MPAA Rating: G for general audiences
Recommended for ages 5 and up.
Run Time: 91 minutes
Quick Take: Little girls -- and their dolls -- can't find fault with this American girl. Thanks to high-spirited, still wholesome fun, adults will have a hard time resisting this pint-sized chick flick, too.
The Story: Budding ace reporter (and American Girl doll) Kit Kittredge lives in Depression-era Cincinnati where times are tough and foreclosures among the well-to-do are common. When the family business goes under, Pa Kittredge leaves for Chicago to find work, while mother and daughter make do at home taking in wacky boarders including a dance instructor, a mobile librarian, and a magician. When a crime spree labels hobos the bad guys, cub-reporter Kit and friends set out to find the real culprit and earn Kit her first official byline.
Good If You Liked: Newsies, Captain January, Pollyanna
Heads Up: Not much. Even a treehouse club bonding ritual -- usually achieved through some sort of blood-brother thing -- was lightened with a water-bowl initiation. There's one allusion to an un-G-rated idea (Stanley Tucci's magician answers a question about whether he's ever levitated a dance instructor with, "Once, but that's another story.") and curious kids will want to know what's so funny. The theme of financial woe was not lost on the kids, and many came out asking questions about the Depression.
Related features:
What a Doll! A Wholesome Family Film, Kit is Anything But Plastic
It's no surprise that a movie based on a doll from the American Girl collection would be heartwarming.
What may be a surprise is that it's good. Very good. So good, in fact, you may forget you're watching a film based on a toy.
The very definition of "good clean fun" (there should be a picture of Kit in the encyclopedia for this entry), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is earnest down to its well-worn Mary Janes. The heroine is plucky. The 1930s fixings -- suspenders, floral dresses and rolled knit flapper caps -- are pristine. Heck, the bad guy practically twirls his mustache. Absent is today's cinematic cynicism, replaced by a breath-of-fresh-air sincerity that is so, well, heartwarming, you'll be expecting Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney to come and put on a show.
Even better, it all works. Genuine suspense shares equal time with earnestness, and the audience (generally three generations -- mothers, daughters and daughters' Kit Kittredge dolls) sigh, gasp, laugh, and clap in all the right places, generating a group vibe that one can only imagine mirrors those old-time serials. All that's missing is the player piano.
Admittedly, Kit is a little on the idealistic side. Goings-on in the Kittredge boarding house often look more like the Catskills circa Dirty Dancing than a Cincinnati suburb during the Depression; even the hobos are freshly scrubbed. Still, the direness of the Depression gets its due, most effectively in the face of a loveably droopy dog threatened with homelessness. The ending may seem a little tidy, but good luck keeping a dry eye.
Consider yourself warmed.
Kids Will Like:
Not surprisingly, Kit is a movie that largely appeals to girls -- a pint-sized chick flick. There are some slapstick-y moments, like best friend and Kittredge boarder Sterling, who faints when stressed out. And everybody liked animal cameos by a mischievous monkey and adorable basset hound. Mostly, girls were impressed with Kit herself. Said 8-year-old Anna, "I liked the way she was all spirit-y and never gave up."
Parents Will Like:
The movie's gentle heart belies genuine suspense and surprises. And, Kit is the rare film the whole family can enjoy together without any squirmy moments. "I liked the way the bad guy was G-rated," said Suzanne, who brought along a couple of kids and dolls.
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