Customer Reviews

Molly - An American Girl on the Home Front

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My daughter and I anxiously awaited the premiere of "Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front" and we were not disappointed. The story centers around young Molly McIntire in the small midwestern town of Jefferson, Illinois in the mid 1940's as the United States has just entered World War II. Molly's neat,predictable world rapidly changes overnight once the USA enters World War II. Dr. McIntire, Molly's dad enlists in the army and is sent overseas to London, England where help is needed the most. Molly's mother takes a job at the local aircraft plant to make ends meet financially leaving the McIntire children in the care of a neighbor, Mrs. Gilford. Molly's family takes in a 10 year old refugee from London named Emily while Miss Campbell, Molly's teacher looses her fiance' during a bombing in London. Through all the changes and adjustments Molly keeps a positive attitude and a determined spirit which was the backbone of America's homefront. This is a movie your whole family will enjoy!
As a side note our family is anticipating next years American Girl movie which will be "Kit" and will be produced by Walden Media.

This American Girl movie is my least favorite. Anytime a book is made into a movie you should expect the screenwriters to make a few changes from the book, but this movie seemed to stray too much from the original written books. Molly's dad is at home at the beginning of the movie; in the book he is already gone. Molly has a younger brother in the books; he isn't in the movie. And as a previous reviewer stated, the whole ending scene was just *wrong*. Molly's dad was supposed to come home, not to her show. She wasn't even IN the show in the book. But, the folks at American Girl want to sell tie-in products to the movie, so they have a new stage, theater seats, Miss Victory dance costumes for Molly and Emily, etc. I do like how they portrayed Emily and told her story, but again Emily was a much more minor character in the books than she is in the movie (again, there's a new Emily doll for sale at AG so naturally they need to push her significance in Molly's life). Many many other parts were changed, mom's a factory worker in the movie vs a Red Cross volunteer in the books, Mrs. Gilford was always their housekeeper, not just after Mom went to work; little things that just seemed annoying.

I've been a fan of American Girl books for nearly 20 years, and Molly has always been my favorite character. Sadly, this movie does away with all of the magic of the books. Molly is no longer bad at math. Instead, she's a spelling whiz. Her brother Brad is gone, and Miss Gilford is a neighbor rather than a housekeeper. Most of the endearing scenes and story-lines in Molly's books are left out (such as Molly and her siblings getting a tree, camping, her birthday, their snowball fight, school Lend a Hand projects, finding Dad's package and hiding it, Molly and her friends trying to give her a perm, Halloween . . . the list goes on), while some that weren't necessary are disproportionately expanded upon, such as Emily's. It would be easier for diehard Molly fans to point out what is the same between books and movie, rather than what is not, since the two hardly resemble one another. Only the turnip scene is here.

On its own, as a movie, it's also somewhat of a disappointment. The two people I watched it with didn't know anything about Molly. One struggled not to fall asleep while the other read and made phone calls. The movie is presented in a series of vignettes that are hardly connected to one another, with a trauma about Dad added to the end of the movie in order to give some semblance of a typical climax and resolution storyline. Rather than being a movie about Molly, however, Miss Campbell, Dad, and Emily get a lot of attention throughout. It seems to be a movie without a focus, searching around for a plot. It also seems dark, which is in contrast to Molly's books. Yet all the positive things that happen in the movie are things Molly could have only dreamed about in her books, such as truly getting to play Miss Victory, having her dad witness her performance, and yes--her hair can even hold a curl. It's almost as if poor Molly has been trapped in an alternate universe, where everything that didn't happen in her books happens in the movie, and vice versa. This should prove quite discombobulating for Molly fans!

On a positive note, the movie has wonderful sets and period music, such as Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters, and a fun jitterbug scene. Despite that, unfortunately, Molly's movie is not the best out of the offerings from American Girl.

This movie wasn't sure what to do. It didn't have very good relations to any of the books. Maya Ritter wasn't the best choice for Molly, even though she looked the part. In the books, Molly is very cheerful, but not in the movie. The best parts had the Emily and Mr. McIntire in them, because they did a fantastic job of portraying their parts. After the terrific Samantha and Felicity movies, this was disappointing.

I agree with the other reviewers - this film is not as good as Samantha or Felicity. The changes in the story from the books are glaring and there just isn't as much beauty of spirit that the other movies had.

The DVD itself has almost no special features. There is one bit about tap dancing and then two ads. That's it! No behind the scenes, no tour of the American Girl Places, nothing.

One of American Girl's newest and richest traditions--which includes producing a movie and manufacturing a new doll every holiday season--represents a recent marketing tool that can reel in AG fans of all ages. Those of us who grew up with these dolls can derive just as much excitement with these films as does the younger crowd, and this year Molly becomes the star of her very own story.

Stacking this film up against the original two movies starring Samantha and Felicity, I personally have to say that "Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front" easily surpassed them both. Perhaps it is because the World War II era is a memorable and relatively recent period in American history--a landmark event that current generations remember through the heartfelt accounts of grandparents, relatives, and friends over the years.

The chosen layout for this film has clearly received some heat and is viewed by the majority as poor against the first two movies. While I will not deny that the cross-over from the books to the small screen are blaring for the most loyal fans, it is not at all uncommon for screen adaptations to deviate from the written books. However, that does not mean that this movie does not stand on its own as a strong story and a worthy addition to the AG film collection.

The biggest problem with this movie, in my opinion, is that the screen time (90 minutes on the televised version, and that included commercials) didn't allow sufficient development for the several plot threads. Since the end result was scenes that were occasionally abrupt and choppy, it may have been in their best interest to emphasize fewer events within the story. Also, if you are a longtime fan of the 6-volume book collection, you will notice that there was one McIntire family member short in the film. 4-year-old brother Brad was completely eliminated, which surprised me a bit, but you have to understand that it must be difficult to find an actor that young, and some movies simply don't find the need to bother with it. The movie functioned just fine with the three older kids, and although middle brother Ricky was portrayed with a much less pesky nature as in the books, everyone delivered well.

As has been mentioned by many, Maya Ritter turned in an impressive performance in the title role. Not only did she totally look the part (maybe a little too much--haha), I think she definitely outdid Anna-Sophia Robb and Shailene Woodley from the first two American Girl movies. Her whiny behavior did get old at times, but I liked the way she matured and found her place in the war effort as the plot progressed.

These American Girl movies have also begun a tradition of selecting a bigger-name actress for the mother (or the main maternal role). If you remember, Mia Farrow portrayed Samantha's beloved Grandmary, and Marcia Gay Harden stepped in as the mother of Felicity. Now, the well-known Molly Ringwald joins this cast as the kind, loving and patient McIntire matriarch--and she played the part very well. I was surprised to see her in this role, but I must say she hit it on the nail.

I don't blame the most die-hard "Molly" fans for being disappointed with the changes made for this film. Personally, the Molly books were my favorite out of all the ones that were released, mostly because the spunky and spirited personality of the main character were so closely channeling something that seemed real. Molly's father was already gone for two years in the very first "Meet Molly" book, and during the film, he leaves at the beginning and returns a few months later. The way the writers chose to portray his emotional return to his family was a little disappointing and even slightly corny (even coming from me, a definite fan of the fluff). If the writers were to keep only one main plot thread from the original books, I would have picked this one--the finale to the "Molly" books that would have also created a perfect movie ending. I understand that they wanted to introduce Molly's father from the very beginning and allow viewers to get a sense of knowing his character, but perhaps they could have achieved that task more fully through flashbacks or brief scene jumps to the man's current involvement in the war.

I was very pleased with how English refugee Emily Bennett was developed in the film, and I absolutely loved Tory Green in the role. What a sweetheart she was--friendly, unassuming and painfully shy, and the gradual friendship that grew between her and Molly was done beautifully. Overall, I perceive this film as a worthy addition to your collection--well-acted, a good story (if not a little different than some fans of the books would have liked), and, as always with the AG films, indicative of how those timeless values of cooperation and friendship can span well through the passing years.

I have viewed this movie twice in the span of three days and even though it does not follow the books (what movie does?) I believe it is the best production so far. The girl that played Molly was excellent and looked exactly like the illustrations in the books. When not comparing the script to the books, this movie gives a very good look at what it was like to be at home when someone dear to you is involved in a war far away. The range of emotions experienced by Molly, Emily, Jill and Ricky were wonderfully captured. The changes in the role of a mother/woman during those times was exemplified by Mrs. McIntire and the patriotism that was so evident during that period of history wonderfully portrayed.
I would highly recommend this movie to both adults and children.

Although my daughter enjoyed this movie, and I realize that it is geared toward the youth market, I feel it is not up to par with the first two American Girl movies, Samantha and Felicity. The main reason is I feel that it tries to cover too much ground in a little more than 90 minutes - it attempts to bring every aspect of WWII into Molly's life and, by doing that, one never really gets the chance to know the characters in any kind of depth. Maybe for the folks that read the Molly stories it doesn't matter much, but to the people who haven't, it can be a bit diconcerting.
One more on the down side: father showing up the way he did was a bit too sappy. Happy endings are great, but super-sappy endings are just that - SAPPY.
On the plus side, the sets, language, and even attitudes of the time portrayed are done very well (except for the 1957 table-top jukebox in the scene at the diner when Molly and her aunt are sitting and talking), and the original period music was an excellent touch. Also, teaching the youngsters how the war affected the little ones (and all the people) of England was a nice touch as well.
Do I recommend this? Yes, I do. Any movie (or book) that can get our youth interested in history - as long as it is done accurately - is alright in my book.
If you enjoyed the other two American Girl movies, you will probably enjoy this one, though maybe not quite as much.
I hope the next movie from this series is Kirsten, the pioneer girl. My daughter loves that era almost as much as the colonial era.

Okay, I admit it, I'm not your average American Girl viewer... I'm much older, but I liked the first film so much, that when I saw this film available I was eager to watch it. First, I was pleased by the war setting, the pretty costumes and the historical setting. But I was less impressed with the acting. I felt that Molly's acting, her mother, and the teacher were quite wooden. The little British girl was well done... But overall I felt the acting was quite mediocre.

I found Molly to be unlikable. She seemed very modern and bratty. Her concerns seem really superficial in lieu of the events going on around her. That's okay to begin with, but it took a while for her to become more sympathetic. Watching Molly pout about eating turnips and having no ice cream when there is a war going on seemed petty.

The plot was fairly straightforward and should be easy for children to grasp, but unlike Samantha there was no real sense of jeopardy or hardship (other than what she eats) for Molly to go through, and her life seems fairly privileged... As her family can afford a housekeeper whilst most families could not. 2 stars. Perhaps children would like this film more than I, but I was underwhelmed.


2 stars.

My 9 yr. old son has been reading his big sisters' Molly books, and he wanted to see this movie, so we borrowed it from Netflix. What a disappointment! Sure, the girl looked liked Molly, but the similarity ended there. In the books, Molly is a happy, spirited, spunky girl who is cheerful and happy to do her part for the war effort. In this film, she was depressive, negative, selfish, a whiner, etc. The actress was probably chosen for the look-alike feature alone, because she was a HORRIBLY BAD BAD actress!!! She was very wooden and stiff, showed zero emotion vocally or physically. Really, she was awful, and pretty hard to watch. Molly Ringwald as the mother wasn't very good either; it seems people nowadays just don't know how to act.

What bothered us was the major changes in the story. The books are so nice as they are, and I think children expect to see the books played out in the movie. The changes were not necessary, and it was like a different story. My son kept saying he wanted to see the Halloween stuff, the camping stuff, and Christmas how it was in the book. I really can't understand why they changed it so much. I was glad when it was over, because this Molly was not the happy and cheerful Molly we know from the books; she got old pretty fast.

We have seen the Samantha movie, and that was pretty good. We haven't seen the Felicity one. We think it would be fun if they did a Kit movie, but hope they don't bother if they are going to change the story and use some girl that can't act.

Seems like they could have done a "mini series" on Molly, so they could use all the books. But perhaps this wouldn't have worked since this actress is way over 10 yrs. old anyway.

I can't believe how many reviews I have read on this movie praising it so highly. It isn't a one star movie (torture to watch) but it was pretty close to it. I guess people don't know what makes a "good" movie anymore. Give me the movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s anytime! Even the silents offer so much more than this modern stuff. At least I only borrowed it and didn't waste money buying it. My advice is to read and enjoy the books instead. They are much, much better.