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Young and old alike will enjoy the charming Kit Kittredge, staring Abigail Breslin.

Abigail Breslin plays Kit Kittredge, a young child of a young couple in1930’s Cincinnati. All Kit wants to do is spend time with her tree house club, and become a journalist for a major newspaper. Her loving father, played by Chris O’Donnell, owns a car dealership in town, and her lovely mother, played by Julia Ormond, spends her time taking care of the home and hosting tea parties for the other mothers. Unfortunately, the Great Depression is starting to hit home everywhere, with young kids trying to work odd jobs for food, and their friends and family losing their jobs and homes.

Soon enough, Kitts own father loses his job, and has to go into the big city of Chicago to look for new employment. Things being tight at home, Mrs. Kittredge, with a heart as big as their house, starts taking in boarders to get by. The people who end up living there are amazing characters to watch interact. There is a really flirty dancer played by the adorable Jane Krakowski, a mobile librarian played by Joan Cusack, who is always looking to set people up with their perfect book, a sweet hearted magician played by a disguisedly mustached Stanley Tucci, who befriends the children and adults alike with his magic and charm, a pinch-faced gossipy mother played by Glenne Headley who is the one who is so easy to dislike but wins out in the end, who tags along her spoiled son.

Also helping out are two young ‘hobos’, a teenager named Will, and a youngster called Country, who do odd jobs for the Kittredge family, so that they can earn food for themselves. They are two very honest, very nice boys, but most people still look down on them because they are poor. Things seem to be looking up until the families safe is stolen, and the prime suspects are the two young boys. Kitt knows this can not be true, and sets out to do some investigating with her friends and her newly adopted dog, Grace.

The movie itself is short and sweet, and can be loved my little girls and their family alike. The set designs are lovely and really help set the time. The costumes are also lovely, and the directing is not too shabby. Chris O’Donnell does a lovely job as the father, and Julia Ormond is excellent in her motherly role. You can really see her quiet strength in her character.

And Abigail Breslin is perfect in this movie. She is spunky, outgoing, and brave. She is an excellent roll model for young girls. I wish they had more of these movies for girls than, say, Hannah Montanna movies. This film is honest and wholehearted, and centered around family and the triumph over hardships.

There are not really any special features, only a preview of another American Girl movie in the works, and a digital copy for PC or media player.

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