A toy-industry phenomenon comes to the big screen in “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” a spin-off from a popular line of dolls and books. If “Pirates of the Caribbean” can make a mint from an amusement park ride, I guess “Kit Kittredge” can be inspired by a doll.
Since 1986, the American Girl doll line has offered dolls with distinctive characters, their elaborate backstories detailed in books and other ancillary products.
Three made-for-TV movies (like this one, co-produced by Julia Roberts) have preceded the leap to the multiplex. One of the notable aspects of the series is the way the dolls are related to different historical periods: the American Revolution, World War II, the era of slavery.
Kind of a lot for a doll to carry, and the “Kit Kittredge” movie continues that spirit. Our heroine, played by the inevitable Abigail Breslin (from “Little Miss Sunshine”), is a plucky Cincinnati girl who dreams of being a reporter.
The year is 1934, so Kit’s family and friends are all affected by the Great Depression, and early in “KK” her father (Chris O’Donnell) goes off to find work after being laid off. Kit’s mom (Julia Ormond) takes in boarders at their house, an influx that gives Kit more than enough to write about.
Not only that, but there’s a hobo jungle not far away. Meeting the homeless gives Kit a new perspective on the have-nots in her community.
This film, directed by the experienced Patricia Rozema (“Mansfield Park”), has all the satisfying characters of a young-adult novel, including the eccentrics who move in at Kit’s house (a respectable cast includes Stanley Tucci, Joan Cusack and Jane Krakowski).
Breslin, her hair dyed blond for this one, is of course a capable young heroine. How she inhabits the particular nuances of the doll version of Kit Kittredge, I can’t really say.
The movie never violates its G rating, but neither does it shy away from painting a picture of the Depression as something that affected the lives of everybody, not just an unfortunate few.
Rozema has said that she was attracted to the material because it presents an alternative to the well-worn saga of girls wanting to be princesses and “having it all.” In that sense, “Kit Kittredge” is a success.
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