All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Average User Score: 5 (3 sources)

Submit Movie Review

Review this film

Tell the world what you think of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery

Your Score:

reset score

Write Your Review:
When writing your review, remember to keep the language clean.

Submit Review Cancel

danasdude

-1

Agree (0)

Disagree (0)

Bottom Line at the Top: Decent movie for parents; Boring movie for kids. This is a better movie than its box office results suggest. It is free from all those moments parents usually cringe at when seeing a movie with their children. There are...
[+] Read Full Review

Bottom Line at the Top: Decent movie for parents; Boring movie for kids. This is a better movie than its box office results suggest. It is free from all those moments parents usually cringe at when seeing a movie with their children. There are no passing gas gags like in Charlotte's Web, Underdog, and several other thousands of movies targeted at the pre-teen audience. However, those "parental cringe" moments are precisely the ones the kids love. The mistake here was in marketing. It should have been targeted to the Hallmark Channel crowd instead of the Disney/Nickelodean folks. This one is more Shirley Temple than Miley Cyrus.

[-] Minimize Review

Report Abuse

Posted jul 13, 2008 2:11 am pt

• [+] Christian Science Monitor
  
  91
  Preteen girls - and not just those who are already American Girl fanatics - should be entranced. And why not? Not many movies for that audience are as respectful as is this one.

  by Peter Rainer | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  88
  One of the 10 best American movies released so far this year, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is the surprisingly satisfying first theatrical film inspired by a long-running series of historically themed dolls.

  by Lou Lumenick | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  88
  Just about perfect for its target audience, and more than that. It has a great look, engaging performances, real substance and even a few whispers of political ideas, all surrounding the freshness and charm of Abigail Breslin, who was 11 when it was filmed.

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  83
  A smart, playful, informative pleasure.

  by Lisa Schwarzbaum | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  80
  Anchored by a fine performance from Abigail Breslin, this wholesome, engaging entertainment offers something for viewers ages 7 to 107.

  by Lael Loewenstein | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  80
  Offers solid, kid-friendly storytelling.

  by Sheri Linden | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  75
  It's fun, fast-paced, educational entertainment that's fit for the whole family -- American boys included.

  by Ken Fox | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  75
  Much as she did in "Little Miss Sunshine," Breslin imbues Kit with joy.

  by Ruthe Stein | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  75
  The period ambience, comforting yet urgent, is the best part of Kit Kittredge - that and Breslin, who never once gets actressy.

  by Ty Burr | Read Full Review »
• [+] Miami Herald
  
  75
  A thoroughly satisfying and engaging children's picture that never forgets those kids probably didn't get to the theater by themselves.

  by Rene Rodriguez | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  70
  A crime wave gives the heroine a mystery to solve and provides most of the comedy, but the film is stronger in its dramatic stretches.

  by Andrea Gronvall | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  70
  In Kit's world the absent father (a familiar theme from girls' novels including "Little Women" and "A Little Princess") is an epidemic, and the picture makes this the impetus for children's resourcefulness and emotional development.

  by Jeannette Catsoulis | Read Full Review »
• [+] Wall Street Journal
  
  70
  It's not only fresh and unassuming, but a film that serves, very nicely, the severely underserved audience of young girls.

  by Joe Morgenstern | Read Full Review »
• [+] Los Angeles Times
  
  70
  This can be strong stuff for kids, but the film's humanistic approach preaches tolerance and hope.

  by Michael Ordona | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  67
  It's an unashamedly old-fashioned and richly visualized evocation of a time when values were key, trust in your neighbor complete, and a way of life that should be simple is made unfathomably complex because of economic hardship.

  by Paula Nechak | Read Full Review »