Rating: 
Summary: The book was much better!
Review: I loved this book when I read it. The movie had less appeal. I watched it with some people who had not read the book first. They found the plot and the characters confusing. The movie skips quickly from mother to daughter, present to past, and from one mother/daughter set to another. For people who didn't read the book, this can become a little confusing. That said, I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to Amy Tan fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Moving saga of mothers and daughters
Review: A farewell party for a young Chinese-American woman who is about to leave for China to visit the sisters she has never met provides the backdrop for an anthology of intriguing stories told in flashback. Three immigrant woman from China (Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu) recall the difficult journey from pre-Revolutionary China to their present comfortable San Francisco lifestyle, while their four daughters (Ming-Na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom) remember how difficult it is to please their demanding mothers, who are still very much influenced by a culture that the daughters have never experienced. It is the universal dilemma of the newly immigrated, this cultural disconnect between parents and children, but this film also touches upon family issues that anyone can recognize. The complex story is made perfectly clear through a skilled screenplay (by Ronald Bass and Amy Tan, from her novel) and direction (by Wayne Wang).One dark cloud: like so many stories about ethnic women, the men are portrayed almost exclusively in an unfavorable light. Asian-American writer and scholar Frank Chin has accused Amy Tan of inventing legends and cultural practices that did not exist in China, but which reflect poorly on Chinese men and portray Chinese cultural as being more misogynistic than it really is. Is he right? I don't know. If so, many of those fabrications are certainly repeated in the film, which would be unfortunate. Nevertheless, I was moved by this story.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent story but it should not be made a film.
Review: I read the story when I was a student and found it excellent and i recommended it to my friend at university (he became my husband after one year). One of the best parts was about An Mei and her mother. Her mother's life was so miserable and in the she committed suicide so that An Mei could have a better life in the rich man's household. I congratulated her tactics because she got what she wanted in the end based upon the old Chinese supertition-a vengeful ghost will seek revenge until she gets what she was owed in her previous life. One of my biggest disappointments was the film was too short although it was two hours. Still, a tv drama series would have been better so that first-timers are able to follow the storyline. Another part of the story should be focussed more was the girl with a child husband. In the film, it didn't show the part where the servant girl forgets to watch the candles which I found it a must to be added into the film. Overall, I still love the story very much and I recommend the viewers should read the novel. Amy Tan is certainly a good Chinese novelist and I have read most of her books (The Kitchen God's wife, The Bone Collector's Daughter and The Hundred Secret Senses). I am waiting for her new book to be published. I hope she does not give up writing because I am just addicted to her sense of humour delivered in a Chinese way.
Rating:
Summary: Good points made by many
Review: This movie is a favorite because of its focus on mother\daughter relationships and its epic format. I was immediately immersed in the story from the first scene. It has flaws... a bit melodramatic and chinese men get the "screw" big-time. Overall however, its a wonderful movie and the performances are moving and inspired. Rent it for a test run... then buy it. Its one that you'll want to watch again and again.
Rating:
Summary: Bad white man, bad!
Review: My wife is Chinese and made me buy this movie. Then she made me watch it with her.
Rating: 
Summary: Ever heard of a 3 kleenex movie? I had to use a towel!
Review: One of my sisters and I watched this movie together and we laughed and cried all the way through it! We were totally captivated - I can't say this movie is for everyone as my MIL and SIL watched it without feeling the emotions that we did but then again they're white and we're asian. I can't say it any plainer than that. I'm sure I would have loved this movie Asian or not but the little things that my sister and I could relate to made it so much more enjoyable - every friend of our mom's is "Auntie" and they love and hate each other - preferring to rate their own success and consequence by their childrens. The characters were very real and believable - they could have been my relatives!
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS....
Review: This is one of the greatest films to examine mother-daughter relationships. It is also a great film that examines how a women are treated in different cultures. It is a very full film. It covers all the bases. The flashbacks are very smooth and everything interlocks with all the storylines. The acting is superb. It is very genuine. This is a must-see for every person that appreciates good films.
Rating: 
Summary: Amy Tan and the Sell Out Club
Review: Imagine how you would feel if someone released a film with some other racist caricatures - a blackface dancer, perhaps, and it so happens that the director happens to be black! Does that make the caricature more acceptable? More authentic? I think not. In my opinion, Tan had produced something very, very ugly. Amy Tan had become famous for her book that this film was based on. The film popularized the story to the movie-watching community. She is now considered to be a leading figure in the Asian American literature. But my impression so far was of Tan's tortured and distorted view of her original culture - it makes me sad to think that for many people, Tan's misguided work was their first exposure to Asian culture. It is difficult to imagine that the author could have been unaware of the Hollywood stereotypes of Asian culture. I've recently read an interview where Tan states that her fiction should not be regarded as an instrument that breaks these stereotypes. But if that is the case, why would she, who is an Asian herself, work to perpetuate the misconception of her own culture? So, I was particularly disturbed when I watched this film. I was angered not because it did not promote some positive image about Asians - to be fair, I don't think this was intended to be considered a political statement. And my basic assumption about watching a film is only to be entertained. However, Tan's work simply insults the viewer's intelligence by capitalizing on her ethnicity to place authenticity to the stereotype that she kowtows to in the film. And that itself makes this movie worthless to watch, in my opinion. I just wanted you to be aware of this before you purchase this DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Somebody Please Smile!
Review: I am under the impression that many people find this movie uplifting. I wanted to stick my head in the oven. The cast is impressive, but this movie is one long downer. Everyone seems to have a great deal of money, all the characters are beautiful, but all the women are soulful and in a great deal of pain and all the men are cardboard cutouts full of malice and stupidity. I have not read the book, but can only hope for the sake of the millions that bought it that it is much, much better than this.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, DVD could've been better
Review: This is one of those movies that I fell in love with back when in it first opened. Over the last couple of years, I had been seeking this title on DVD, searching the Chinatowns of San Francisco, New York, and Vancouver to no avail. I had the same bad luck when I visited China earlier this year, as I could not find one copy in any of the major cities. FINALLY, this DVD has been released, and the picture and sound are just fantastic. Only problem is...no Chinese subtitles, which is an odd creative decision given the scope of this movie. I was really hoping to share this movie with my mother-in-law and father-in-law. Oh well. When you purchase this DVD, you get great picture, sound, and English subtitles, but NO extras. Still better than the VHS version, though.
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