If you are in the mood for something other than action or suspense; if you're tired of feeling like you're being condescended to or studying an ideology; if you're in the mood to let a movie take you somewhere good, smile a little, then this is a good movie to give you a rest from Hollywood.Cheesy movie, sure. But quite nicely done. Kudos to the cast, to Kathy Bates and especially to the director.

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!

My wife and I watched this at home on Netflix streaming. It is a pleasant and entertaining movie about a bright teenage girl who is mad at the world because she remains separated from her mother.We don't get much of a backstory but Sophie Nélisse as Gilly Hopkins has been in a series of foster homes. She is very bright but angry because she feels the system is keeping her away from her mother. So she resists new friendships and learns ways to manipulate teachers and other authority figures. She also hates to see boys acting as bullies and can quickly kick and punch them into submission. Which she apparently has done on numerous occasions.We pick up the story when she is placed with Kathy Bates as Maime Trotter who never backs away from a challenge. After a series of learning experiences quite accidentally Gilly finds an address "last known address for her mother Courtney" (Julia Stiles) and writes a letter to that address. She explains how she is living with a religious fanatic who makes her do chores all the time and strangers come and go all night making it impossible to do her homework. It was all a lie, designed to get her out of there and with her mother. Instead it comes to the attention of her grandmother, Glenn Close as Nonnie Hopkins, and the system places Gilly with her grandmother.The coming-of-age moment for Gilly was when her mother showed up but it was clear after a minute that she didn't really want to be there, she had no interest in a relationship with her daughter. Gilly found herself wanting to be back with Trotter, realizing it was the only "home" she ever had. In the end Gilly, Trotter, Nonnie, and a few others learn how to make "family" where you have it.Good movie, first-rate acting.

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.