DVD Reviews

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Nov 12, 2008, 15:15 GMT

Aspiring reporter Kit Kittredge can’t resist bringing home strays, whether it’s Grace, an abandoned basset hound, or Will (Max Thieriot of JUMPER) and Countee (Willow Smith), a pair of young hobos willing to trade work for meals. Bright, inquisitive and generous, Kit is a natural born leader. But her happy childhood is abruptly interrupted when her father (Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and must leave Cincinnati to look for ...more

Abigail Breslin stars as an American Girl living through the Great Depression in this big screen adaptation of the popular line of dolls and books.

It’s 1934 and the Great Depression is hitting Cincinnati, Ohio hard. At first Kit only sees that her neighbor’s house gets foreclosed and her friends have to move away. Things hit closer to home when her father Jack (Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and has to go to Chicago to see if there’s any work.

This leaves Kit and her mother Margaret (Julia Ormond) to keep the home fires burning and make ends meet. To this end, Margaret takes in an assortment of boarders.

Mr. Beck (Stanley Tucci) is a magician, Miss Dooley (Jane Krakoswki) is a dance instructor, and Miss Bond (Joan Cusack) is a mobile librarian that can’t seem to drive very well, as well as boarding local Mrs. Howard (Glenne Headly) and her son Stirling (Zach Mills).

Kit is also trying to do her part by trying to get her articles published in the Cincinnati paper, but the gruff editor Mr. Gibson (Wallace Shawn) says that her articles need work. Inconceivable!

Margaret offers to feed young hobos Will (Max Thieriot) and Countee (Willow Smith) if they’ll do work around the house. However, when some valuables get stolen the blame falls on the hobos and it’s up to Kit to find out who stole them and clear Will and Countee’s good names.

The first thing that I thought when watching this cute feature was that how many of the intended audience would even know what the Great Depression was. As I hear more about layoffs and business closings in the media, I ponder if they’ll get to learn about it firsthand. That might be too much of a horror film than this bouncy adventure of an American Girl.

The American Girl line started as a series of dolls that has blossomed into books and other items. There have been other films but they’ve been consigned to direct to home video releases.

Kit Kittredge was the first in line to get a theatrical release as well as having an upcoming child star like Abigail Breslin in the lead role. The first part of the film deals with a child’s eye view of the Depression and the second part of the film is a mystery about some purloined valuables.

The mystery isn’t exactly hard to figure out and I spotted the culprits early on. However, I don’t fault the film for trying to put forth a wholesome heroine that little girls can look up to.

This G-rated excursion is just good family fun. There are some fun supporting turns by Tucci, Cusack, and not so inconceivably Shawn. The film looks very bright and cheery on Blu-ray and not at all glum for being set in the Great Depression.

Kit Kittredge is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). Special features include a 1 minute American Girl trailer gallery for some of the other releases as well as a digital copy for your PC or portable device.

Kit Kittredge is a fun film that the gals in your house will enjoy. It offers a somewhat cheery version of the Great Depression but also offers some solid family entertainment. Where the disc disappoints is in the special features department as it would’ve been nice to have some historical documentaries or more about the American Girl line.