How to Make an American Quilt . Tucson Weekly . 10-19-95

How to Make an American Quilt

DIRECTED BY: Jocelyn Moorhouse

REVIEWED: 10-19-95

Winona Ryder gets seven lessons in love when she spends a summer listening to the romantic histories of all the women in her grandmother's quilting bee. We're talking flashback-o-rama, with the majority of the stories taking bittersweet turns in which the women's husbands either leave them, cheat on them or die. This uninspiring "quilt" of mini-narratives is somehow supposed to help Ryder choose between a hunky Don Juan type (Jonathon Schaech) and a regular-guy carpenter (Dermot Mulroney). Though the appearance of so many fine actresses has its benefits, the movie's lessons about life are mere bromides, and they're made all the sappier by Ryder's talentless presence and weak narration. (Why does Ryder always choose scripts that require her to narrate?) American Quilt features Maya Angelou, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Samantha Mathis and Alfre Woodard.

--Zachary Woodruff

Other Films by Jocelyn Moorhouse
A Thousand Acres

Film Vault Suggested Links
Dance With Me
First Love, Last Rites
The Bridges of Madison County

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