The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars
Drama · Family · 2012
A young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.
Movie details
An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars
2012 Drama · Family 1h 25m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
5.7 / 10
892 votes
TMDB
6.8 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
A young girl struggles to maintain her school grades while competing as a gymnast.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Hoovey
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Kid Galahad
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After completing military service, Walter Gulick takes a job as a sparring partner at a gym, the owner of which sees potential in Walter as a professional fighter—and takes him under his wing.
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Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
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The story of golf icon and legend, Bobby Jones, who retired from competition at the tender age of 28.
Fast Girls
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A street smart runner develops an intense rivalry with an equally ambitious wealthy young athlete.
Blue Chips
Drama · 1994
Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.
TalhotBlond
Drama · 2012
Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.
Starving in Suburbia
Drama · 2014
When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site founder, ButterflyAna. By the time Hannah's family realizes what is happening and get Hannah the help she needs, the disease has fully taken hold and Hannah is refusing to eat. Will this family be able to exorcise the demon of anorexia from their lives?
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film
Drama · 2013
A psychotherapist helps a law student cope with schizophrenia in one of five interconnected tales dealing with mental illness.
What Maisie Knew
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In New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Vince Marcello
Written by
Jessica O'Toole · Amy Rardin
Jade Pettyjohn
McKenna Brooks
Kerris Dorsey
Josie Myers
Ysa Penarejo
Toulane Thomas
K
Kally Berard
Sierra Kuchinko
George Chiang
Mr. Wu
Will Woytowich
Cowboy Bob
Nia Vardalos
Mrs. Brooks
Court is in session
Put An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.