‘The Great Gilly Hopkins’ Is Delightful Fluff, and Not Much Else

Sweet but inconsequential, The Great Gilly Hopkins will satisfy family audiences and pre-teens with minimal demands for their money. It’s about a 12-year-old girl named Galadriel, whose irresponsible, unmarried mother (Julia Stiles, in one brief scene only) left her palatial family home many years ago, deserting her daughter to be raised in a series of foster homes, wreaking havoc wherever she goes and always leaving behind a string of bad feelings and disastrous relationships. All Gilly dreams about is a reunion with her mother. All everyone else hopes for is never to lay eyes on Gilly Hopkins again.