A good ole family deal

Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl, yet another addition to the American Girl Empire that has only expanded in the last few years. Though I was never privy to owning one of the expensive little dolls, I did read their books often enough. Honestly I didn't even notice the entire toy world that existed for each girl until I was to old to beg for one of the dolls. Since though I have travelled through American Girl Stores, awed by the sheer amount of details to each girl and her time period. If you ever get a chance to walk through an American Girl Store, as a story teller it's an experience, you should. But back to the girl at hand, Kitt Kittredge.

I never read any of the Kitt books, I was vaguely aware she existed. I was always a Felicity and Samantha girl myself. I watched the Felicity movie that was made for ABC a few years back, thought it was cute but nothing spectacular about it. Tonight I decided to give the Kitt Kittredge's movie a chance with stars such as Chris O'Donnell, Abigail Breslin, and Joan Cusack I was intrigued. I was not disappointed by the performances at all, I was left feeling that Chris O'Donnell is always a light hearted amusement. While Abigail Breslin might be the new Dakota Fanning and not just a Shirley Temple. The young actress was vivid and passionate, she really seemed to carry the spirit of her character. And Joan Cusack was just wonderful! She played a traveling librarian, partially up-tight, lead astray romantic s character that was rich and engaging. I debated for a little while during the movie being a traveling librarian, a novel idea really.

Aside from those characters, I was also taken with the character of Will Shepherd. Will is an older teen, maybe 16? who is affected by the great depression. He is homeless, and travels from town to town looking for work. What made him a multi-dimensional character was not his honorable traits (i.e. working and not stealing) but the fact that he seems to take care of this younger boy, County. As the movie progress the audience discovers that Will promised County's dying father he would take care of the child. Also it is discovered that Will left his family to try and make it on his own, because he knew that his family was having enough trouble feeding his siblings.

The interesting thoughts that keep running through my mind about this movie was the current state of affairs. We are not in the great depression, which was a nice thought though not completely consoling. I did make some connection to today because in the beginning of the film there was a high focus on the foreclosures and family's losing their homes. As it progress the focus was more on how families had to separate because fathers went to the bigger cities looking for jobs. There is mention of public works and the start of FDR's new deal. I watched as the key points of the depression, things I studied and read about came alive in Kitt's story. I did think this might be a good movie for kids today though, something that they might be able to relate to on some level of understanding.

I wouldn't say that it was a breath-taking picture, but it was heart felt and warm. A definite family film with some classically good performances and well defined story line.