from Film Forum, 02/12/04A few years ago, a Danish film called Klatretøsen played in U.S. film festivals. Now, the American remake, Catch That Kid, has arrived. And to read what critics have to say about it, you have to wonder why a remake was necessary.
"I hope that the film makes more sense when spoken in a foreign language," says Michael Elliott (Movie Parables). "It is hard to recommend that anyone catch this American version. Though it is meant to be all in good fun, the film's message is unmistakable: The ends justify the means. If the stakes are high enough, any action—even illegal action—is excusable. Is this really the type of lesson we want to teach our preteens?"
Catch That Kid is an adventure in which 12-year-old Maddie rounds up a band of friends to try and steal enough money to help out her father, a go-cart track owner, who is suffering from a delayed paralysis as a consequence of a rock-climbing accident.
Tom Snyder (Movieguide) says, "Although [it] extols intact families and parents who get involved with their children, it has other moral problems."
"There might not be rampant profanity, explicit violence or naughty nudity," writes Loren Eaton (Plugged In), "but children who watch this kiddie criminal caper will get a 92-minute primer on situation ethics and will learn it's perfectly fine for women to crassly manipulate star-struck males. A miserably failure artistically and ethically."
Mainstream critics almost unanimously agree that the film is not worth your time or money, and that your kids deserve better.
