Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

While Abigail Breslin is a charming actress, and it’s nice to see Julia Ormond in a sizeable role again, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl suffers from going in too many directions at once. A young, aspiring journalist finds ways to cope during The Great Depression, and those diversions range from totally boring to mildly amusing. Breslin plays the title character, an ambitious young girl looking to make it in the newspaper business. Based on a popular line of dolls and books, this character could be the basis of a decent, more focused movie. I liked her sparring with a newspaper editor (a funny Wallace Shawn) in an attempt to get her stories about fairs and hobos printed. I probably could’ve done a whole film with that aspect of the story. Instead, there’s some junk about a hobo thief that mucks up the proceedings and makes the movie feel long.