"Too Much Heart"
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What You Need To Know:
Most of the performers do a good job, but some of the characters and situations are a little too silly and unrealistic. They undercut the suspense and audience sympathy. Although CATCH THAT KID extols intact families and parents and has little foul language or vulgarity, it fails to appropriately rebuke the stealing, lying, and risk-taking the characters must do to save Maddy’s father. Therefore, it deserves a caution for children age 7 to 13.
Content:
(Ro, B, L, V, N, A, MM) Light Romantic worldview undercuts positive moral elements that extol family life and parents becoming involved with their children; two light obscenities, seven light exclamatory profanities, and 12-year-old sometimes says “Holy” without finishing it with an actual obscenity or vulgarity; some action violence such as tense climbing moments, zapping people with electric stick, and police chase kids on two go-karts through city streets and alleys; no sex scenes, but woman sits on man’s lap at desk while they kiss two or three times; cartoon character’s rear-end is exposed on TV; implied alcohol use at party; no smoking; and, stealing, lying, and recklessly risking lives are not appropriately rebuked.
GENRE: Comedy/Caper Comedy
More Detail:
CATCH THAT KID is a family movie with a lot of heart, but it falls short in a couple important areas, not the least of which is an unsatisfying moral resolution to a plot problem at the end.
Young actress Kristen Stewart (PANIC ROOM) stars in the story as Maddy, a precocious 12-year-old girl who decides to rob a bank vault designed by her mother, Molly, when her father, Tom, has to have a costly operation because of a paralyzing mountain climbing accident. Like her father, Maddy is a thrill-seeker who likes to climb. To steal the money from the vault for the operation, Maddy uses her climbing skills and the skills of her friends, Gus, who works on go-karts at her father’s go-kart track, and Austin, who knows computers and film cameras. She has to secretly pretend to be both Gus and Austin’s girlfriend in order to get their help, however. The three kids easily get past the bank’s modern security system, also designed by Maddy’s mom, but there are other dangerous challenges lurking around the corner.
Although CATCH THAT KID extols intact families and parents who get involved with their children, it has other moral problems. For example, Maddy’s mother has to lie in order to help Maddy out at an important point at the end. Also, the children are never really punished for trying to rob a bank and risking their lives and the lives of other people. These problems perhaps stem from the movie’s worldview, which seems to be Romantic. Romanticism says that most (or all) people are good at heart and undermines morality and rigorous intellectual thought with emotion. Therefore, CATCH THAT KID deserves a caution for children age 7 to 13.
Most of the performers do a good job in CATCH THAT KID, but there’s a silly, stupid security guard at the bank who’s way over the top and, hence, unrealistic. Other situations are also unrealistic. As a result, some of the exciting moments in the movie are not as suspenseful or involving as they should have been. The fact that the young protagonists are doing bad things they shouldn’t be doing also undercuts the sympathy that the audience should feel toward them.