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Back Shelf Beauties
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Catch That Kid Catch That Kid may be the most offensive movie I have ever seen, and it doesn't have any nudity, curse words or Janet Jackson. Kristen Stewart stars as Maddy - a 12-year old who shares her father's (Sam Robards) love of climbing, even though she is forbidden from doing so after he sustained injuries in a 100-foot fall while climbing Mount Everest (because that's what Dad's do, right?). He thought that he had been through the worst of it, but Tom suddenly becomes paralyzed, and only a $250,000 experimental operation in Denmark might be able to restore his ability to walk. Maddy is heartbroken, but she's a go-getter who comes up with a plan. It turns out that her Mom, Molly (Jennifer Beals), is a security expert installing a new super-high-tech system in a major bank. Luckily, the bank has lots of money stored in its safe, which (get this) is suspended 100 feet off the floor, so Maddy and her pals, Austin (Corbin Bleu) and Gus (Max Thieriot), come up with a plan to steal the necessary $250,000. Can they get their homework done and rob a bank all in the same night? I am not one who jumps up to scream about a movie sending the wrong message or having a negative effect on society (since they're just movies), but I have to make an exception here. Catch That Kid, a CHILDREN'S movie, shows blatant disregard for any sense of right and wrong. Over the past year, we have seen a major increase in the number of movies that reward illegal behavior (Out of Time, Paycheck, The Perfect Score, The Big Bounce, and more). However, Catch That Kid goes one step too far by telling kids that it's OK to steal if you want the money for what you deem to be a good reason. These kids don't even lose their television privileges in this movie! Let's count the number of times these kids do something wrong, yet, don't get punished: First, they are robbing a bank, which still is considered stealing and against the law last time I checked. Second, Maddy uses her feminine wiles (for what they're worth at 12-years old) to emotionally seduce Gus and Austin to help her rob the bank, which must make Mom and Dad proud, and teaches girls everywhere that sex is the answer to getting what you want in life (let these girls figure that out in college like generations of women before them). Third, she brings along her 2-year old brother on the heist and exposes him to all sorts of danger instead of babysitting him that night (they even get him toddler's first cat burglar suit, which must be a new item at Baby Gap). I'm sure Mom and Dad would love to hear about baby's adventure getting chased by vicious dogs and cruising the streets in a high speed chase. Fourth, their plan includes kidnapping Dad and taking him to Denmark for the surgery because he can't physically stop them from doing so, and, somehow, he's supposed to go along with the idea once he sees the "wisdom" in it. In the last year, Hollywood movies have tried to tell us that it's OK to steal if you need the money, want the money, you're stealing it from bad people, or you're taking it from rich people. I don't like it when this message is floated in movies that have PG-13 and R ratings, but it is despicable when you do so in a movie made for and targeted to kids. Adults can recognize that these are just movies, but kids aren't that smart. This is why we don't let them drive until they are 16, and they can't vote or serve in the military until they're 18. It's bad enough that we have many real life examples in society where people are rewarded for doing something wrong, do we really need movies to make the case as well? On top of everything else, Catch That Kid stinks! Writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas (based on a Danish film) have created a ridiculous story complete with an ending that is a sickening hybrid between It's a Wonderful Life and an 80's sit-com. Too often, they rely on convenient, unbelievable plot twists and character actions that come out of nowhere just to make the stupid story work, like how Maddy figures out how to climb the 100 feet to the safe or how the bank manager reacts to the robbery attempt. We even get the moment WE ALL SEE COMING when Maddy tries to figure out the password to the safe, and is touched by the revelation. Director Bart Freundlich doesn't do much better. He does a horrible job at shooting the action scenes including blurry go cart chases with the police and guard dogs chasing the pre-teen burglars. I realize that he must edit separate footage together to make it look real, but the camera is continually shaking and unable to focus on the actors as they run or drive. It's incompetent. Catch That Kid is offensive, badly made and horribly conceived. If you care about your children, stay away from this at all costs. 0 Waffles (Out of 4) Rated: PG Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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