| Catch That Kid! | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Bart Freundlich |
| Produced by | Andrew Lazar Uwe Schott |
| Written by | Michael Brandt Derek Haas |
| Starring | Kristen Stewart Corbin Bleu Max Thieriot Jennifer Beals Sam Robards |
| Music by | George S. Clinton |
| Cinematography | Julio Macat |
| Editing by | Stuart Levy |
| Distributed by | Fox 2000 Pictures |
| Release date(s) | February 6, 2004 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$12 million[1] |
| Box office | US$16,930,762[1] |
Catch That Kid! is a 2004 American adventure comedy film directed by Bart Freundlich. It is a remake of the Danish blockbuster Klatretøsen (2002). The movie's working titles were Mission Without Permission (also the film's UK title as well as part of one of the taglines), Catch That Girl, and Catch That Kid!
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Madeline Rose "Maddy" Phillips (Kristen Stewart) is a 12-year old girl who loves to climb. Her father, Tom (Sam Robards), has climbed Mount Everest, so it runs in the family. Several years earlier, Tom fell more than 100 feet during a climb, and because her parents are afraid she might hurt herself, they have ordered Maddy not to climb. Tom had some internal injuries from that earlier fall, which he didn't know, and now the injury has paralyzed him from the neck down. There is an experimental operation, costing $250,000, which can save him. Insurance won't pay for the operation, and the family doesn't have the money. Brisbane (Michael Des Barres) refuses to loan the amount and does so by putting loopholes in a contract Maddy's mother Molly Phillips (Jennifer Beals) signed (he's really trying to avoid loaning any money at all). When asked if he has a heart, Brisbane coldy responds, "This is not an emotional issue, Mrs. Phillips. A bank has no heart. Only paper in a vault". That is when Maddy first gets the idea to rob the bank.
Maddy steals three go-carts from her father and convinces her two friends, Gus (Max Thieriot) and Austin (Corbin Bleu), to help her. They remain hesitant, so she tells both of them that she loves him and doesn't care for the other, and gives half of her friendship necklace to each of them, claiming she has the other half and kissing them both. They break into Harderbach Financial, a bank in which Molly had begun to work for, creating a security system. They manage to break in, but with her mother at the hospital visiting their father, she is forced to babysit her younger brother, Max (Grant Hayden Scott and Sean Avery Scott). She and Gus progress to a room with thousands of security deposit boxes while Austin keeps the guards away from them. Maddy has to free climb to get to the exit when her hook gets caught in a crack when using the handhelds. She cracks the code, finding it is Madeline, and they flee the room, unintentionally setting off the alarm as they didn't type the exit code. While escaping from the guard dogs, at which point Austin demonstrates his dog-training skills, the trio is caught by Gus' brother, who tasers his partner (and then himself, though accidentally) after understanding the situation. However, just before escaping, Gus and Austin find out that Maddy played them after seeing each others' necklaces.
The two hop into their go carts, trailed by the police, but Austin holds all the cash in his cart, running out of gas. He then leaps into Gus' cart, and they escape to the hospital. They rejoin with Maddy in time to disable police cruisers by popping the tires with jacks. When Mrs. Phillips arrives, Brisbane attempts to pass all the blame on her, but ultimately, he is rejected by a French man named Francois, who says Brisbane's irresponsibility of having a party with an untested security system is a knucklehead move. Meanwhile, the kids make it to the hospital. However, they are caught up to by Maddy's mother, the bank security, the police, and the press. Maddy's mother then takes responsibility, saying that this was an authorized test for the bank's security. The following morning, Mrs. Phillips says what Maddy did was wrong, but apologizes, as it was her overprotection that started all the trouble in the first place. The press sympathizes with them, allowing them to hold a fundraiser the day after, earning enough money for Maddy's father's surgery. Even a friend named Mr. Hartman (who displays his like of acting throughout the movie) gives a free loan of $50,000 (as Brisbane's irresponsibility got him thrown out, Hartman is now the president of the bank). At the go cart rally after the operation, Gus and Austin make Maddy decide who she loves. She sniffs both of them and causes a debate between them. While they do so, she backs away, and they run after her saying who's the better boyfriend, and the movie ends.
Catch That Kid opened at #6 in the weekend of February 6, 2004 raking in $5,824,860 in its first opening weekend. The film spent two weeks at the U.S. box office top ten.
Catch That Kid was panned by critics, garnering an 11% "rotten" approval rating on reviews aggregrating website Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Most reviews took aim at the film's questionable morals and lack of originality, comparing it unfavorably to the [[Spy Kids trilogy]]. Despite the negative reviews, Roger Ebert of Ebert & Roeper and the Chicago Sun Times gave Catch That Kid "thumbs up", stating that it is much fun as Spy Kids and more fun than Agent Cody Banks.
A novelization of the story was released in conjunction with the film. The novel was written by American fantasy and science fiction author Suzanne Weyn.
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