Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front

I'm only 25 minutes in watching with my daughter and this movie is already a huge disappointment. We were so excited to watch this after finishing the books together. I read them growing up and couldn't wait to share them with my daughter. She loved the books just as I did as a kid. Well. The movie is SO inaccurate. It's like the writers didn't even read the books. Pretty much the only thing that matches the books are the character names. So much of the plot is changed, there are huge plot holes and the writers pretty much just went totally 'off script'. My need for even remote accuracy is making me crazy watching this movie. My daughter is 5 and is enjoying it anyways but I pretty much hate it.

Molly was the hit of our Christmas week viewing. We had a mixed household - two girls, ages 8 and 10; their dad; me (50+); and great grandma. I'm giving the movie its excellent rating not simply because it's so highly enjoyable (and thought-provoking), but also because it held the interest of viewers with an age range spanning eight decades. How often can you say that? I didn't know what to expect (the two young viewers are American Girl fans) but found myself drawn to the story, and moved by it. The screenwriter and director have done a wonderful job of capturing both time (World War II) and place (middle America). There is a lovely mix of poignant moments and lighter scenes. Molly Ringwald surprised me with the depth of her portrayal, and the young actors are a pleasure to watch. The movie is never preachy, nor is it sugar-coated. I won't give away the final scene, but will say that during it our audience's two youngsters and their dad gave each other a spontaneous hug.

We watched this with our 7 and 4 year olds and found it a very good family movie that was enjoyable to watch even though it dealt with very weighty topics.

I found myself explaining aspects of war to the kids, introducing very current topics as at the time of this writing the United States is at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I felt this movie helped give an appropriate introduction of weighty topics such that the kids can understand a bit more about their world without being thrown into depression or overwhelmed with things they can't understand.

The movie also illustrates the value of persistence, hard work, studying, reading, being polite and considerate, altruism, compassion, helpfulness, and not giving up hope. All of that in such a way that you hardly notice; there's never a sense of preaching or proselytizing.

The acting is TERRIFIC... Molly's teacher does an amazing job of period acting, Emily plays her part well and Molly herself is done in a style that is rare in American cinema; a complete contrast to Samantha.

That being said I liked the character of Samantha better and there a few flaws in the movie. I have not read the books, so I'm judging the movie entirely on its own merits and vs Samantha which was the only other movie in this series that we've seen.

Overally hurray for this movie and the series.

Due to having two daughters who are obsessive followers of the historical American girl dolls, I've read all the books and watched all the movies. I thought that the Samantha and the Felicity movies were exceptionally well done - true to the books and meaningful in presenting the time they represented for children. The same cannot be said for the Molly movie. This depressing and disjointed movie had little in common with the books and did little to illustrate the time period represented. The writing was just terrible - it made Molly look like a snotty, whining brat, had random cultural things dropped in just for effect(the jitterbug contest on the village green?), and was slow as molasses. I was truly dumbfounded at the poor quality of this film after the other two. Less focus on Molly being miserable and the constant deaths and more focus on the bravery and efforts of those on the homefront and what they were doing to assist the war effort and make due with what they had would have helped. More explanation was needed for children to understand - why would there be a scrap metal drive, or socks and blankets knitted, or rationing? None of it was explained, just dropped in the scenes in passing. The saccharin ending rang very false(I'm not saying what). That being said, the character of Emily and how her story was addressed was, I thought excellent and well handled. The acting was fine, if lacking in passion, but that was the problem with the film and script in general.

I am unfamiliar with the series of "American Girl" books, so I viewed this film strictly on its own merits, just to see how accurately it depicts the American home front of World War II. Believe me, it does so astonishingly well. Frankly, I did not expect much from such a modest, unheralded release, but "An American Girl on the Home Front" is a sincere effort that should shame the shallow-minded producers of Hollywood rubbish. The screenplay is convincing, the performances and direction are uniformly excellent, and the sense of period is wonderfully captured, with evocative props, staging, and costumes. The people on screen seem utterly real instead of cardboard stereotypes, and the plot kept me guessing. I genuinely felt for these characters - even bringing tears to the eyes - and the film made me wish for a simpler, more innocent time than what we experience today. Watch this film, and grieve for a long-lost America that will never be again.