The book is a disappointing read about women who sit at a table and talk and talk and talk.

I just watched this again: it's been 20+ years since I've seen this film. It's still a great movie, well-acted, and with a touching story. This movie and Amy Tan stories will always have a place in my heart.

Four women create a lifelong friendship that lasts over several decades while playing mah jong, gossiping, and boding with one another. Their bond extends to their families, bringing everyone together to celebrate the high and low points of life. When one of the founding mothers die, her daughter takes her place and discovers her past family history. The history of the different sets of mothers and daughters are displayed through flashbacks and memory pops, all interwoven back to the present day context. Relationships are examined, secrets are uncovered, and the possibility of a new and brighter future lingers on as the families face each new day.

Every flashback made me cry.

Directed by Wayne Wang in 1993 based on the 1989 novel by Amy Tan, this Chinese-American drama depicts the lives of the four Chinese-American immigrant families in San Francisco.
The film reveals the hidden pasts of the older mothers and their daughters and focuses on how the clash of Chinese and American cultures shape their lives as they strive to understand their family bonds.
It turns out as a profoundly heart-rendering and genuinely inspirational drama with cultural diversity.

My Waterloo-My daughter gave ME 'thweatt-shirt' : "MARY-JW-BLEIGHE".

This 1993 adaptation of Amy Tan's novel has been mentioned a lot lately in conjunction with "Crazy Rich Asians," as both were the rare majority Asian (both in front of and behind the camera) films. It's not entirely accurate to say "CRA" was the first major Asian production since "JLC," as there was the indie film "Better Luck Tomorrow," "The Namesake," and, I guess, "Memoirs of a Geisha," which had a mostly Asian cast, but a white director. "JLC" tries, with mixed results, the complex structure of Tan's novel, so it involves multiple voiceovers and flashbacks. It is somewhat uneven, but still affecting and well performed. Ming Na-Wen would show up on "Agents of Shield," Tamlyn Tomita was in "Karate Kid 2," and Lisa Lu is also in "CRA." Oh, and Andrew McCarthy! Directed by Wayne Wang and co-written by Tan.

A soap-opera-ish tone detracts from four women's interesting journeys as they arrive in America, adjust, and raise their Chinese-American daughters in dual cultures.

Beautifully shot and acted movie. The book by Amy Tan is excellent and the movie reflects that well. I cry at the end every time.

While the movie cannot possibly mirror the vivid detail
of print literature, it still wonderfully weaves the many stories and
generations.