Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front

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.

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.

This movie was pretty good overall. The story was poignant, the messages on friendship and doing your best were really good, and the acting was...well...it wasn't awful. Some of Mrs. McIntyre's lines sounded really forced and often the message was on the heavy-handed side, but the charm of the movie outweighs all these flaws. Molly was a pretty good character, but Emily stole all the scenes they were in. Emily and Mr. McIntyre were the best two characters, but the other ones were pretty cute too.

Molly and the other characters learned about adversity and how to overcome it and this is a good message for everyone to learn. The production values were awesome too--they really captured the essence of the era. And the movie clips really helped put what was going on in the world in perspective. This movie is good for the whole family but the adults will have to forgive some of the dialogue for its obviousness.

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.

This movie was done extremely well. Even though the trailers make it seem like it's all about dancing, it's so much more than that. You won't want to leave your seat for anything! You'll learn to appreciate what you have, and to be willing to give that up when it is needed elsewhere. I've actually never read the Molly books, but I plan to soon! I feel that the acting was done very well. Molly and all her friends and classmates looked like regular American children. And the people that worked behind the scenes did a really excellent job in making it seem like you had been transported back to the 1940's...I was actually really surprised to come on here and find out how recent this movie was done! Overall, this movie will definitely cause you to grab a tissue and hug your family members really close, because you never know when everything will change.