An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong (2009) (V)

Director:

Martha Coolidge

Writers:

Mary Casanova (novel)
Christine Coyle Johnson (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Plot:

A fourth grader and her friends deal with bullying from a more popular girl in their class.

Plot Keywords:

Bullying | Father Daughter Relationship | Mother Daughter Relationship | Swimming Coach | Swimmer

Cast

Sammi Hanratty	...	Chrissa Maxwell
Austin Thomas	...	Tyler Maxwell
Michael Learned	...	Nana Louise Hanlon
Adair Tishler	...	Tara James
Ariela Barer	...	Sonali Matthews
Kaitlyn Dever	...	Gwen Thompson
Don Franklin	...	Mr. Beck
Joanne Baron	...	Mrs. Ziminsky
Jennifer Parsons	...	Janine Thompson
Christian Pikes	...	Joel
Kaylin Stewart	...	Alexandra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Timothy Bottoms	...	Paul Maxwell
Annabeth Gish	...	Meg Maxwell
Shelby Harmon	...	Jayden Johnson
David J Law	...	Swim Meet Official
Grace Rolek	...	Additional voice
Jennifer Tilly	...	Mrs. Rundell

Runtime:

91 min (TV premiere)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Norway:10 (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Sobini Films

Trivia:

In the story, Chrissa Maxwell was a fourth-grader. Sammi Hanratty, who plays Chrissa, was in seventh grade at the time of filming.

Angst in a Rainbow of Colors

Chrissa review 1/15/2009 11:19:01 AM

It's not a happy time for Chrissa Maxwell when she moves with her mother, father and older brother to the Minnesota home of her grandmother (Michael Learned). The fourth-grader left behind her bosom buddies back in Iowa, and her family is relocating in the wake of her grandfather's passing.

Intent on starting out on the right foot, Chrissa (Sammi Hanratty) promptly runs afoul of a clutch of Alpha Female bullies who pile on the abuse and push the hapless newcomer to the brink of dropping out in favor of home-schooling. But with a little help from her wise grandmother and a perceptive art teacher (Jennifer Tilly), she learns to stare down her adversaries, claim her place as a member of the student body, and provide a role model for bullying victims of all stripes.

"American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong" is a thoroughly earnest drama that squeezes the protagonist through a painful gamut of pre-adolescent conflicts, engineered primarily by Tara, the bully in chief played with wicked relish by the very capable Adair Tishler.

Young viewers will have little problem soaking up every drop of pathos projected by Miss Hanratty and by an even more sympathetic co-victim, a little homeless girl played to the hilt by Kaitlyn Dever.

Just a few things worth pointing out: Dealing with the subject of bullying apparently prompted the decision here not to make light of anything. Thus, the main problem with "Chrissa" is that there are almost no light moments. Good story-tellers know that humor is one of the best ways to relieve tension for viewers. Other than a spitting llama and a quirky characterization by the trouper Miss Tilly, there's not much to chuckle about in this movie. Miss Hanratty is convincing in various degrees of angst, but the movie may leave youngsters a bit exhausted by the time the theme is realized on camera: that is, standing up to bullies opens the door to friendship.

Another problem is the puzzling lack of motivation shown for Tara. Apparently she is insecure but we don't get much insight into what drives her to be Mean Girl No. 1 in this classroom. But then, maybe an exceptionally pretty, somewhat haughty little girl doesn't need any other reason to be mean.

As with other movies in the "American Girl" series, the subtext is in product placement. Here, it's a fashion show of contemporary looks. The cast is costumed in closets full of attractive dresses, sweaters, skirts, tops, headbands, swimwear – not to mention tights in a rainbow of colors.

This movie will no doubt give many young viewers a lot of exciting ideas for the next time they go shopping for their dolls and themselves.