How to Make an American Quilt (1995)

Bride-to-be Finn Dodd hears tales of romance and sorrow from her elders as they construct a quilt.

Director:

Jocelyn Moorhouse

Writers:

Whitney Otto (novel), Jane Anderson (screenplay)

Stars:

Winona Ryder, Ellen Burstyn, Anne Bancroft

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kaelynn Craddick	...	Young Finn
Sara Craddick	...	Young Finn
Kate Capshaw	...	Sally
Adam Baldwin	...	Finn's Father
Winona Ryder	...	Finn
Dermot Mulroney	...	Sam
Ellen Burstyn	...	Hy
Anne Bancroft	...	Glady Joe
Maya Angelou	...	Anna
Alfre Woodard	...	Marianna
Lois Smith	...	Sophia
Jean Simmons	...	Em
Kate Nelligan	...	Constance
Denis Arndt	...	James
Rip Torn	...	Arthur

Storyline

Finn is a young graduate student, finishing a master's thesis, and preparing for marriage to her fiance Sam. But thoughts of the end of the free life, and a potential summer fling, intrude. She goes home to her grandmother, where, over the making of her wedding gift by a group of quilting-bee friends, laughter, bickering, love, and advice lead her toward a more open-eyed examination of her course.

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Plot Keywords:

younger version of character | triple f rated | title directed by female | love | marriage | 

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Taglines:

There's beauty in the patterns of life.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a scene of drug use, some sensuality and nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Recuerdos de amores pasados

Filming Locations:

Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,790,445, 8 October 1995

Gross USA:

$23,600,020

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,200,020

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Tamala Jones.

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Goofs

When Finn meets Leon at the pool for the first time, she sometimes is shown to be wearing a towel around her waist, and other times there's no towel...(during the same conversation)

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Quotes

Finn: Sometimes love simply dies.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Assassins/Dead Presidents/How to Make an American Quilt/Strange Days/Persuasion (1995)

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Soundtracks

Riffin' at the Ritz
Written by William Miller
Performed by Benny Goodman

User Reviews

Ryder and Kaminski

There are only two reasons to watch this film: Winona Ryder's wonderful (as usual) performance, and Janusz Kaminski's spectacular cinematography.

Ryder breathes life into Finn Dodd, portraying her as a charming, intelligent, and highly sensitive young woman struggling to define what love and commitment mean to her. Ryder is one of those few actresses who is able to relay a world of meaning in just her facial expressions alone. She's mesmerizing to watch onscreen.

Added to Ryder's enchanting performance is Academy Award winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski's beautiful, flowing images. There are many tiresome flashback sequences in this film, but they are all worth seeing just for the artistic value of the photography. Kaminski makes wonderful use of fluid camera movements and grainy filters to capture the essence of each time and place portrayed. It's no wonder Kaminski won an Academy Award for his work in Schindler's List and will most likely win another for Saving Private Ryan.

Other than these elements, this film has very little going for it. The screenplay is muddled and jumpy, and there are far too many characters with far too many inconsequential flashback sequences that say very little about the nature of either love or commitment. The story concerns nothing more than a bunch of old women sharing completely one-sided and sexist sob stories. Like The Joy Luck Club and Waiting to Exhale, this film portrays men as little more than duplicitous, moronic, emotionally immature children who are incapable of either expressing true love or loyalty. It is a completely shallow look at adult human relationships and has nothing new or profound to say about anything.

As a male supporter of feminism and feminist artistic expression, it saddens me that films like this are, first of all, even made, and then marketed as movies that modern women should see and even cherish. There are many far better films about women and their unique experiences, the most recent one being a small film called High Art, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Ally Sheedy in one of 1998's best performances.