The ninth film in the 'American Girl' series, in that, fourth straight film for the director. Honestly, I have not seen all the films in the series, but I enjoyed those I've watched. This is a decent movie for all, especially for the families with the kids to watch on the weekend. I was not expecting it to be a fantastic, because children's films have certain limits and I know that very well. Usually the filmmakers push for a G or a PG tag for their product, that's why a film like this always appears to be so cheerful, and at a time silly as well.A typical 'American Girl' movie, but only the theme was different. This time it is about the baking. A young girl Grace is passionate in baking who thinks one day she's going to take over her grandparents' bakery. In the summer holiday, she's forced to drop her all the plans with her two best friends, after an unexpected visit to aunt's in the Paris is decided. There she meets her cousin Sylvie who's not friendly and uncle who runs a small bakery with the quality foods. The cultural difference makes her to struggle to understand the French way of baking, but in the end she overcomes it and decides to take it back to the home to save her grandparents' troubled bakery."Take risks. That's how you make amazing things happen."In the several occasions I had postponed watching this for no reasons, but finally I saw this now. To declare it is a good or a bad movie is a very tough decision, but I can say I enjoyed watching it. Not all the adults going to like it, because there are too many scenes that feels so stupid for the matured people like us, especially the dog parts that makes us to say 'whaaat?'. But that is usual and expected in 'American Girl' films, so you have to ignore it if you decide to try it. There won't be any similar issues with the children, especially the girls who are the ones going to enjoy it more than anybody of us.A simple movie about baking, that means it is not going to demonstrate how to bake bakery items for us, but still it inspires the kids. One thing is for sure, after watching this you will definitely feel you want to taste a delicious cupcake. Most of the cast was new to me, except Virginia Madsen. But everyone was good in their respective roles, especially the new face who played the title role. This is not an easy movie to suggest, but if you got a young girl in your house like a niece or a daughter, definitely worth it to show them and a reason for us to join them, especially to know how much they adore it.6½/10

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.

Yet another 'American Girl' film has been released under the name 'Grace Stirs Up Success'. If you're unfamiliar with the 'American Girl' franchise, you can read my previous hardcore action review of 'Saige Paints the Sky'. 'American Girl' is basically a line of actual play dolls for girls ages 4-12. None of the films in this series have anything to do with a doll, but rather try and tell these young girls what life is really like on the outside once out of a federal prison, which brings us to 'Grace Stirs Up Success'.Grace is a young girl who loves to bake cupcakes and french macaroons. When not laughing at literally everything on the planet, she works in her grandparents old bakery, which is failing as a business. Grace wants a bicycle for the summer, but her mom (Virginia Madsen, the only recognizable name) tells her she has to earn the money herself. Well, this makes Grace furious and begins to poison all of the customers at her grandparents bake shop, killing every single innocent person. Grace then flees to Paris to hide out with her aunt and uncle, only to have the three of them go on a killing spree with machetes with people who own bikes or gives them the stink eye. Think 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure' meets 'Ichi the Killer'.After a bloody shoot out, which leaves Grace with only one limb left, she is extradited back to the US, given robot limbs, and sent to prison, where she is rehabbed and forced to cook cupcakes again for orphaned children. The blood and guts are unrelenting here and makes every Quentin Tarantino movie look rated 'G'. And be sure to stay until after the credits roll, because once Grace realizes the true value of taking a human life, Samuel L. Jackson shows up and asks her to join some sort of team. I really do wish the above story plot actually happened in 'Grace Stirs up Success', but unfortunately it doesn't.Instead, we are forced to watch a young girl and her annoying friends literally laugh and scream at everything they hear and say with fake smiles on their faces. It's true, Grace likes to bake and does go to Paris, France, where she learns a little bit more about French pastries, however the film never becomes realistic. Instead, it's a fairy tale type of situation, where nothing bad ever happens, and these young girls who are watching these movies would believe that everything will come true and be as easy as following a recipe in real life.Even when friends and family get mad, or when a business is failing due to a financial situation, all you have to do is put on a smile, spread red frosting on a cupcake while listening to the worst song ever created on your iPod, and everything will live happily forever after. That's no joke here with this movie. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that 20 minutes of this movie is devoted to a reality show segment, where young kids compete to be a master chef. It's filmed like a reality show, complete with music and title cards. I might have blacked out a few times during the film, due to the incessant and annoying laughing and screams from the actors in the film. I don't know if it was a seizure or me punching myself to stop the agonizing horror on screen, but I did finally make it through the entire movie, only to find out that Samuel L. Jackson does NOT show up. I cried. Then I punched myself again for crying, which made me cry again. It was a vicious cycle.The acting here isn't even acting. It's more like screaming and smiling as hard as you can while trying to recite a line of dialogue. I've seen documentaries about giraffes where the dialogue between the animals are better. Poor Virginia Madsen. You were nominated for an Oscar, and this is what you're doing now. I hope the favor you owed is finished, so I can look forward to seeing you in a remake of 'Candyman'.

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!