Mission: Possible

Catch That Kid (2004)

When this film was released I knew it would get criticism, either by the premise of stealing money, or by it's similarities between Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks. I do not agree that it is like Spy Kids, "Catch That Kid" is a lot better.

The movie is about Maddy Phillips (Kristen Stewart- The Panic Room, Cold Creek Manor), who loves to climb. After an accident on Mt. Everest, her Dad becomes paralyzed, and he can get an operation in Denmark for $250,000- but insurance doesn't pay for it. So, Maddy recruits her two best friends, Austin and Gus, to help her rob a high security bank whose security system her mother created. The safe is suspended 100 feet high, and Maddy must overcome her fear of climbing too high, so that she can save her father's life.

This movie had some really neat climbing sequences, good action, but it lacked a few laughs. Bart Fruendlich manages the security and heist scenes well, and the film has some pretty odd security devices for the bank.

Kristen Stewart is great, she gives a good performance, and her two best friends are also good. The parents are a bit one dimensional, but it doesn't really matter to the kids, which is the audience most likely to be attracted to this movie. When seeing this with your kids, just let them know robbing a bank isn't a good thing, and that it's just a movie. Don't let them take it too seriously, but hey, they're kids. 8/10.

I'm noting that Catch That Kid was based on a popular Danish film, Klatretosen that only came out a few years ago. There had to be another motivation for what these three enterprising juveniles did because Denmark unlike the USA has socialized medicine and the problem that the kids need the money for wouldn't exist there.

What that problem is that Kristen Stewart's dad John Carroll Lynch has aggravated an old spinal injury that has left him bedridden and paralyzed. The only hope of a treatment is an experimental procedure that our insurance won't pay and will cost $250,000.00 for the operation. So Kristen enlists her two friends, Max Thierot and Corbin Bleu to do a bank robbery.

Getting inside information is easy because Kristen's mom, Jennifer Beals runs a security company and on a take your daughter to work day she accompanies mom and pays very close attention to the procedures installed in the bank that Beal's is contracted to work for.

Although they don't say so, it's pretty obvious these kids were weaned on heist films like To Catch A Thief and The Asphalt Jungle. Cary Grant never pulled off a neater robbery than this trio.

Catch That Kid is a nice enough film that might send a wrong message out there to younger viewers. Truth be told these kids are almost caught, but get some help from an unexpected source. They never should have gotten as far as they did.

As long as you don't apply any real caper rules to this then it's fun.

The idea of kids robbing a bank and using their ingenuity to do it has to be immensely appealing to young teenagers, and the results on that basis are fine.

The back story - robbing the bank to pay for the father's surgery - is well handled, and overall it is a positive movie for girls - Kristen Stewart, who plays Maddy is definitely the leader and for this alone it makes it a better than normal teen movie.

Your kids can watch this without being corrupted; it's just a fun heist / caper movie that will keep the whole family entertained.

A young girl (Kristen Stewart) and her two teen friends pull off a bank heist for obtaining the cash needed for the operating her ill daddy (Sam Robards) where their mild-mannered mummy (Jennifer Beals) works as a security agent . They encounter complications with a humorous and botcher pair agents (James LeGros) in a robbery developed with imposing tension and intrigue ; it's , of course , the highlight and great climax of the movie . Thus , during the burgle the teens confront perils and risks as high-tech systems , vigilance dogs and she will raise a vault suspended many feet above ground (similar to Tom Cruise in Mission impossible) with the aim to take million of dollars from the safe .

The picture displays comedy , action , enjoyable humor and continuous entertainment . Besides , galore kart chases with impressive velocities and pursuits by police cars . The film is a crossover of ¨Topkapi¨ caper, ¨Ocean's eleven¨ heist pirouette and ¨Italian job¨ races but wrapped in adolescent style . Likable acting from Kristen Stewart , Jennifer Beals and Max Thieriot's film debut . The picture contains a lively and jolly musical score by George S. Clinton . The movie was regularly directed by Bart Freudlich and turned out to be a remake of a Danish hit smash titled Klatretøsen . It's a great stuff for schoolboys of all ages though especially for kids and teenagers .

Maddy (Kristen Stewart) is a 12-year old girl who loves to climb. Her father has climbed Mount Everest, so it runs in the family. Several years earlier Maddy's father fell more than 100 feet during a climb, and because her parents are afraid she might hurt herself, they have ordered Maddy not to climb. Maddy's father had some internal injuries from that earlier fall, which he didn't know, and now the injury has paralyzed him from the neck down. There is an experimental operation, costing $250,000, which can save Maddy's father. Insurance won't pay for the operation, and the family doesn't have the money. Maddy and two friends break into a high-tech bank vault, designed by Maddy's mother, to get the money. The vault is suspended 100 feet above the ground, and Maddy must use her climbing skills to get to the safe. Her friends use their computer and mechanical skills to defeat the bank's high-tech security. This is a kid's version of Mission Impossible. Kids will like the movie, but adults will just have to endure it with their children. (20th Century Fox, Run Time 1:32, Rated PG) (4/10)