and explore the world, and who discovers that realizing such dreams aren't so easy.

As a quilter, I absolutely loved the various quilts seen in the movie. I appreciated the detail of including fabrics seen in the flashback scenes into the blocks that each woman contributes to the friendship quilt. The quilts that Anna shows to Finn--including an old slave quilt that was especially designed and made for the movie and a baby quilt featuring African animals--are some of my favorite quilt designs.

Rating:
Summary: Amazon editorial review is way off - this film is EXCELLENT.
Review: *How to Make an American Quilt* has been in my Top 5 since the second I saw it in the theatre. Unfortunately, it seems to be grossly misunderstood by reviewers, who tend to be - and sorry for the generalization - male. It works more as a companion piece to the novel, as each fills in the blanks that the other left behind. What you have at the end is solid, heartfelt, and a true treasure within the "woman's film" genre.

Rating:
Summary: So So
Review: Creaking with metaphors, it is a lovely story to watch, with a knockout cast well-skilled in ensemble acting. But it plods along, documenting the making of a wedding quilt that incorporates the lives of each person who contributes to it. Finn Dodd, played by Ryder, at her tentative and mysterious best, is spending the summer with her aunts, while finishing her thesis. She is also engaged to Sam, who seems to get needier, as Finn seems to be getting coldfeet. The quilt is a gift for Finn's wedding, and is a labor of love among a group of women whose lives are intertwined in the northern California wine country, each of them sewing a panel that expresses the theme, "Where love resides." But love resides in many different places among these women - from sisters Glady Jo and Hy, entertainingly played by Bancroft and Burstyn, who are exactly the kinds of aunts anyone would like to have in their family, to the prickly Em, and the unconventional Constance. So many different stories, as interpreted in quilting panels, do not always make a pretty quilt, and much negotiating and compromise is the very nature of putting the quilt together, as it is in life. Not Ryder's best work, but Burstyn and Bancroft are delightful as the pot-smoking aunts, rockin' out to Neil Diamond's "Cherry, Cherry." Simmons is a pleasure to see - with quite a lengthy career behind her, she doesn't appear often. Samantha Mathis is always charming - it would be nice if things would really *click* for her career. Kate Nelligan is fabulous - I was never able to abide her work, presuming her to be like the kind of tight-assed, judgmental characters that she portrayed. But I unexpectedly caught her in "Frankie and Johnny" (with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer), and could not believe I was watching the woman I had scorned for so long. Now I look forward to seeing her everytime she appears. In spite of many fascinating and multi-faceted characterizations, this vehicle does not serve any of these actresses well. One expects Greatness out of such an enormous and worthy cast, but the Entertain-o-meter stops short of Just Okay, and one wishes that such talent had been applied to a script that utilized their collective talent better. The concept of the story revolving around this group-effort is a fine concept, but director, Moorhouse, has to work hard to keep the story from fragmenting into oblivion. Though not weighing in as a heavyweight, the multitude of fine performances ensures that it is fine entertainment on a lazy day.

Rating:
Summary: Quite Good! Man Likes this Chick Flick!
Review: Firstly, I am a man reviewing this "chick flick". But, I was touched by the premise of the film without even knowing there was a book too. So, my review here is just about the film, not a film to book comparison.

I found the setting of the story, an agriculture region of California, beautiful, and the cinematography quite good. It is a pleasant and aesthetic picture for the eye.

The cast is dynamite, Ellen Burstyn, Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft,
and all the others! The acting I found superb. Other reviewers who criticize Winona Ryder I do not agree with. I found Ryder's
acting and portrayal of a confused graduate student, not quite knowing what to do and where to go very credible, and quite believable! I felt the director of the movie was very true to the portrayal of this important point in one's life, where one has to decide who to spend the rest of their life with. I think many in our society don't really examine this aspect of our lives and I believe negative reviewers are those folk who have not experienced this maybe in their lives as of yet. I found the older characters reminiscing to their younger selves a powerful device, powerfully employed by the Director. It is quite easy to critique and blithely say the flashback device was over used. But, such analysis, does not give fair credit to the full employ of the flashback device use with a twist in this film. For me, it was a powerful message. The older women, still with that younger self as a component of their souls, was what the flashbacks were about.

Truly, an erudite portrayal by all the actors and the director of how we "quilt" our love(s) into our lives. Highly recommended only for those who know the meaning of love in their lives and how difficult it can be at times to sort through that confusion. A poignant portrayal by all actors and kudos to Ryder for the confusion, anger, limbo, etc. of her character. I felt Winona demonstrated a virtuouso range, and those who do not recognize it, maybe have not experienced this range in their lives as of yet. The film is one that I would gladly watch again. I don't do that too often.

Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased
Review: Hi there i am very pleased with this dvd the movie in my opiouns is absolutly fantastic and I have been looking for it all over the place and finally found it the movie is wonderfull mother dautghter movie or daughter and daddy movie as well so theres my review

Rating:
Summary: "For this particular quilt the theme is: where love resides"
Review: How to Make an American Quilt is a nice comfortable movie, and unlike so many other films belonging to the 'coming of age' genre, it doesn't leave the viewer feeling emotionally drained. It is also unusual in that it attempts to breach the generation divide in its appeal; however its success in this respect is debatable.

Finn is 26 and, hoping for some peace and quiet in which to complete her Master's thesis, she heads for her great-aunt's house in small-town Grasse, California. She also needs time to mull over a marriage proposal from her boyfriend. This is an entrance cue for a smoulderingly handsome strawberry farmer (in an unnecessary plot complication) to hinder Finn's contemplations.

Great-aunt Glady-Joe lives with her sister, Hy, and their constant bickering is portrayed with sensitivity and humour by Anne Bancroft and Ellen Burstyn. The two sisters belong to a quilting group, who are in the process of creating Finn's wedding quilt - thematically titled 'where love resides'. This evokes something different for each of the women, all of whom - in artificially contrived tete-a-tetes - explain to Finn the story behind their contributions to the quilt. The viewer is transported to a time when these elderly women were young, and through them we (along with Finn) learn that times may change, but affairs of the heart will always be unpredictable.

These dalliances in the past are refreshingly piquant; unfortunately this is countered by the film's occasional heavy-handedness. The symbolic crow that leads the women to their true love has all the subtlety of a flashing neon sign. Ultimately however, even if it does perhaps tie up the loose ends too thoroughly, the film will leave the viewer pleasantly satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: Worth adding to your collection
Review: How To Make An American Quilt is quite a charming film. Being largely set amongst sunny Californian orange orchards, there is a wonderfully warm feel about the cinematography, and an excellent (largely female) ensemble cast who make the most of the poignant story and genteel script. The flowing direction of the piece is the work of Australia's own Jocelyn Moorhouse.

Winona Ryder plays Finn Dodd, a recently betrothed twenty-six year old Berkeley postgraduate student who is trying to finish her Masters thesis - for the third time. Finn decides to spend the summer at her Grandmother's house, leaving her new fiancé, Sam (Dermot Mulroney), to continue the renovations on their home. Ostensibly she is going there to get some peace and quiet, but in reality she is looking for something more. The film follows Finn's mental quest for clarity on her role as a woman and reassurance about her future as a wife.

Her Grandmother Hy (Ellen Burstyn) and great-Aunt Glady (Anne Bancroft) are the mainstays of the Grasse quilting bee, a group of like-minded women who spend their time making beautiful quilts. In the USA, quilting is close to an art form and some quilts can be worth considerable sums of money, but the film gives the impression that the quilts created by this group are much more about companionship than money. Finn has largely grown up around these older ladies, since her mother, a divorced hippie, couldn't control her wanderlust for long enough to provide a stable home. This is the place where, surrounded by the love of this extended family, Finn feels at her most secure.

Finn soon finds a suitable diversion from her writing when a chance meeting with a handsome young stranger, Leon (Johnathon Schaech), tests her fidelity and reinforces her doubts about marrying Sam. As the summer unfolds, Finn watches as the ladies design and sew the panels for her wedding quilt. The theme of the quilt is where love resides, and each of the panels reflects the life and loves of its creator. In a series of vignettes, the formative experience of love for each woman is retold - each of them providing a slightly different different perspective on the true meaning of love. Amongst the many stories, we learn the reason behind the enmity between Hy and Glady, details of Anna's (Maya Angelou) one true love, the cause of Sophia's (Lois Smith) bitterness and the origins of Constance's (Kate Nelligan) affair with Em's husband . Before the summer ends, and Sam returns, Finn must decide for herself what is important in her own life, and whether or not to proceed with her wedding...

How To Make An American Quilt is not quite a classic, but it is very good. The theme is simple - how love affects us in different ways, and how we deal with the consequences - but it is still a thought-provoking piece. The mini-stories feel a little too short and perhaps the film might have had more impact by developing fewer of them with more depth. Less is more, as they say. Nevertheless, the excellent cast all put in performances of the highest calibre. Most of the performances are wonderfully subdued - there is a strong air of melancholy which pervades the piece, and more than a hint of sadness in many of the stories. It won't quite have you reaching for the tissues, but it is touching nonetheless. The cinematography is frequently beautiful and the ambience of each flashback story is conveyed flawlessly. Well worth a rental, and for fans of any of the main cast, this may be worth adding to your collection.




Rating:
Summary: sensitive and human
Review: I quilt, my other half is an artist. We both viewed this " simple film " and both found a true delight about the emotions and sometimes confusions of the complexity of love. A finefilm for those that can understand love is delightful but at times so complex. A lovely movie that shrares hope beyond love, love beyond dreams!!

Rating:
Summary: sensitive and human
Review: I quilt, my other half is an artist. We both viewed this " simple film " and both found a true delight about the emotions and sometimes confusions of the complexity of love. A finefilm for those that can understand love is delightful but at times so complex. A lovely movie that shrares hope beyond love, love beyond dreams!!