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...

cheezarbizzani If there is one thing I can say, Grace Stirs up Success SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has a terrible cast, an awful plot, and a lousy conflict. All that makes it stupid, lazy, boring, predictable, annoying, obnoxious, and just plain BAD. MARK MY WORDS, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE! SPEND THAT HOUR AND A HALF WATCHING SOMETHING ELSE! I saw it once, and I NEVER WANT TO SEE IT, OR HEAR ANY OF ITS DIALOGUE EVER AGAIN! It deserves a rating worse than Norm of the Norths, which is REALLY SAYING SOMETHING! Also, the stupid street dog "bonn bonn" is the UGLIEST CREEPIEST DOG EVER, and is entirely WORTHLESS to the plot!Sincerely, Anonymous. P.S. the theme of it was used in a million other movies before.P.P.S. (Spoiler Alert! WARNING!) When she gets back from her Paris trip and sees that her dumb grandparents bakery is closing, she wastes a big portion of her life saving it. Hasn't she seen Open Season? Where the theme is letting go of things and moving on in life? Maybe she had, but ignored it for her pathetic home bakery with her 250 year old grandparents. P.P.P.S. Open Season may be just a little lousy, but it's 6.2 out of 10 is 500 times better than this movies 5.7, (Which I may have dropped down from its original 5.8.)P.P.P.P.S. Please listen to ME! A bunch of people accidentally, or were paid to vote it a 6 or higher.

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!