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48 reviews in total

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17 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
I recommend this movie as a fun and touching movie for the whole family to see., 12 April 2004
Author: Rainerosebud

Catch That Kid, an enjoyable movie for the whole family? I think so. The story is about a young girl named Maddy, a tomboy who loves climbing. Her parents, however, have forbidden her to climb due to an accident her father had had which seriously injured his back. Though he had apparently recovered, something goes wrong which leaves him paralyzed from the neck down. Maddy's mother Molly does everything she can to find the money needed - $250,000 - for an opperation to save him. But there is nothing she can do. Maddy, still determined to save her dad, sees robbing the bank at which her mother is setting up a security system as her only option. She quickly enlists the help of her two best friends - Gus, a go-cart mechanic and Austin, a computer geek - who both happen to be in puppy love with her. What ensues as they make their plan to rob the bank and begin to carry it out is funny, incredibly unrealistic, and touching.

Most of the humor comes from the two boys' crush on Maddy, the wannabe actor who works at the bank, and later the fact that Maddy is left in charge of her little brother at the last minute and decides to take him with her to the robbery. I would have liked to see more humor, and the slapstick comedy from the security officer was not very funny. Nevertheless, the movie overall was fun.

The movie is unrealistic, but I like it that way, because in reality life is complicated and hard, but in movies everything is possible. I also enjoyed the hi-tech security measures employed at the bank, very nifty.

The touching scenes come in where Maddy shows her deep love for her father and learns how very deep her mother's love is for her.

The movie did not, however, teach any real moral values. That is, of course, easily remedied by talking to your children about right and wrong and the real consequences of choosing actions you know are wrong.

I recommend this movie as a fun movie for the whole family to see together, if only because the kids will definitely love it, but I think the adults will enjoy it too. 8/10

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9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
Immensely enjoyable caper with sympathetics kids, 30 October 2006

Author: ma-cortes

A young girl(Kristen Stewart) and her two teen friends pull off a bank heist for obtaining the cash needed for the operating of her ill daddy(Sam Robards)where her mild-mannered mummy(Jennifer Beals) works as security agent.They encounter complications with a humorous and botchers pair agents(James LeGros)in a robbery developed with imposing tension and intrigue,it's of course the highlight and great climax 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 dollars from the safe.

The picture displays comedy,action,good humor and continuous entertainment.Besides chases karts galore with impressive velocities and pursuits by polices cars.The film is a crossover of ¨Topkapi¨caper,¨Ocean's eleven¨heist pirouette and ¨Italian job¨races but wrapped an adolescent style.the picture contains a lively and jolly music by George S. Clinton.The movie is regularly directed by Bart Freudlich and turns out to be a remake of a Danish hit smash.It's a great stuff for schoolboys of all ages though especially for kids and teenagers.

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13 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
"Catch That Kid"- 8/10. Good movie for the family to enjoy., 10 February 2004
Author: movies2u from United States

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.

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14 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
Teen heist come fantasy/adventure, 13 February 2005

Author: Brandt Sponseller from New York City

A U.S. remake of the Danish film Klatretosen (2002), Catch that Kid is a teen heist film, in a nutshell. When Maddy's (Kristen Stewart) dad needs an expensive operation, she plans a heist to get the money to pay for it, enlisting the help of her two equally inventive friends, Austin (Corbin Bleu) and Gus (Max Thieriot). Catch that Kid is a lot of fun, but viewers who are only looking for "realistic" fare may be disappointed. As a teen heist film, Catch that Kid is heavy on the fantasy aspects, which are frequently more cartoonish than realistic. Whether you'll like it will largely depend on whether you don't mind, or even prefer (as I do), fantasy instead of reality in films. And unlike traditional heist films, Catch that Kid has an overarching "warm and fuzzy" message, with a predictable climax and denouement. Even though it is heavy on fantasy elements, the three stars, Stewart, Bleu and Thieriot, are very believable, in context, in their roles. The film is interesting that in spite of being a heist film, it is also constructed like a more traditional fantasy/adventure story. In this interpretation, the bank is as a castle, presided over by an evil ruler. Our heroes must enter the castle stealthily, foiling the court jesters/castle guards, evading the magical beasts to scale the inner sanctum, retrieve the sacred token, escape on horseback and save the true King. That the plot can work in both the modern heist setting and the traditional fantasy/adventure setting gives in more depth and more unconscious resonance with audiences amenable to less realistic tales. Comparisons can easily be made to other recent films such as the Spy Kids series, the Cody Banks series, or even animated fare such as Kim Possible, but each has its particular niche, and Catch that Kid was just as entertaining to me (a middle-aged male) as any heist film for grown-ups. Finally, in a different tone, let me repeat the rant I gave in my review of The Grudge (2004): It is ridiculous that U.S. distributors and studios feel that we need remakes of foreign films to make them appropriate for consumption. The original versions of these films should just be playing in U.S. theaters in wide release. There is no need to present an almost identical film but just substituting white American actors for non-white or foreign actors. Yes, Catch that Kid is a fine film, but ultimately, I'd rather see something original using this talent, and be treated to the latest foreign films--not just European, but Asian, African, etc.--at my multiplex. In the hope that someone with some pull at the studios reads this, it is also more cost-effective to do this, as (1) you can completely avoid production costs, and simply make domestic distribution deals from which you receive profit, and (2) you can make money off of fans like myself who otherwise pick up the foreign film DVDs in foreign manufactured or even bootleg versions.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Weaned On Heist Movies, 20 June 2009

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

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.

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Not too bad..., 8 February 2004

Author: kcbausch

Reasonably diverting, clearly tongue in cheek farce, far better than the last Spy Kids installment. The adult leads were one dimensional and unconvincing, but the female lead provided the most interest and emotional connection for the audience. If you need a cold weather diversion for the kids, consider this.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Those playful young scamps., 24 May 2011

Author: JohnRouseMerriottChard from United Kingdom

An American remake of Danish 2002 film Klatretøsen, Catch That Kid is undemanding family fare for the, well, undemanding. Plot sees Kristen Stewart as Maddy, whose father is rendered paralysed from an old mountaineering accident. Unable to raise the $250,000 needed for the potential life changing operation, Maddy and her mother are at a dead end. But Maddy hits upon the idea of robbing the bank where her mother has been the security consultant, so enlisting the help of her two young pals, she sets about committing the perfect robbery.

Plot suggests it is what it is, kiddie friendly fodder that's as preposterous as it gets. But it's still a likable enough tale, stitched together competently enough by director Bart Freundlich, and the actual robbery itself is well crafted and not without genuine tension. The child actors, led by future Twilight star Stewart, don't annoy, and the writers even plant the strains of puppy love on the edges of the narrative. It's all heading to an obvious conclusion, one that is very It's A Wonderful Life in intent, but it does it's job well enough and closes off with a smugness that's hard to get mad at.

An easy enough time filler to watch with the kids or to do your ironing too. 6/10

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
If you suspend reality it is good and watchable, 5 January 2008

Author: intelearts from the big screen

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.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
I like the original version better!, 14 September 2008

Author: shoei from Taiwan

In fact, I like the original version "Klatretøsen (2002)" better. I first saw the story played on the screen which was "Klatretøsen (2002)" on TV couple years ago. And I saw the USA version last year on TV. To tell the truth, I don't think the USA version is better than the original "Klatretøsen." Some ideas of the movie or mode of stealing method were changed, maybe more technological and electronic on the equipments....the kids' gears and outfits were more fancy....IDK....but there are just something that can't reason me down. I recommend whoever are or aren't Kristen Stewart fans (actually I delight in Kristen Stewart's performance) to see the original version "Klatretøsen (2002)" if u can.

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2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
One of the worst movies I have ever seen, 24 August 2004
Author: finleya (finleya@gmail.com)

I rented this just to see how stupid it really was. It was very bad. The two things that made me laugh were the part about Austin putting nitrous oxide into the go-carts. Those go-carts would be blown up if the used any of it while driving. Also the part about the contents of the safe. The safe was supposed to contain a lot of money in gold bullion which isn't cash. When Maddy gets to the safe it was full of cash not gold. If you are thinking of getting it, don't. It was pretty much a waste of time. One other part that was really weird is that in any high security area all the codes would be different instead of the sane code for all the doors. One last thing was even when the mom said that the kids were part of a test they would still be responsible for dumping the tacks or whatever they were on the ground. One more thing was the kids never have gotten away from the dogs and they wouldn't have cornered them they would have attacked because they are attack dogs.

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