I have been seeing previews for Disney’s WALL-E since way before Christmas. Touted as the big Disney summer animated movie, I had a feeling my little one would be excited to see it. It looked fairly cute, a small robot in futuristic times who was left behind on a deserted planet. For some reason, though, I wasn’t all that excited to see it- the coloring looked drab and the characters seemed a little overdone for my tastes, but I’ll sacrifice seeing The Happening for my four year old at least once! For whatever reason, my daughter bailed on WALL-E and decided since there weren’t any "real" people in the movie, she didn’t want to see it. We both agreed on Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. We were pleasantly surprised at the great performances and interesting storyline provided by a movie based on a doll.

Apparently, American Girl dolls are a pretty big thing. I remember more than 10 years ago, my baby sister absolutely had to have an American Girl doll and very quickly her room became inundated with the brand. America Girls are different characters from different Americana eras, each with there own set of stories and details about what life was like during the time that they are from. Kit Kittredge is a young girl (I’m guessing about 10 years old) from the Depression Era of the 30s. While I was expecting a fun, light movie about a young girl and her treehouse adventures, based on the G-Rating, I was quite surprised at the often serious tones of the movie. While there was nothing extremely compelling about seeing Kit Kittredge: An American Girl on the big screen, if you are looking for a good summer movie that is appropriate for the entire family, then this is your movie.

Abigail Breslin, in my opinion, is way cuter than Dakota Fanning ever was, but I’m sure the two young child stars have been compared. A talented actress who has the capacity to be slightly annoying, Breslin was cute and at times a little overbearing, but I found her to be pretty believable, aside from her unmoving blonde hair that was only a little unnatural looking.

Breslin plays the title character, Kit, a young girl with a desire to become a reporter in Cincinnati. As her family deals with a financial crisis from the Great Depression, Kit struggles to maintain her sense of upscale carefree life. Her parents, played by the beautiful Julia Ormond and Chris O’Donnell are believable as the hard hit family not so different from many others during the depression- unemployed, and "one step away from the poor house". Other fun characters were played by Stanley Tucci, always a favorite, Joan Cusak, another fantastic performer and a new favorite, Zach Mills from Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.

The story revolved around Kit and what her family had to go through to survive through the trying times. As many people became unemployed and homeless, drifters- otherwise known as Hobos were a central focus of the plot. Hobos were supposed to be thought of as troublemakers and criminals; however Kit and her family showed another side to the hobos- as those in need of help in a troubled time.

Although Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was rated G, my four year old got a little bored at times and clearly didn’t take in all of the serious tones throughout the movie. Realizing that there probably wasn’t a whole lot to smile about during the Great Depression, I still wished that there were a few more light moments in the movie, perhaps a few extra laughs for the younger audience members’ sakes. The previews were a bit misleading, where I thought Kit Kittredge was going to be more about a young girl trying to realize her dreams of becoming a reporter, with a bit of younger humor throughout. Instead, that was perhaps some of Kit’s motivating force, but the overall tone was kind of depressing- an interesting story to be released in today’s times, where financial woes seem to be on the rise.

Overall, I would recommend this movie as one to rent, as the acting was good and the storyline was interesting enough. If you have any children who really like the American Girl dolls and stories, especially if they have followed the Kit Kittredge story, then this may be one to pay the matinee price to see on the big screen. Certainly, it is all ages appropriate, with a good moral to boot.




Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Family Movie