Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

"Mansfield Park" director Patricia Rozema delivers a prudently nostalgic depression-era dramedy about 11-year-old Kit Kittredge (well played by the irrepressible Abigail Breslin) of the American Girl book series. Kit wants to write editorial essays about the Great Depression from a "kid’s-eye-view" for her local Cincinnati newspaper. The dire 1934 economic crisis comes home to roost when her father (played by Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership and leaves his family to look for work in Chicago. Kit befriends a couple of child hobos named Will and Countee who take her on a tour of their homeless existence, while Kit’s mom (well played by Julia Ormond) opens the family’s house to boarders in order to keep up their mortgage payments. A rash of burglaries points to Kit’s friend Will as the prime suspect, and she sets out to solve the crimes with the help of her two best friends. A talented cast that includes Joan Cusack and Stanley Tucci, elevate the movie above its after-school-special limitations.

Rated G, 100 mins. (B)

Speed Racer

The Wachowski Brothers achieve a divine vision of psychedelic visual ecstasy--you won’t believe the sheer amount of color on the screen at any given time—while digging deep into a campy comic/dramatic tone that works for audiences of all ages. Emile Hirsch leads a flawless cast as the title character who carries the death of his car-racing brother Rex Racer as a constant inspiration to win races for his family’s racing business. Anti-corporate themes abound as the sport’s predatory company Royalton Industries tries to bring Speed and his family to the dark side of greed. Far-out racing sequences, ninja attacks, and a budding romance between Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (perfectly played by Christina Ricci) attend the trippy visual fun. Like a revved-up turbo mix of Warren Beatty’s "Dick Tracy" with 1982’s "Tron," "Speed Racer" is a blast from start to finish.

Rated PG (A) (Five Stars)

Nim's Island

Based on Wendy Orr’s youthful feminized spin on Robinson Crusoe, "Nim’s Island" is a low-key adventure comedy for preteens that will touch the hearts of their gooey-eyed parents. Abigail Breslin plays Nim, the daughter of Jack Rusoe (played by Gerard Butler), a scientist slash writer who’s made an idyllic life for them on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. When she isn’t frolicking with her wild animal friends, Nim reads Alex Rover adventure novels written by Alexandra Rover (played by Jodie Foster), an agoraphobic San Francisco author. Nim gets a double dose of trouble when her dad’s two-day boating expedition leaves him stranded at sea, just as a cruise ship company broaches the small island with the intention of turning it into a regular destination. Nim’s SOS e-mail to Alexandra shakes the writer out of her comfort zone to risk going to the island to rescue Nim. Even if Foster’s attendant pratfalls fail to register many laughs, the movie’s overall feel-good tone chimes like a bell.

Rated PG, 95 mins. (B)

Mr. Magorium’s Emporium

Dustin Hoffman’s attempt at being delightful goes flat likes a tire without an inner tube in this notably bland children’s movie. Hoffman plays Mr. Magorium, the kooky 243 year-old toy store owner whose life is coming to an end because he has finally worn out the last pair of Italian shoes of which he bought a lifetime supply. Natalie Portman plays Magorium’s sole employee, a musically blocked concert pianist who will inherit the store that newcomer accountant Jason Bateman has taken over the daunting task of settling its books. Visually colorful but dramatically empty, "Mr. Magorium’s Emporium" is too listless for words.

Rated G, 94 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)

TMNT

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is little more than an overtly violent elongation of a Saturday morning cartoon. In the crime-riddled streets of Manhattan, turtle siblings Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael reunite after years of pursuing their individual interests. Resident sensei rat Splinter oversees the reunion that re-teams the slacker ninja turtles with former allies April O'Neil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Casey Jones (Chris Evans) to take on a vicious crime gang called the "Foot Clan." Evil mastermind Maximillian J. Winters (Patrick Stewart) releases an army of ancient giant monsters that the Foot Clan protects. A throughline of organized violence permeates "TMNT" as a baby step toward preparing youngsters to become soldiers in America's never-ending war on humanity.
Not Yet Rated, 93 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)

The Last Mimzy

Lumpy and misshapen like a dilapidated stuffed animal, "The Last Mimzy" is a kids movie that wants to be this generation's "E.T." but doesn't know how to get there. An arduous first act of forced character development maps out the identities of brother and sister Noah (Chris O'Neil) and Emma Wilder (Rhiannon Leigh Wryn) who discover a magical black box filled with a strange rock, a seashell and an old stuffed rabbit called Mimzy. Mimzy is a time-travelling alien attempting to assist the kids in inventing a solution to pollution and disease before her race and humanity are wiped out. Noah and Emma suddenly gain phenomenal brainpower and set about inventing a time machine of sorts. The story continually stalls out amid dead-end plot diversions leading to an unsatisfying ending.
The film was adapted from Lewis Padgett's "All Mimsy Were the Borogroves."
Rated PG, 90 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)

Bridge to Terabithia

Haphazardly adapted from Katherine Paterson's popular 1977 coming-of-age children’s book, "Bridge to Terabithia" is a problematic movie held together by its charming child actors. Josh Hutcherson plays Jess Aarons, a gifted artist and fast runner whose less-than-wealthy home life with four sisters and surly parents demands some kind of escape. Jess’ underdog life—he gets bullied at school—picks up considerably when new girl Leslie Burke (AnnaSophia Robb) moves into his rural area. The fledgling couple develops a sympathetic rapport that’s enlivened by their fertile imaginations that they use to create an imaginary world called Terabithia in a nearby forest. Jess and Leslie build a treehouse that can only be accessed by crossing a raging creek on a rope swing, and it’s this crossing that brings tragedy into Jess’ comprehension of the world.

Rated PG, 94 mins. (C) (Two Stars)

Charlotte's Web

Steve Buscemi's invigorating vocal characterization of Templeton the rat is the only high point in this sleep-inducing live action-animated revamp of the 1973 animated classic based on E.B White's 1952 children's book. The ever-insufferable Dakota Fanning plays Fern, the precocious little farm girl who saves the life of a runty pig she names Wilbur, who needs the exhaustive assistance of a kindly spider named Charlotte (voiced by Julia Roberts) in order to avoid ending up hanging upside down in the smokehouse. Everything about the movie is a rote retelling of the story set in a vaguely '50s era Americana where nothing happens that doesn't revolve around farm animals. Director Gary Winick ("Tadpole") never varies the film's dirge-like rhythm as he walks through the plot like he's passing around a collection plate at a late night church service.      
Rated G, 96 mins. (C-)

Lassie

Eric Knight’s beloved 1940 novel gets a Scottish 1938 setting where impoverished nine-year-old Joe Carraclough (Jonathan Mason) is forced to sell his loyal dog Lassie to the wealthy Duke of Rudling (played impeccably by Peter O’ Toole) for the Duke’s young granddaughter Cilla (Hester Odgers). But Lassie knows who her real master is, and repeatedly escapes from the Duke to return to Joe even after the Duke moves her to the far reaches of Northern Scotland. Writer/director Charles Sturridge adapts the heart-warming story with strict attention to its modest emotional underpinnings of family, devotion, and a beautiful collie.

Rated PG, 100 mins. (B)

Everyone's Hero

"Everyone's Hero" was Christopher Reeve's final film project and the simple story of a little boy who risks everything to restore order to his family's depression era existence is a well tempered and heartwarming animated children's movie. Christened "Yankee," after the baseball team for whom his father works as a custodian, our 10-year-old "hero" is an enthusiastic baseball fan whose abilities with a bat don't quite measure up to his celebrated name. When Yankee's dad is fired because the great Babe Ruth's baseball bat Darlin' (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg) is missing from the clubhouse, Yankee hits the road to retrieve the stolen bat. Yankee gets more than a few life lessons on a journey that takes him to Chicago where Babe and the Yankees are playing out the 1932 World Series. William H. Macy, Rob Reiner, Joe Torre, and the late Dana Reeve lend their voices to the film's colorful characters.

Rated G, 88 mins. (B)

Barnyard

Criminal acts and scenes of brutal violence spoil the effect of "Barnyard" as an animated movie for tots. A mythical one-man-operated farm is the setting for a cavalcade of animals to party like it's 1999 whenever the farmer isn't looking. Elder cow Ben (Sam Elliott) is the elected leader of the farm animals and he dutifully protects them from the ever-attacking coyotes in search of their next meal. Ben's irresponsible son Otis (Kevin James) is forced to face up to his inherited role as barnyard leader when Ben is ravaged by the coyotes while Otis and the rest of the animals whoop it up in the barn. Writer/director/producer Steve Oedekerk ("Patch Adams") smuggles a pro-military subtext into the script that scuttles the already drooping narrative with a sandbag of burden. It's impossible to enjoy vocal performances by Danny Glover, Courteney Cox and Wanda Sykes because the movie is so skewed toward authoritarian attitudes and fear. 

Rated PG, 95 mins. (C-)

Monster House

"Monster House" may well be the first mainstream animated exploitation movie. Debut director Gil Kenan upgrades the creepy animation style of "The Polar Express" to a more apt genre of kiddie horror movie and renders a disturbing stew of gratuitous violence, funky sexual tension and lurking physical menace. Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab, and Pamela Pettler wrote the script and the evidence of too many chefs spoiling the narrative broth is apparent throughout the movie. A demonic mobile mansion sits in a normal suburban neighborhood across the street from DJ (Mitchel Musso) a curious little boy obsessed with documenting the evil actions of its notoriously vicious owner, the depraved Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). Emboldened by his best friend (Sam Lerner) and a cunning faux Girl Scout (Spencer Locke), DJ and his friends attempt to put the house to sleep with lots of cough syrup even after the rampaging building murders two local police officials. By the time the animated child characters are playing with dynamite to blow up the residence, some parents will have already escorted their children from the cinema.
Rated PG, 85 mins. (C-)

Nanny McPhee

Under the clumsy direction of Kirk Jones ("Waking Ned Devine") Emma Thompson’s witch of a nanny—she sports a single eyebrow, two hairy warts and one overly long front tooth—mysteriously arrives at the unkempt household of widowed funeral director Mr. Brown (Colin Firth). Mr. Brown’s seven devilish children take pride in the speed with which they have scared off 17 prospective nannies with diabolical antics such as pretending to eat their infant sibling. With calm aplomb Nanny McPhee instills in the disobedient children her five lessons for well mannered child behavior while Mr. Brown searches for a wife within the one month timeframe that his late wife’s Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury) has allowed him if she is to continue financing the oversized family.

Rated PG, 88 mins. (C-)

Zathura: A Space Adventure

Based on the children’s book by author Chris Van Allsburg ("Jumanji" and "The Polar Express"), "Zathura: A Space Adventure" is an example of why "deus ex machina" is one of the seven deadly sins of screenwriting. However, Jon Favreau shows confidence in the directing style of his third feature film (after "Made" and "Elf." Ten-year-old Walter (Josh Hutcherson), his 6-year-old rival brother Danny (Jonah Bobo) and their teenage sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart) are spending divorce visitation time with their father (Tim Robbins) when Danny discovers a ‘50s styled, pressed tin, wind-up board game called "Zathura." With daddy away on an errand, the boys begin playing the game that involves two racing tin rockets and a slot where cryptic message cards are ejected. A house-penetrating meteor shower initiates the children’s journey into outer space with their uprooted house serving as a spaceship where a defective robot, alien lizard creatures and a Gen X astronaut stranger (Dax Shepard) conspire to appease the sibling rivalry between the brothers.

Rated PG, 101 mins. (C-)

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Tim Burton lovingly adapts Roald Dahl’s famous children’s novel to the big screen with visual splendor and a hyper keen sense of the book’s cautionary themes regarding poor parenting. Johnny Depp gives a contained performance as the eccentric Willy Wonka that dips into Austin Powers’ vocal inflection as he takes five children and their parents on a tour of his world’s most elaborate chocolate factory. Superfluous musical set pieces, performed by a chorus of little Oompa-Loompas (all played by the versatile Deep Ray – "Big Fish"), accompany the episodic attrition of bratty children as their transgressions expel them from being eligible for the grand surprise prize that awaits only one of them.

Rated PG, 106 mins. (B) (Three Stars)

Madagascar

A foursome of digitally animated zoo animals escape the inner city confines of Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo in search of freedom that’s not be all it's cracked up to be in this well-defined children’s comedy. Ben Stiller voices Alex the egotistical lion to Chris Rock’s confident but anxious Marty the Zebra, while Jada Pinkett Smith does gentle vocal honors as Gloria the Hippo. Along with Melman the Giraffe, the crew takes a wrong turn at Grand Central Station and ends up shipwrecked in Madagascar where Marty’s primal feline instincts threaten every living thing around him, including his best friends. Sacha Baron Cohen is exceptional as the voice of self-proclaimed lemur king Julien. Rated PG, 86 mins. (B)