An American tragedy

‘Kit Kittredge: An American Girl’
Director: Patricia Rozema
Cast: Abigail Breslin, Julia Ormond, Chris O’Donnnell
Rating: G
Grade: 2 Globes

It’s not often that a film teaches us as much about our history as “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” does. We learn, for instance, that during the Great Depression all women and girls in suburban Ohio dressed like models in the Anthropologie catalog. Also, Depression-era children spent their days frolicking in their back yards with magicians, monkeys, dancers and hobos. Oh, and hobos were everywhere.

Such is the magic of “Kit Kittredge” a movie based on a line of dolls (and before you get too worked up about that, remember that the “Transformers” and “G.I. Joe” began life as toys, and the critically adored “Wall-E” will no doubt spawn a merchandising glut that will make the evil consumerism depicted in that film look conservative). Kit (Abigail Breslin) is a child of the Depression whose mother is forced to take in borders to keep the family solvent, but seems to enjoy herself more than any child you can think of born in happier times. She also dreams of being a reporter, which doesn’t do much for the story except afford Wallace Shawn a few opportunities to do his “inconceivable!” bit in the guise of a cranky newspaper editor (thank God for small favors). The real story has to do with hobos, whom if we’re to judge by this film were viewed by the middle class white people of the 1930s the same way the Lou Dobbs set looks at Mexicans today — as a scapegoat for everything. Of course, Kit shows us that hobos are really good-hearted people who would never rob or steal or hurt another person to escape from the crushing poverty that has forced them into a lifestyle barely imaginable by today’s standards. They just want to smile and have fun!

“Kit Kittredge” is a thoroughly inconsequential piece of fluff populated by actors who deserve better (Julia Ormond, Joan Cusack, Stanley Tucci), but were probably paid well enough, so no pity for them. Have pity though on Abigail Breslin. She’s only 11, yet the people who choose her roles for her (parents? agents?) seem to be milking her for maximum dollar while placing her again and again in films so bad they constitute a form of child abuse. At least the adults in this thing are there of their own free will.