La grande Gilly Hopkins

Yes it is!

It's a story about trust and love and all kinds of stuff. Also, my favorite, the importance of knowing when and how to righteously level someone.

Mostly it's the story of making a whole family from broken parts. And it's a tear jerker.

Galadriel 'Gilly' Hopkins (Sophie Nélisse) is a bitter, smart foster kid. Her social worker Ellis warns her that this is her last chance before forced into a group institution. Her new foster mother Maime Trotter (Kathy Bates) is just as tough caring for troubled W.E. and blind neighbor Mr. Randolph (Bill Cobbs). Gilly gets into trouble at school right away. She rebels against her teacher Miss Harris (Octavia Spencer). Agnes is desperate to be her friend. She gets a postcard from her mother Courtney Hopkins (Julia Stiles) and dreams of reuniting with her. She writes to her grandmother Nonnie Hopkins (Glenn Close) lying about Maime Trotter in hopes of moving in with her mother in California. She even tries to run away.

There are bits and pieces of humor. There are other bits and pieces of a heartfelt touching story. The lead Sophie Nélisse is a fine young actress. It's nice to see her continue after great work as a child actress in Monsieur Lazhar. This movie is populated by great actors. There are nicely-drawn characters and then the movie hits a speed bump. It may work for the book but it doesn't necessarily work as a movie. The audience has build up capital with these characters and they need to be around visually to reap the profits. The last act is fine but it feels emotionally empty when none of the earlier characters are around.

Gilly Hopkins is a tough 12-year old who's been shuffled from foster home to foster home due to her troubled behavior. That is until she's taking in by kindly Kathy Bates. This story could easily have been a dull ABC After School Special type of story, but it's elevated by the presence of Bates as the tough but caring foster parent as well as a strong performance by Glenn Close as Gilly's grandmother. Another surprise was the a rather unsentimental and realistic portrayal of Gilly's addict mom by Julie Stiles. There's also strong performance by Octavia Spencer as a caring teacher who connects with Gilly by telling her she sees that she's an angry person just like her and helps her to make that anger constructive. Character actor Bill Cobbs also delivers a strong supporting performance as a blind neighbor. Admittedly, I don't think I was the target audience for this film, but I'll say my 10-year old daughter was completely wrapped up in the film, so although it may not be all that good of a film for adults, it's made watchable by some strong performances, and your pre-teen kids will probably enjoy it more than you.

This was a moving family film. I would not call it a teen movie at all. The acting is superb on all counts. The young actor who plays Gilly really makes you go from disgust to a grudging liking without changing her basic defiant and prickly personality. Although it does contain some predictible cliche's it doesn't follow a template the whole way. Octavia Spencer was wonderful in her role as the wise no-nonsense teacher. Everyone was great, but I particularly enjoyed her role. Laughter, Cheers, and Tears abound and leaves you wanting more.

Gilly Hopkins has bounced from foster home to foster home, which has turned into someone with a callous shell that no one has dared to break through. Are Mamie & W.E. the ones who will crack Gilly? All Gilly wants is to be with her mother, but her mother seems to want nothing to do with her. Fantastic family movie! Bonus points look for the author of the book to have a cameo in the bus station scene as they clerk in the shop!