Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage
KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL MOVIE REVIEW
Directed by: Patricia Rozema
Running time: 101 minutes
Release date: June 20, 2008 (Limited NY) - July 2, 2008 (Wide LA)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Kids/Family and Adaptation
Distributor: Picturehouse
MPAA Rating: G
This film is based on the book series "Meet Kit: An American Girl 1934" by Valerie Tripp and Walter Rane. Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl is a story that enables children and adults to connect the past with historical data that is both informative and interesting. Brimming with vitality and wholesomeness, this film introduces the life and challenges faced by families during the Depression.
Set in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the 1930's Great Depression, ten year old Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin) is a happy young girl who aspires to become a writer/reporter. Her home is a loving environment with a father (Chris O'Donnell), mother Magaret (Julia Ormond) and loads of friends. Mr. Kittredge, Kit's father, must close his car dealership and as a result, joins the large number of unemployed. He decides to leave Cincinnati and look for work in Chicago. In effort to make ends meet, her mother takes in borders, while Kit moves upstairs to the attic and uses this space as her creative writing area.
Today it is difficult, especially for younger people, to understand how traumatic and dangerous the crisis was during this time in American history. There were events surrounding the Great Depression that were devastating, such as suicides of people who lost their life savings from the Stock Market Crash and failure of the capitalist system. Everyday people and families bore the brunt of this failure. Millions were stripped of their possessions, their livelihood, and their dignity. The rich and wealthy alienated themselves from the poor who found themselves living in "hobo jungles" and eating at free soup kitchens.
The brilliant and talented Abigail Breslin portrays Kit, a bright, inquisitive and generous girl, who has the gift of being a natural leader. She can't resist bringing home strays such as a basset hound dog and two young hobos named Will Shepard (Max Thieriot) and Countee (Willow Smith - Will Smith's daughter) who are willing to work for food. Meanwhile, the Kittredge household is filling up with borders while Mr. Kittredge is away. The assortment of people living under this roof range from Jefferson Berk the Magician (Stanley Tucci), a hot dance instructor Miss Dooley (Jane Krakowski) looking for a husband, and a hilariously funny mobile librarian Miss Bond (Joan Cusack). However, Kit's classmate Stirling Howard (Zach Mills) and his mother (Glenne Headly) are also lodging in her home and this brings ridicule by the wealthy schoolmates Kit and Stirling must see everyday. Children can be very cruel. They are taught by their parents who project the same feeling towards their adult counterparts.
This movie winds upright in a good mystery. Abigail Breslin portrays a girl who investigates with fervor, usually dragging her friends into the thick of everything. This young actress is one step behind Dakota Fanning. Joan Cusack, the wacky mobile librarian who has trouble driving safely, was fabulously funny. There are no bounderies in her range of performances. Stanley Tucci, as the magician, was on target. He is always able to capture that sinister character on screen so well, and once again he is great. The stellar cast give great performances in this solid period piece.
Kit Kittredge takes the audience through laughter, tearful moments and strong dramatic scenes; however the film never strayed from the plot line featuring Kit getting a cub reporter job with the local newspaper. The action sequences are introduced when a crime spree hits the city and all the clues point to Will and Countee from "hobo jungle". This is when Kit puts on her Nancy Drew hat and digs up the truth behind the crimes to clear her poor friends. Ultimately, she writes her own scoop and sells her article to the newspaper. It was fascinating to watch how director Patricia Rozema balanced different genres and an all-star cast so well. This is the perfect summer family film.
FILM RATING (A)
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