How to Make an American Quilt

Rating:
Summary: Cinematic artistry at it's best!
Review: This is by far one of my favorite movies! It touches the viewer on a very personal level. It is an emotional film about choices and reveals through it's characters the delicate balance between love and lust with the premise of living without regrets. We are all invited into their world and allowed to judge for ourselves how their choices steered the course for their journey through life. The soundtrack is beautiful and there was excellent character developement. This is a movie that deserves much more acclaim than what it received because it is cinematic artistry at it's best! An excellent film!

Rating:
Summary: Never Quite Adds Up ....
Review: This is the kind of movie that you see, and after you've seen it, realize you ought to have read the book instead. The characters were just too much for the director (or screenwriters) to handle.

This is the story of a young woman named Finn (Ryder), who is feeling overwhelmed by her university studies and commitment-ready boyfriend. To get away from it all, she spends the summer with her grandmother and aunt in a very small California town. Her grandmother, aunt and their quilting circle get together to make Finn's wedding quilt, and share stories of their past (and current) loves.

Some of the acting is quite good (e.g. Rowlands and Bancroft). Ryder is too languid to convey any real sense of suffering or anxiety. The women's stories are interesting, but lack depth. On the positive side, there is the nice use of flashbacks into different times and places; and I think this movie is just as much about how men relate to women as it is about women trying to deal with their men.

But overall, I was disappointed with the film. It is rather like a few intriguing patches being sewn into a pretty, but unimaginative quilt.

Rating:
Summary: Throughly Enjoyable!
Review: This movie is one of the best that I've ever seen. It's almost like "The Joy Luck Club" as it dives into each character's life story.

The story isn't left with any gaping holes. Of course there are a few questions that you want to ask, but I'm sure that those are answered in the book, which I've never read.

It's a great chick flick to show with a group of friends, at a sleepover, or by yourself.

Unfortunately, I have found that it isn't the best date movie, or the best movie to watch with most males.

But you can always watch it with mom, because the Mother-Daughter relationship is a key theme of this movie.

Rating:
Summary: FANTABULOUS
Review: This movie is phenomenal. It stars Winnona Ryder as Finn, a young woman about to be married, who is writing a thesis on the interpersonal relationships that are intertwined with in the making of an American quilt. The people that she is writing about are a group of women who have been quilting together for many, many years. They have assembled with the goal of creating a wedding quilt for Finn. The group is comprised of her grandmother, her aunt, and several of their oldest and closest friends. Each woman is charged with designing a single square of the quilt that represents for them "where love resides". As the women work on the quilt they use the opportunity to counsel Finn about her upcoming marriage. They give their own views on what is important in life; on what their experiences have taught them, and why they have made the choices in life that they have made. While they are together, working on the quilt you learn about the relationships and experiences that represent love for these women. At the same time you learn about the hardships and the tribulations that they have experienced both individually and within relationships with one another. This is a movie that explores the nuances of family, love, birth, death, marriage and friendship. This exploration is handled beautifully. The separate stories are woven together, as their lives are, and as the pieces of the quilt are. The movie on the surface is a simple story of several women's lives and their experiences. As you watch, and look deeper you begin to understand that there is profound meaning and an explicit symbolism in each scene and every moment. Each part of this movie was thought out and carefully considered. It is a pleasure to watch and you find your self deeply involved with these women as you travel full circle in their lives. If you have not seen How to Make an American Quilt you must, it should not be missed.

Rating:
Summary: A feel-good movie with Heart, Soul, and Mind....
Review: This movie is so nostalgic and reminiscent of the special moments that make life worthwhile. The movie shows several sides of life and love and each is incorporated into the "crazy quilt". I must admit that the cameo of Jared Leto didn't hurt, either. The book is good to read as well. This movie is VERY enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: a great experience
Review: this movie not only expressed the desires of so many women, both young and old alike, it also shed light on the many complexities encompassing a women throughout her lifetime. the acting was superb, and the underlying message forced the audience to think about their own lives. watch it and you find yourself putting yourself in Finn's shoes, and BTW . . . it is with 2 n's.

Rating:
Summary: A Movie About Marriage, Love, and Family
Review: Winona Ryder plays Fin, a student who is engaged to be married to a man she loves very much, but is still confused and ambivilent about marriage. She visits her aunts and their Quilting Circle, because she is writing a college thesis on the rituals of ancient tribes or something (I honestly can't remember:) And during her research for her paper, the older generation in the Quilting Circle (including Maya Angelou and Anne Bancroft) teach her with experiences and stories of their own about love and marriage. I think this is a great story for mothers and daughters to watch together, since it is about the wisdom and forsight that one generation hands down to the next.

Rating:
Summary: Well woven!
Review: Winona Ryder plays Finn Dodd who spends her summer with her grandmother. There she meets Grandma's sewing friends who start to make a quilt for her wedding day.

Each piece of the quilt is symbolic of the many stories they have to tell her. And each story teaches Finn something of love that will eventually help her deal with her own set of problems between the hunky Leon (played by Johnathon Schaech) she met while swimming, and her fiance whom she had a quarrel with.

Though somewhat fragmented at times (perhaps intended because of the quilt concept), this tale is rich with poetic imagery and thoughts about life, old age and the beauty of it.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Adaptation
Review: You will not be disappointed by this adaptation. Put together well with the use of flashbacks. It's a great movie to ease you into a comforting afternoon.