Good movie but grossly overrated

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Wicker Kittens was warmly received during its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. It is a very simple straightforward film about folks who compete in jigsaw puzzle competitions. It falls in line with a series of recent documentaries on American competitions – including Scrabble (Word Wars), Crossword puzzles (Wordplay), and spelling bees (Spellbound). These sorts of films are small pieces of Americana. There is nothing complicated or deep about this formula, but when well-done, it opens a window in a small piece of Americana. Wicker Kittens focused on several teams (made up mostly of older adults) and mostly-based in Minnesota in the lead up a major competition in St. Paul, MN. The competitors are sweet, quirky individuals who just enjoy doing puzzles and have devoted a lot of time to this hobby. I found it particularly entertaining to see how seriously the teams took the competition and the strategizing. For me, this lovely film brought back many childhood memories of sitting around a card table in our living room doing jigsaw puzzles with my Mom.