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.
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
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.
... girls who are into American Girls will find Kit Kittredge to be an enormously pleasing romp with one of their favorite characters.
Kit Kittredge is, as her movie and doll-line assert, An American Girl, and so she'll need to face up to her national history, embrace her responsibility, and learn a useful life lesson to boot.
Three cheers for Kit and for producer Julia Roberts for making this movie everything the devoted fans of the American Girls series hope for.
Frankly, they are lucky to have this cast. Breslin pretty much charms her way through some rough patches, and both Cusack and Tucci provide welcome comic relief.
And any film that plants such ideas in the cultural compost heap should be commended. Here's hoping they bloom.
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.
[The filmmakers] balance the pre-teen frivolity of Kit's adventures with a gentle (and now timely) history lesson about soup kitchens, selling eggs and other symbols of the Great Depression.
The edifying lesson -- that helping others brings out the best in us -- should sit well with everyone.
Breslin keeps her cool and anchors the film in reality each time the camera crosses her face, but she fights a losing battle.
A wholesome, family-friendly adventure so good you have to wonder why nobody seems to make movies like this anymore.
A brand-new chick flick for the pre-teen set, it's sweetly wholesome and unabashedly sentimental.
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'.
A superb family film set in the Depression era that salutes the spiritual values of openness and hospitality in the face of class prejudice.
There's no reason why, if little girls are perfectly capable of enjoying the adventures of Harry Potter, little boys shouldn't be capable of enjoying the adventures of Kit Kittredge...
I think this film is very well-directed, and you have some very funny performances.
Latest News for Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
October 27, 2008:
RT on DVD: Zombie Strippers, Meet Kit Kittredge!
For the week leading up to All Hallow's Eve, there's a surprising dearth of new horror releases hitting DVD. Rest assured, though, titillation and scares can be found in a trio... More...
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:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Hancock shows some attitude at the box office
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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