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.
Catch That Kid
2004
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Crime / Family
Catch That Kid
2004
Action / Adventure / Comedy / Crime / Family
Plot summary
This is the story of a twelve-year-old named Maddy. Maddy and her adventurous father have always shared a love for mountain climbing. Their hobby, however, has a disastrous effect when a devastating accident on Mount Everest injures his spine, paralyzing him forever--unless he gets a very expensive operation. Determined to procure the money to pay for his surgery, Maddy decides to recruit two of her friends, a computer genius and a mechanical whiz kid, to help her pull off a risky heist. They plan to break into the local super-high-tech bank, which holds a vault suspended 100 feet off the floor, and get to its safe. To complicate matters even further, Maddy's mother works as the security chief at that very bank. Regardless of what obstacles she faces, Maddy is determined to get to the funds her father needs, by using the amazing climbing skills he taught her.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Weaned On Heist Movies
not enough fun
Maddy (Kristen Stewart) loves to climb. Her best friends are tech nerd Austin (Corbin Bleu) and go-cart mechanic Gus (Max Thieriot). Her father Tom Phillips (Sam Robards) suffers a paralysis from an old climbing injury that requires $250k for treatment. Her mother Molly (Jennifer Beals) works at the bank but the bank president Donald Brisbane refuses to lend her the money. Maddy decides to rob the bank with the help of her young friends despite the fact that her mother is the security chief.
The kids are all photogenic and they are good young actors. However there is nothing actually funny. It's too stupid to be real and too real to be fun. There isn't any joy in this kids movie. They even try a love triangle for them. It just doesn't work.
If you suspend reality it is good and watchable
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.