If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Review: Catch That Kid (*)
CATCH THAT KID
A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2004 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * In Bart Freundlich's CATCH THAT KID, three 12-year-olds, Maddy (Kristen Stewart), Austin (Corbin Bleu) and Gus (Max Thieriot), commit a big crime but for a good cause. They rob the bank where Maddy's mom (Jennifer Beals) works as a security consultant so that her dad (Sam Robards), who once climbed Mount Everest, can have the expensive operation that he needs in order to recover the use of his legs. The underwritten movie is low on energy and even lower on logic. A kids' crime caper doesn't have to have this many needless logical flaws. Stewart, the smart young actress from PANIC ROOM, is never believable as the mastermind behind the heist who isn't intelligent enough to realize that, if she comes home with a suitcase stuffed with cash, her parents will never let her keep it. The implausibilities of the story go on and on. The bank manager, for example, lets Maddy see the master security code for the entire facility. And the overblown set decoration make the bank's ultra-high tech interior look like the spitting image of the inside of the Death Star from STAR WARS. All of this could be forgiven if the film was funny, which it isn't. Our screening, packed with kids of all ages, found very little to amuse them. There are, however, many lines that are laughably bad. The script's low point occurs when the bank's president (Michael Des Barres in bad imitation of Terence Stamp) refuses to grant the $250,000 loan that Maddy's mother needs for the big operation. "A bank has no heart -- only paper in its vault," he tells her with a drop-dead sneer. This continues the long tradition of film writers who fall back on the evil big businessman cliché when they get writer's block. The movie does have one decent joke. When the kids set off the security alarm during a fancy dress party at the bank, the female voice of the security system announces on the overhead speakers, "Security breached. Do something. Do something now. Anything." The film's most perceptive line occurs towards the end when one of the characters asks, "Are you buying any of this?" Absolutely not. Nor should any kid or adult with at least half a brain. CATCH THAT KID runs 1:34. It is rated PG for "some language, thematic elements and rude humor" and would be acceptable for kids of all ages. The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, February 6, 2004. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters. Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com Email: ************************************************** ********************* Want free reviews and weekly movie and video recommendations via Email? Just send me a letter with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Review: Disney's Teacher's Pet (**) | Steve Rhodes | General | 0 | January 17th 04 11:46 PM |
Review: My Baby's Daddy (* 1/2) | Steve Rhodes | General | 0 | January 15th 04 05:03 AM |
Review: Radio (***) | Steve Rhodes | General | 0 | October 22nd 03 10:25 PM |
Review: Lost in Translation (*** 1/2) | Steve Rhodes | General | 0 | September 6th 03 01:24 AM |
Review: Freddy Vs. Jason (* 1/2) | Costa | General | 0 | August 15th 03 10:53 AM |