The film's main character is Finn, a twenty-six year-old graduate student played by Winona Ryder. Finn has two big problems on her hands, one of which is her third attempt at a master's thesis (she got bored and never finished the first two), the second being her boyfriend Sam, who has just proposed to her. Feeling the need to get away from it all, she takes the summer for herself and goes to stay with her great-aunt Gracie and her grandmother in the country.
There, she is greeted by the quilting circle, which gathers once more to make a quilt entitled "Where love resides." Finn discovers that the quilt is actually her wedding quilt, each patch telling a personal love story. It's quite enchanting, really, to delve into the lives of these women, who recount their stories of loves lost and won. One of the women was a diver in her youth, whose husband left her with their children to pursue a life of his own. Another refuses to marry anyone but her soulmate, who, unfortunately, she met too late in life (he's already married).
Two more things have to happen now to complete the story. Enter a brash, young hunk who tries to sweep Finn off her feet with strawberries and a roll in the orchard and a windstorm that blows poor Finn's nearly-finished thesis all over town, and you have a first-rate film with everything.
I really really liked this film because, while the tales of all the loves lost depressed me as the movie went on and on, the ending almost freed me like a bird from a cage. Despite all the bad things that can happen when one falls in love, it's worth the risk and not worth analyzing, the lesson Finn learns in the end.
So, if you are looking to see a film with a great plot, well-developed characters, and some really great acting, this movie is definitely worth the buck. It's the best PG-13 movie to come out for a long time.
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