| Kit Kittredge: An American Girl | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Patricia Rozema |
| Produced by | Julia Roberts (executive) |
| Written by | Ann Peacock |
| Starring | Abigail Breslin Chris O'Donnell Julia Ormond Max Thieriot Jane Krakowski Wallace Shawn Glenne Headly Joan Cusack Stanley Tucci |
| Music by | Joseph Vitarelli |
| Cinematography | David Boyd |
| Editing by | Julie Rogers |
| Studio | New Line Cinema HBO Films Picturehouse Films American Girl Movies |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 20, 2008 (limited) July 2, 2008 (general) |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 |
| Box office | $17,657,973 |
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Rozema. The screenplay by Ann Peacock (based on the Kit Kittredge stories by Valerie Tripp) focuses on the American Girl character Kit Kittredge, who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio during the Great Depression. The film is the first in the American Girl film series to have a theatrical release; the first three were television movies. Julia Roberts served as one of the executive producers here (as she did with the TV movies).
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In June 1934, Kit Kittredge (Abigail Breslin) is determined to become a reporter, and she writes articles on the typewriter in her attic while drama unfolds beneath her. The mortgage on her house is about to be foreclosed because her father (Chris O'Donnell) lost his car dealership and couldn't keep up with the payments. He has gone to Chicago, Illinois to search for work, and to make some income her mother (Julia Ormond) takes in an odd assortment of boarders, including magician Mr. Berk (Stanley Tucci), dance instructor Miss Dooley (Jane Krakowski), and mobile library driver Miss Bond (Joan Cusack). Locally there have been reports of muggings and robberies supposedly committed by hobos. Kit investigates and meets young Will (Max Thieriot) and Countee (Willow Smith), who live in a hobo jungle near the Ohio River and Erie Lackawanna Railway. Kit writes a story about the camp and tries to sell it to Mr. Gibson (Wallace Shawn), the mean editor of the Cincinnati newspaper, but he has no interest in the subject. She adopts a dog, her mother buys chickens, and Kit sells their eggs. Then a locked box containing her mother's treasures is stolen, and a footprint with a star matching the one on Will's boot is discovered, making him the prime suspect. The sheriff goes to find Will and Countee. However, Will and Countee have left the hobo jungle. It's up to Kit and her friends Stirling (Zach Mills) and Ruthie (Madison Davenport) to gather enough evidence to prove that Will is innocent and Mr. Berk is the guilty party. Kit becomes a local hero. They found out that Countee has been pretending to be a boy. On Thanksgiving the hobos bring food to Kit's mother and Kit's father returns home. Mr. Gibson arrives to show Kit she is in print in Cincinnati's major daily newspaper.
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of January 2, 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 96 reviews, and that 96% of top critics gave positive reviews (all but one review in that section was positive), and gave it a golden tomato for best kids film of 2008.[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 63 out of 100, based on 27 reviews.[2]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, "It has a great look, engaging performances, real substance and even a few whispers of political ideas",[3] and in the New York Times, Jeannette Catsoulis said, "this classy, heart-on-its-sleeve movie is packed with laudable life lessons."[4] Elizabeth Weitzman of the New York Daily News called it "resolutely old-fashioned" and thought "the script feels a little stiff and moralistic at times," but added, "it's hard to fault a film with such an intelligent, good-hearted heroine." [5] Megan Basham of World Magazine said, "Even if young fans can't relate the struggles in the movie to their own life, Kit still offers more than the shows and movies typically aimed at the tween girl market. Besides the simple educational value of giving them a picture to connect with their history lessons, the film also focuses on more significant themes than the materialism and prettiness championed."
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on October 28, 2008, the only special feature being American Girl trailers.
There are also enhanced DVD-ROM features including an HBO First Look and deleted scenes.
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