An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong

MOVIE REVIEW

An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong -
An American Girl Movie that deals with the topic of bullying. Available on dvd for you and your family - plus Chrissa is the 2009 American Girl Doll of the Year!


CAST:

Sammi Hanratty ... Chrissa Maxwell
Austin Thomas ... Tyler Maxwell
Timothy Bottoms ... Paul Maxwell
Annabeth Gish ... Meg Maxwell
Michael Learned ... Nana Louise Hanlon
Adair Tishler ... Tara James
Ariela Barer ... Sonali Matthews
Kaitlyn Dever ... Gwen Thompson
Shelby Harmon ... Jayden Johnson
Jennifer Tilly ... Mrs. Rundell
Don Franklin ... Mr. Beck
Joanne Baron ... Mrs. Ziminsky
Jennifer Parsons ... Janine Thompson
Christian Pikes ... Joel
Kaylin Stewart ... Alexandra

PLOT: from the DVD cover...

Be courageous. Be a friend. Be yourself.

Meet Chrissa Maxwell. She and her family have just moved, and Chrissa has to start at a new school mid-year. Will she fit in? Can she find new friends?

On her very first day, Chrissa is seated with three girls who greet her with teasing and tricks. The Mean Bees really know how to sting - they bully Chrissa in class, on the bus, online, and even at swim club. Chrissa can't seem to make any new friends; not even with the girl who seems to need a friend the most. When the biggest bully becomes Chrissa's swimming rival, the taunting finally goes too far.

Now it's up to Chrissa. Will she find a way to stand strong and stop the bullying?

Movie Review:

I found this to be a nice family movie.

Michael Learned (Olivia from "The Waltons") portrayed the Grandmother. She was recently widowed and lives on a Llama farm. Her grown daughter, son-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter (Chrissa) come and live with her there and the movie is based mostly around Chrissa and her adjustment to life in a new place and dealing with a terrible bully at school.

I couldn't help from noticing, that Michael Learned is just as lovely, as ever, in this movie as she was on The Waltons. She was such a refreshing addition to this family movie.

Please know, the bullying in this movie is rather tough, so I think children watching this should be, at least, 10 years old. That's my opinion. All of the American Girl Movies are very realistic and there are struggles in each, but in the end, there are good life lessons to be learned.

It's very nice to see how this family is very close and cares greatly about one another. However, Chrissa keeps her bullying problems to herself and tries to ignore it at first... then work it out on her own... and .... eventually, she soon realizes that isn't working. It takes the love and support of her parents, brother, real friends, teachers, etc... to overcome her problems.

I hope this movie will help other children who face similar troubles at school.


See or Skip:

See... especially with your daughter or great sleepover movie!