bababear We rented this for our granddaughters (first and fourth graders) and I hadn't planned to watch it. But after a couple of minutes I was hooked.This is a major surprise. I expected it to be sugar coated fluff. Instead, the fine screenplay by Marsha Norman gives an amazingly strong subtext to a story about American life in 1904.America is entering the "modern" age and inventions such as the telephone and automobile are starting to change the fabric of the country. Samantha is an orphan living with her grandmother in a small town on the Hudson River.Her uncle comes home with the young lady he'll eventually marry. She's a supporter of votes for women, a rather daring position at the time.The people next door hire on a family as servants, and the small children work all day and aren't sent to school. Samantha becomes friends with one and teaches her how to read.In the fall Samantha goes to New York City to stay for a while with her uncle and new aunt. Eventually her young eyes are opened to the harsh reality of factories that make children work in hazardous conditions for low wages.Not surprisingly, there's a happy ending. It snows on Christmas Day and the plot points are neatly ties up. But along the way there's an examination of class structure, women's rights, child labor laws and compulsory education for children, and the early roots of labor unions and feminism.Interestingly enough, the film I kept comparing this with was Martin Scorsese's THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. The two would make an interesting double feature.

hripsime_miranda Spoiler Alert! The most horrible movie I ever saw! Annasophia is not the best actress to play Samantha. I could do better! Nellie's actress was just as horrible. Perfect, huh! Perfectly awful is more like it. Such a disappointment. They didn't even show the part when she goes to Piney Point, Grandmary's summer getaway. And what about Samatha's birthday party, huh, where's that?! I'm a true American Girl fan since I was 9 years old, I've read all the books, and the movie stinks. I was especially disappointed in Nellie's actress. Her acting was horrible, and she wasn't as serious as Nellie in the books. The way she smiled looked like Nellie was a dork. That made me angry, because Nellie is Irish, like me, and Irish don't smile like a dork. Horrible! Awful! Most disappointing movie ever! It will win no award, I'm sure. The only award it'll win will be the most awful movie of the millennium!

hollywood actress A couple hours ago I watched this movie that i rented from Blockbuster "Samantha: An American Girl Holiday" I thought AnnaSophia Robb did an excellent job as Samantha Parkington and no one i know could have done a better job. I know it was her first major movie and in some parts you could tell she was a little nervous but she played it well and so did Mia Farrow as Grandmary. The whole cast did well! Anyway the movie is about a girl named Samantha(Annasophia Robb) around 10 years old living in 1904, who has to move in with her Grandmary(Mia Farrow) because of the loss of her parents. Her Grandmary teaches Samantha how to become a proper lady. One day a girl named Nellie(Kelsey Lewis) moves in next door to work as a servant. She lives with her father and her to sisters. Soon something happens to her father and she has to be sent to an orphange. Can Samantha get her out? Watch the movie to find out! Great for all ages! May be harder for younger children to understand. Excellent classic!

carolinapereira1995 I think it was a good movie, but it wasn't your average Sound of Music type thing. It wasn't that exciting, but was enjoyable. I wasn't an American Girl fan when I watched this so American girl fans must have enjoyed it more than I did. American girl fans have a different point of view, so I guess they were the ones who mostly enjoyed this movie. American girl fans see everything related to American girl as a big thing, but people who aren't that interested in American girl just think of stuff related to American girl as something that happens, well... very often. That is exactly why this movie would be enjoyed mostly by American girl fans.