A fine film: for children and adults.
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:98
Fresh:77
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Refreshingly sweet and sincere, Kit's doll-and-book-inspired do-good mystery may be geared towards the tween girl but will please audiences of all ages.
Genre: Childrens
US Box Office: $17,533,514
Synopsis:
In the first feature film based on the hugely popular American Girl® book series, Oscar® nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) stars as a resourceful young girl whose bravery, compassion...
In the first feature film based on the hugely popular American Girl® book series, Oscar® nominee Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) stars as a resourceful young girl whose bravery, compassion and determination help her solve a mystery that saves her family’s home during the Great Depression. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is directed by Patricia Rozema (Mansfield Park) from a screenplay by Ann Peacock (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe). The film’s all-star ensemble cast includes two-time Oscar nominee Joan Cusack (In & Out, Working Girl), Glenne Headly (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Tony Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Jane Krakowski (“Ally McBeal”), Golden Globe nominee Chris O’Donnell (Batman & Robin), Julia Ormond (Legends of the Fall), Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride) and two-time Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada).
Aspiring reporter Kit Kittredge can’t resist bringing home strays, whether it’s Grace, an abandoned basset hound or Will and Countee, a pair of young hobos willing to trade work for meals. Bright, inquisitive and generous, Kit is a natural born leader. But her happy childhood is abruptly interrupted when her father (Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and must leave Cincinnati to look for work. Kit and her mother Margaret (Julia Ormond) are left to manage on their own, growing vegetables, selling eggs and even taking in an assortment of boarders including an itinerant magician (Stanley Tucci), a vivacious dance instructor on the prowl for a husband (Jane Krakowski) and a zany mobile librarian (Joan Cusack).
When a crime spree sweeps Cincinnati, all signs point to the local “hobo jungle,” where Will and Countee live with a group of their impoverished companions. Kit, who always has her antennae out for a good news story, convinces her new friends to take her to see the hobo camp for herself and writes an article that creates a sympathetic portrait of the camp’s residents. But when Kit’s mother and their boarders become the latest victims in a string of robberies, Kit’s loyalties are tested. Will is accused of the crimes and, with all of their savings gone, the Kittredges face losing their house to foreclosure. Determined to recover the stolen money and believing Will is innocent, Kit recruits her friends Ruthie (Madison Davenport) and Stirling (Zach Mills) to help her track down the real culprit. Together they uncover a plot that goes far beyond Cincinnati!
--© Picturehouse
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Starring: Abigail Breslin, Stanley Tucci, Julia Ormond, Joan Cusack
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Stanley Tucci, Julia Ormond, Joan Cusack, Glenne Headly, Jane Krakowski, Chris O'Donnell, Wallace Shawn, Madison Davenport, Zach Mills, Willow Smith, Max Thieriot
Director: Patricia Rozema
Director: Patricia Rozema
Screenwriter: Ann Peacock
Producer: Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, Lisa Gillan, Ellen L. Brothers, Julie Goldstein
Composer: Joseph Vitarelli
Studio: Picturehouse
Reviews for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
When I have children, this is the kind of movie I hope they will like. It's intelligent, it's meaningful, and it doesn't condescend to kids. In fact, it actually encourages kids to think.
This tale of a little girl's determination and grit during the Depression is an honest-to-goodness family movie, one that parents and children can enjoy equally and together.
The packaging looks good for the most part. But there's still some assembly required.
With all the good will in the world, I couldn't warm up to Kit Kittredge. The movie is like a 1930s or 1940s short about Americans pulling together, stretched out to feature length.
The movie respects its young audience, it has a keen appreciation for what it means to be a child in a troubled world, and it knows that there's plenty to be said for the optimism that comes with innocence.
Kit Kittredge is a film you walk out of and say, "Well, that was ok." Then you move on with your life.
Three cheers for Kit and for producer Julia Roberts for making this movie everything the devoted fans of the American Girls series hope for.
There's nothing remotely cool about Kit Kittredge. That's why it's cool.
No great shakes, but if it brings a few smiles to the younger audience members and some instant additions to their dollhouses, it will have achieved everything it set out to do.
Kit Kittredge is one of the best kid's movies to come out in years. For a moment anyway, this film made me desperately want to be a kid again.
Kit Kittredge is hopelessly vanilla entertainment, and while it's sure to please some matinee attendees, it's going to feel like a demonic endurance ritual to the less inclined.
Breslin keeps her cool and anchors the film in reality each time the camera crosses her face, but she fights a losing battle.
The edifying lesson -- that helping others brings out the best in us -- should sit well with everyone.
Considering that it is inspired by one of the dolls in the American Girl product line, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is some kind of a miracle: an actually good movie.
I predict with great confidence that the big-screen debut of the American Girl brand will be a resounding success. This rosy prediction is based partly on the fact that Kit Kittredge is a solidly made movie...and partly on the fact that the America
The first feature film based on the highly popular American Girl book series -- there have already been three made-for-television American Girl movies -- plays out like a sweet-souled Nancy Drew mystery.
Latest News for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
October 27, 2008:
RT on DVD: Zombie Strippers, Meet Kit Kittredge!
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October 22, 2008:
A gem of a girl power tale for audiences of all genders, big and small, about a diminutive pre-feminist with a nose for news and an aversion to glass ceilings and the word 'no'. ![]()
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July 06, 2008:
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Despite a critical panning, Hancock scores at the Box Office. More...
July 04, 2008:
Review Revue: Kit Kittredge Edges Hancock in Battle for Critics' Hearts
This week, box office dynamo Will Smith goes head to head with tweener tyke Abigail Breslin. But is Hancock's reluctant superhero routine any match for the intrepid adventures... More...
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