Catch That Kid (2004) Reviews

• Immensely enjoyable caper with sympathetic as well as adventurer kids

  ma-cortes2006-10-30

  A young girl (Kristen Stewart) and her two teen friends pull off a bank heist for obtaining the cash needed for the operating her ill daddy (Sam Robards) where their mild-mannered mummy (Jennifer Beals) works as a security agent . They encounter complications with a humorous and botcher pair agents (James LeGros) in a robbery developed with imposing tension and intrigue ; it's , of course , the highlight and great climax of the movie . Thus , during the burgle the teens confront perils and risks as high-tech systems , vigilance dogs and she will raise a vault suspended many feet above ground (similar to Tom Cruise in Mission impossible) with the aim to take million of dollars from the safe . The picture displays comedy , action , enjoyable humor and continuous entertainment . Besides , galore kart chases with impressive velocities and pursuits by police cars . The film is a crossover of ¨Topkapi¨ caper, ¨Ocean's eleven¨ heist pirouette and ¨Italian job¨ races but wrapped in adolescent style . Likable acting from Kristen Stewart , Jennifer Beals and Max Thieriot's film debut . The picture contains a lively and jolly musical score by George S. Clinton . The movie was regularly directed by Bart Freudlich and turned out to be a remake of a Danish hit smash titled Klatretøsen . It's a great stuff for schoolboys of all ages though especially for kids and teenagers .

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• "Catch That Kid"- 8/10. Good movie for the family to enjoy.

  movies2u2004-02-10

  Catch That Kid (2004) When this film was released I knew it would get criticism, either by the premise of stealing money, or by it's similarities between Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks. I do not agree that it is like Spy Kids, "Catch That Kid" is a lot better. The movie is about Maddy Phillips (Kristen Stewart- The Panic Room, Cold Creek Manor), who loves to climb. After an accident on Mt. Everest, her Dad becomes paralyzed, and he can get an operation in Denmark for $250,000- but insurance doesn't pay for it. So, Maddy recruits her two best friends, Austin and Gus, to help her rob a high security bank whose security system her mother created. The safe is suspended 100 feet high, and Maddy must overcome her fear of climbing too high, so that she can save her father's life. This movie had some really neat climbing sequences, good action, but it lacked a few laughs. Bart Fruendlich manages the security and heist scenes well, and the film has some pretty odd security devices for the bank. Kristen Stewart is great, she gives a good performance, and her two best friends are also good. The parents are a bit one dimensional, but it doesn't really matter to the kids, which is the audience most likely to be attracted to this movie. When seeing this with your kids, just let them know robbing a bank isn't a good thing, and that it's just a movie. Don't let them take it too seriously, but hey, they're kids. 8/10.

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• I recommend this movie as a fun and touching movie for the whole family to see.

  Rainerosebud2004-04-12

  Catch That Kid, an enjoyable movie for the whole family? I think so. The story is about a young girl named Maddy, a tomboy who loves climbing. Her parents, however, have forbidden her to climb due to an accident her father had had which seriously injured his back. Though he had apparently recovered, something goes wrong which leaves him paralyzed from the neck down. Maddy's mother Molly does everything she can to find the money needed - $250,000 - for an opperation to save him. But there is nothing she can do. Maddy, still determined to save her dad, sees robbing the bank at which her mother is setting up a security system as her only option. She quickly enlists the help of her two best friends - Gus, a go-cart mechanic and Austin, a computer geek - who both happen to be in puppy love with her. What ensues as they make their plan to rob the bank and begin to carry it out is funny, incredibly unrealistic, and touching. Most of the humor comes from the two boys' crush on Maddy, the wannabe actor who works at the bank, and later the fact that Maddy is left in charge of her little brother at the last minute and decides to take him with her to the robbery. I would have liked to see more humor, and the slapstick comedy from the security officer was not very funny. Nevertheless, the movie overall was fun. The movie is unrealistic, but I like it that way, because in reality life is complicated and hard, but in movies everything is possible. I also enjoyed the hi-tech security measures employed at the bank, very nifty. The touching scenes come in where Maddy shows her deep love for her father and learns how very deep her mother's love is for her. The movie did not, however, teach any real moral values. That is, of course, easily remedied by talking to your children about right and wrong and the real consequences of choosing actions you know are wrong. I recommend this movie as a fun movie for the whole family to see together, if only because the kids will definitely love it, but I think the adults will enjoy it too. 8/10

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• Teen heist come fantasy/adventure

  BrandtSponseller2005-02-13

  A U.S. remake of the Danish film Klatretosen (2002), Catch that Kid is a teen heist film, in a nutshell. When Maddy's (Kristen Stewart) dad needs an expensive operation, she plans a heist to get the money to pay for it, enlisting the help of her two equally inventive friends, Austin (Corbin Bleu) and Gus (Max Thieriot). Catch that Kid is a lot of fun, but viewers who are only looking for "realistic" fare may be disappointed. As a teen heist film, Catch that Kid is heavy on the fantasy aspects, which are frequently more cartoonish than realistic. Whether you'll like it will largely depend on whether you don't mind, or even prefer (as I do), fantasy instead of reality in films. And unlike traditional heist films, Catch that Kid has an overarching "warm and fuzzy" message, with a predictable climax and denouement. Even though it is heavy on fantasy elements, the three stars, Stewart, Bleu and Thieriot, are very believable, in context, in their roles. The film is interesting that in spite of being a heist film, it is also constructed like a more traditional fantasy/adventure story. In this interpretation, the bank is as a castle, presided over by an evil ruler. Our heroes must enter the castle stealthily, foiling the court jesters/castle guards, evading the magical beasts to scale the inner sanctum, retrieve the sacred token, escape on horseback and save the true King. That the plot can work in both the modern heist setting and the traditional fantasy/adventure setting gives in more depth and more unconscious resonance with audiences amenable to less realistic tales. Comparisons can easily be made to other recent films such as the Spy Kids series, the Cody Banks series, or even animated fare such as Kim Possible, but each has its particular niche, and Catch that Kid was just as entertaining to me (a middle-aged male) as any heist film for grown-ups. Finally, in a different tone, let me repeat the rant I gave in my review of The Grudge (2004): It is ridiculous that U.S. distributors and studios feel that we need remakes of foreign films to make them appropriate for consumption. The original versions of these films should just be playing in U.S. theaters in wide release. There is no need to present an almost identical film but just substituting white American actors for non-white or foreign actors. Yes, Catch that Kid is a fine film, but ultimately, I'd rather see something original using this talent, and be treated to the latest foreign films--not just European, but Asian, African, etc.--at my multiplex. In the hope that someone with some pull at the studios reads this, it is also more cost-effective to do this, as (1) you can completely avoid production costs, and simply make domestic distribution deals from which you receive profit, and (2) you can make money off of fans like myself who otherwise pick up the foreign film DVDs in foreign manufactured or even bootleg versions.

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• New low in irresponsible film making

  kara-cottle2004-02-06

  Even most adult heist films show that there are consequences for lying, stealing, and endangering the lives of others. But when 12-year-old Maddy engages in all these thing and more in order to rob a bank (for which her mom designed the security system), the slow-witted adults around her are admiring and awed by her nobility. The entire plot premise - Maddy's family can't afford an expensive operation for her dad - is cheap enough to be insulting. Your kids need to see this movie if you want them to learn that: *All authority is bad (not to mention idiotic). *Cops are evil - don't trust them. *It's okay to lie to your parents. *It's okay to lie to your friends. *You're never to young to use sex as a tool to get what you want. *Putting the toddlers you babysit in deadly danger is funny. *All of these are admirable if you come up with the cash. On the positive side, this movie is very entertaining on an 8-year-old level, and I'm sure most children will enjoy it.

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