Kit Kittredge, An American Girl
By Marshall Fine
Rating:
Who's in it: Abigail Breslin, Julia Ormond, Chris O'Donnell
What's it about: A young girl in Cincinnati tries to help her mother hang on to the family house during the Great Depression.
Resonant: Does this sound familiar: an economy in the tank, a wave of home foreclosures, a wholesale fear of a menace that distracts people from their real problems. It's all here in this surprisingly entertaining movie, based on a character from the "American Girl" doll and book line. The bank is taking away peoples' homes - but everyone blames the homeless hoboes for what's going wrong in town. Can young Kit (Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine") keep her family home safe, while showing that hoboes are people too? Breslin makes Kit spunky without making her sappy; she's a loyal, resourceful girl who sees life clearly and finds ways to get her problems solved. Stanley Tucci is funny as one of the boarders Kit's mother takes in to make ends meet.
Long story short: Kit is a go-getter that girls will love.
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