This movie is crippled by its structure- bouncing aimlessly between a number of different story lines gives it an unfocused feeling. Also a problem- the characters aren't especially well-drawn. The older aunts bear only a tenuous relationship to their younger selves; the girls in the younger generation are totally uninteresting. Cliches abound- the arranged marriage, the competitive mothers living vicariously through their girls, etc. The real problem is that there are too many stories, characters, narrators, etc. to properly draw each one. What is left is something of a hodgepodge. The performances of the older women are good, though.
Review of The Joy Luck Club
