The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Great Gilly Hopkins is a beautiful, touching film that should have gotten more attention. Although a wonderful family film, I would guess it will get seen most in middle school classrooms doing a study on the book, which it follows very closely. It's not without some rough edges- -there is some language and behavior that may not be to every parent's liking, but I appreciated that it made an effort to show how a real person might react in her situation. I will say the book told this story more effectively--several scenes had more impact as written, and I felt a much greater sense of urgency in the final scene of the book than I did watching the film. Even so, I think that it's a story that will hook viewers in and keep them invested right to the end. Without being manipulative or delving into false sentiment, The Great Gilly Hopkins made me care about its characters and had me choked up more than once before it was through.

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.

First time seeing Sophie Nelisse, she was terrific as the star of this movie! Based on the 1978 book! It is heart touching movie that suppose to be a comedy but I find it more close to that of a drama. I give it 5 stars! Takes you back when you were a 12 year old.

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!

This is an involving story that is defiantly worth watching. Even though it was a long time ago when I was a teen this movie was still captivating and surprising.

At first I was expecting Gilly's character to be more obnoxious, but she turns out to be a fairly normal child with just a smattering of issues. At this point I thought I knew where the move was going, but it throws in a few surprises, which I won't disclose.

Whilst it never really breaks free of the "bad person turned good" mold the move is well acted and well cast, it manages to stay involving and keep my interest and was quite moving in places.

Maybe not a classic, but not a waste of time either. I would watch it again.