Colibel
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Ensofter
Overrated and overhyped
DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
PossibleOptimism
Grace Stirs Up Success was a simple movie at it's heart, a cute story of a girl who discovers that her hobby can become a dream come true. For Grace, baking is second only to her family, and even with some relations living overseas and basically strangers, she can still find, and be, herself.
I just wish they'd cut out all that giggling. It was sorta unrealistic and got on my nerves. And my sister's nerves; she had to go bake some cookies to feel better.
From its cool pastels to warm smiles, this movie served up a delicious array of charming characters and a story with a surprising amount of heart. That just wouldn't have been there without Uncle Bernard. And a certain little je ne sais quoi...
heartprivacy
From an adult's perspective, this movie is wholly forgettable. Half the movie takes place in Paris, yet we see hardly anything of Paris or Parisian life (probably because it was filmed in Budapest, a cost-saving measure). The plot is not particularly believable - a 10 year old girl wants to start a business with her friends, but then has to go to Paris to visit her aunt and uncle where she wins over an unhappy cousin and absurdly wins over a snooty potential client with the help of macarons and a stray dog. She deals with feeling distanced from her friends, then competes on Master Chef Junior and (spoiler you saw coming 10 miles away: she wins and uses the prize money to save her grandparents' failing bakery). Interesting partnership for a company that is dedicated to empowering girls, as Master Chef Junior has been plagued with accusations of sexism and in reality, every winner of the competition has been a boy. But that's another discussion.The most irritating aspect of the movie to me was the manufactured conflict between Grace and her best friends. It seems the writers didn't want to spend much time actually giving them a reason to be upset at each other, so they just randomly get offended by things and then have to make up. Lazy writing, but then, it's a movie for 8 year olds, so...There is a very obvious difference in acting experience between the young actresses: Olivia Rodrigo, the lead actress, is adorable but clearly inexperienced and smiles constantly, while Eloise Webb, playing her cousin Sylvie, is far more subtle and believable. The actresses playing her best friends were also clearly cast on looks rather than talent. The most enjoyable performance is Fabrice Michel as Grace's pastry chef uncle.From the perspective of the target audience, however, they are clearly doing something right because my two daughters want to watch this movie constantly and have probably seen it close to 50 times at this point. The soundtrack is cute and bouncy with a French flair, the content is completely inoffensive so it's appropriate for even the youngest children (although they may not be able to follow the plot), and the messages are positive (helping others, following your dreams, etc. etc.).So in summary, it's a movie made for children and it's perfectly fine for them. Adults will probably not want to watch past a single viewing.
richard-1787
The first - and, so far, only other - review of this movie sounds as if it were written the the pr guy in charge of promoting this movie. Take it for what it's worth.I'm not going to try to guess how this movie will go over with its intended audience, young American girls who buy AG dolls. My reason for watching it was to see how it depicts Paris and French culture, and that's what I'll restrict my comments to here.Unlike *Passport to Paris*, for example, the awful Olson twins movie aimed for largely the same audience, this movie doesn't really do much with Paris or the Parisians. There is a quick - very quick - bicycle tour of the famous Parisian monuments 25 minutes into the picture. Other than that, most of what we see of the city is the inside of Grace's aunt's VERY luxurious apartment in Paris and her French husband's HUGE pastry shop on the rue de la Paix, one of the most expensive shopping districts in the French capital. This is the world of those who have money, lots of money.We don't see much of Parisians, so we don't deal with the stereotypes on which some American comedies set in Paris play. Grace's French half-cousin isn't "snooty," despite what the pr person wrote in the previous review. She's just unpleasant to Grace, until Grace wins her over.What I found more interesting is that, despite Grace's repeatedly proclaimed love of bakery and her desire to shine in her uncle's pastry shop, she makes NO effort to learn about French pastry while she's in Paris. This is shown in two ways.First: When Grace tries to interest the owner of a luxury hotel, the Palace de Paris, in her uncle's pastry, she presents him with macarons. As you may know, these have been chic here in the States for the last several years. There's nothing to macarons, however, and in France they are mostly for children, because of the bright colors and jam fillings. They aren't desserts, they're just a quick snack, like cookies. Nonetheless, when the hotel owner finally breaks down and agrees to hire Grace's uncle, it is his macarons that impress the (adult) patrons at the hotel's July 14th garden party.Second: when Grace returns to the U.S. and decides to save her French grandparents' French bakery, located somewhere in New England, she transforms it into a shop that specializes in cupcakes - not something you find in the average French bakery - and macarons. In other words, she turns a representative of French cuisine into a store that caters to American children's desires for sweets. She saves the French pastry shop by turning it into an American sweets shop.And when she competes in the junior pastry chef contest back in the States, her first idea is to make a pineapple upside-down cake, which she had learned how to make before she left for Paris.When she can't make that, she ends up winning with a tower of macarons, again something for children - though I suspect children might be put off by the lavender color.This movie teaches the sort of moral lessons modern children's movies are expected to teach, and that's fine. The trip to Paris is a waste, though, because Grace learns nothing there that she could not have learned here at home.From this adult's perspective, the movie, at 107 minutes, is also way too long.
Matt Kramer
American Girl's latest movie outing (and the fourth to be directed by Vince Marcello) surprisingly takes us away from America and into the iconic streets of Paris as budding baker Grace (Olivia Rodrigo) helps her French family, and of course, learns more about herself in the process.Though some American Girl fans have lamented the change in direction of recent AG movies (which favor more sparkles, colors, giggles, and modern settings over the historical settings of Samantha, Felicity, etc.), Grace Stirs Up Success is still just as sweet and heartwarming as anything to come from American Girl. The values are very strong, with this film in particular focusing on using your talents for the benefit of others (unlike Disney Channel fare, which usually has an unpleasant "it's all about me" taste).Olivia Rodrigo is terrific as the ever-vivacious, ever-organized, and occasionally klutzy Grace, and her relationship with her snooty French cousin is both touching. . .and funny. There is definitely more outright humor in this film than any previous AG movie, with some pratfalls, whipped cream, and clumsy antics on hand; again, perhaps a departure from American Girl's more serious historical pieces, but still just as fun and just as sweet-spirited. Music and songs also play a very prominent role, as they did in both Isabelle and Saige.As usual with Vince Marcello's AG movies, the visuals are extremely colorful, looking like a world of dolls and doll houses, as if we are seeing the world that a girl might be imagining as she is playing with her American Girl doll. These films are first-rate family films, with excellent values that are seldom taught in modern children's entertainment. Thanks, American Girl!
