Catch That Kid
Encyclopedia
Catch That Kid! is a 2004 American adventure
comedy film
directed by Bart Freundlich
. It is a remake
of the Danish
blockbuster Klatretøsen
(2002). The movie's working titles were Mission Without Permission (also the film's UK title as well as part of one of the taglines), Catch That Girl, and Catch That Kid!
) is a 12-year old girl who loves to climb. Her father, Tom (Sam Robards
), has climbed Mount Everest
, so it runs in the family. Several years earlier, Tom 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. Tom 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 him. Insurance won't pay for the operation, and the family doesn't have the money. Brisbane (Michael Des Barres
) refuses to loan the amount and does so by putting loopholes in a contract Maddy's mother Molly Phillips (Jennifer Beals
) signed (he's really trying to avoid loaning any money at all). When asked if he has a heart, Brisbane coldy responds, "This is not an emotional issue, Mrs. Phillips. A bank has no heart. Only paper in a vault". That is when Maddy first gets the idea to rob the bank.
Maddy steals three go-carts from her father and convinces her two friends, Gus (Max Thieriot
) and Austin (Corbin Bleu
), to help her. They remain hesitant, so she tells both of them that she loves him and doesn't care for the other, and gives half of her friendship necklace to each of them, claiming she has the other half and kissing them both. They break into Harderbach Financial, a bank in which Molly had begun to work for, creating a security system. They manage to break in, but with her mother at the hospital visiting their father, she is forced to babysit her younger brother, Max (Grant Hayden Scott and Sean Avery Scott). She and Gus progress to a room with thousands of security deposit boxes while Austin keeps the guards away from them. Maddy has to free climb to get to the exit when her hook gets caught in a crack when using the handhelds. She cracks the code, finding it is Madeline, and they flee the room, unintentionally setting off the alarm as they didn't type the exit code. While escaping from the guard dogs, at which point Austin demonstrates his dog-training skills, the trio is caught by Gus' brother, who tasers his partner (and then himself, though accidentally) after understanding the situation. However, just before escaping, Gus and Austin find out that Maddy played them after seeing each others' necklaces.
The two hop into their go carts, trailed by the police, but Austin holds all the cash in his cart, running out of gas. He then leaps into Gus' cart, and they escape to the hospital. They rejoin with Maddy in time to disable police cruisers by popping the tires with jacks. When Mrs. Phillips arrives, Brisbane attempts to pass all the blame on her, but ultimately, he is rejected by a French man named Francois, who says Brisbane's irresponsibility of having a party with an untested security system is a knucklehead move. Meanwhile, the kids make it to the hospital. However, they are caught up to by Maddy's mother, the bank security, the police, and the press. Maddy's mother then takes responsibility, saying that this was an authorized test for the bank's security. The following morning, Mrs. Phillips says what Maddy did was wrong, but apologizes, as it was her overprotection that started all the trouble in the first place. The press sympathizes with them, allowing them to hold a fundraiser the day after, earning enough money for Maddy's father's surgery. Even a friend named Mr. Hartman (who displays his like of acting throughout the movie) gives a free loan of $50,000 (as Brisbane's irresponsibility got him thrown out, Hartman is now the president of the bank). At the go cart rally after the operation, Gus and Austin make Maddy decide who she loves. She sniffs both of them and causes a debate between them. While they do so, she backs away, and they run after her saying who's the better boyfriend, and the movie ends.
. Most reviews took aim at the film's questionable morals and lack of originality, comparing it unfavorably to the Spy Kids trilogy. Despite the negative reviews, Roger Ebert
of Ebert & Roeper
and the Chicago Sun Times gave Catch That Kid "thumbs up", stating that it is much fun as Spy Kids
and more fun than Agent Cody Banks
.
and science fiction
author Suzanne Weyn
.
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Bart Freundlich
Bart Freundlich
Bartholomew "Bart" Freundlich is an American film, television director, screenwriter and film producer.-Life and career:...
. It is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
blockbuster Klatretøsen
Klatretøsen
Klatretøsen is a 2002 film directed by Hans Fabian Wullenweber. A remake from this Danish blockbuster was made in 2004 with the name Catch That Kid...
(2002). The movie's working titles were Mission Without Permission (also the film's UK title as well as part of one of the taglines), Catch That Girl, and Catch That Kid!
Plot
Madeline Rose "Maddy" Phillips (Kristen StewartKristen Stewart
Kristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in films including Panic Room , Zathura , In the Land of Women , The Messengers , Adventureland and The Runaways .- Early life :Stewart was born and raised in Los...
) is a 12-year old girl who loves to climb. Her father, Tom (Sam Robards
Sam Robards
Sam Prideaux Robards is an American actor.-Life and career:Robards was born in New York City, the son of actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall. He began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of Album, and made his feature film debut in director Paul Mazursky's 1982 film Tempest....
), has climbed Mount Everest
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
, so it runs in the family. Several years earlier, Tom 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. Tom 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 him. Insurance won't pay for the operation, and the family doesn't have the money. Brisbane (Michael Des Barres
Michael Des Barres
Lord Michael Philip Des Barres is a British actor and rock singer. He is known for playing the recurring role of Murdoc on the television show MacGyver and for replacing the late Robert Palmer in the band Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert...
) refuses to loan the amount and does so by putting loopholes in a contract Maddy's mother Molly Phillips (Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former...
) signed (he's really trying to avoid loaning any money at all). When asked if he has a heart, Brisbane coldy responds, "This is not an emotional issue, Mrs. Phillips. A bank has no heart. Only paper in a vault". That is when Maddy first gets the idea to rob the bank.
Maddy steals three go-carts from her father and convinces her two friends, Gus (Max Thieriot
Max Thieriot
Maximillion Drake "Max" Thieriot is an American actor. During the 2000s, he appeared in several Hollywood films, including My Soul to Take, Catch That Kid, The Pacifier, Nancy Drew, Jumper, and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.-Career:Thieriot was signed to talent manager Don Gibble after taking...
) and Austin (Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu Reivers , known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor, model, dancer, producer, and singer-songwriter. He performed in the High School Musical film series, the Discovery Kids drama series Flight 29 Down, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In!...
), to help her. They remain hesitant, so she tells both of them that she loves him and doesn't care for the other, and gives half of her friendship necklace to each of them, claiming she has the other half and kissing them both. They break into Harderbach Financial, a bank in which Molly had begun to work for, creating a security system. They manage to break in, but with her mother at the hospital visiting their father, she is forced to babysit her younger brother, Max (Grant Hayden Scott and Sean Avery Scott). She and Gus progress to a room with thousands of security deposit boxes while Austin keeps the guards away from them. Maddy has to free climb to get to the exit when her hook gets caught in a crack when using the handhelds. She cracks the code, finding it is Madeline, and they flee the room, unintentionally setting off the alarm as they didn't type the exit code. While escaping from the guard dogs, at which point Austin demonstrates his dog-training skills, the trio is caught by Gus' brother, who tasers his partner (and then himself, though accidentally) after understanding the situation. However, just before escaping, Gus and Austin find out that Maddy played them after seeing each others' necklaces.
The two hop into their go carts, trailed by the police, but Austin holds all the cash in his cart, running out of gas. He then leaps into Gus' cart, and they escape to the hospital. They rejoin with Maddy in time to disable police cruisers by popping the tires with jacks. When Mrs. Phillips arrives, Brisbane attempts to pass all the blame on her, but ultimately, he is rejected by a French man named Francois, who says Brisbane's irresponsibility of having a party with an untested security system is a knucklehead move. Meanwhile, the kids make it to the hospital. However, they are caught up to by Maddy's mother, the bank security, the police, and the press. Maddy's mother then takes responsibility, saying that this was an authorized test for the bank's security. The following morning, Mrs. Phillips says what Maddy did was wrong, but apologizes, as it was her overprotection that started all the trouble in the first place. The press sympathizes with them, allowing them to hold a fundraiser the day after, earning enough money for Maddy's father's surgery. Even a friend named Mr. Hartman (who displays his like of acting throughout the movie) gives a free loan of $50,000 (as Brisbane's irresponsibility got him thrown out, Hartman is now the president of the bank). At the go cart rally after the operation, Gus and Austin make Maddy decide who she loves. She sniffs both of them and causes a debate between them. While they do so, she backs away, and they run after her saying who's the better boyfriend, and the movie ends.
Cast
- Kristen StewartKristen StewartKristen Jaymes Stewart is an American actress. She is best known for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in films including Panic Room , Zathura , In the Land of Women , The Messengers , Adventureland and The Runaways .- Early life :Stewart was born and raised in Los...
as Maddy Phillips - Corbin BleuCorbin BleuCorbin Bleu Reivers , known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor, model, dancer, producer, and singer-songwriter. He performed in the High School Musical film series, the Discovery Kids drama series Flight 29 Down, and the Disney Channel Original Movie Jump In!...
as Austin - Max ThieriotMax ThieriotMaximillion Drake "Max" Thieriot is an American actor. During the 2000s, he appeared in several Hollywood films, including My Soul to Take, Catch That Kid, The Pacifier, Nancy Drew, Jumper, and Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.-Career:Thieriot was signed to talent manager Don Gibble after taking...
as Gus - Jennifer BealsJennifer BealsJennifer Beals is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former...
as Molly Phillips - Sam RobardsSam RobardsSam Prideaux Robards is an American actor.-Life and career:Robards was born in New York City, the son of actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall. He began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of Album, and made his feature film debut in director Paul Mazursky's 1982 film Tempest....
as Tom Phillips - Grant Hayden and Sean Avery Scott as Max Phillips
- John Carroll LynchJohn Carroll LynchJohn Carroll Lynch is an American actor, known for his role as Drew Carey's cross-dressing brother on The Drew Carey Show, and for his role as Norm, the unassuming husband of Margie Gunderson in Fargo....
as Mr. Hartman - James Le GrosJames LeGrosJames LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:...
as Ferrell - Michael Des BarresMichael Des BarresLord Michael Philip Des Barres is a British actor and rock singer. He is known for playing the recurring role of Murdoc on the television show MacGyver and for replacing the late Robert Palmer in the band Power Station, fronting the band at the 1985 Live Aid concert...
as Brisbane - Stark SandsStark SandsStark Bunker Sands is an American actor of film, television and theatre.-Biography:Sands was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, where he began acting on the stage at age 13 at Highland Park High School. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of Southern California...
as Chad - Christine EstabrookChristine EstabrookChristine Estabrook is an American television and film actress. She has been featured in several motion pictures mostly in supporting roles...
as Sharon - Kevin G. Schmidt as Skip
- Audrey WasilewskiAudrey WasilewskiAudrey Wasilewski is an American actress and voice actress.-Life and career:Wasilewski's first role came in the 1994 Japanese animated film Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko, where she was one of the additional voices dubbed in English...
as Nurse
Box office
Catch That Kid opened at #6 in the weekend of February 6, 2004 raking in $5,824,860 in its first opening weekend. The film spent two weeks at the U.S. box office top ten.Reception
Catch That Kid was panned by critics, garnering an 11% "rotten" approval rating on reviews aggregrating website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Most reviews took aim at the film's questionable morals and lack of originality, comparing it unfavorably to the Spy Kids trilogy. Despite the negative reviews, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
At the Movies was a movie review television program produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics shared their opinions of newly released films. The program aired under various names...
and the Chicago Sun Times gave Catch That Kid "thumbs up", stating that it is much fun as Spy Kids
Spy Kids
The Spy Kids series is a series of family action adventure films written, produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The main plot follows the adventures of two Cortez children who become involved in their parents' espionage. The rest of their family are spies as well, including their estranged...
and more fun than Agent Cody Banks
Agent Cody Banks
Agent Cody Banks is an American action comedy film directed by Harald Zwart. Its story follows the adventures of the 15-year-old title character, played by Frankie Muniz, who has to finish his chores, avoid getting grounded, and save the world by going undercover for the CIA as a James Bond type...
.
Novelization
A novelization of the story was released in conjunction with the film. The novel was written by American fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author Suzanne Weyn
Suzanne Weyn
Suzanne Weyn is an American author. She primarily writes children's and young adult science fiction and fantasy novels. she has written over fifty novels and short stories, and is best known for The Bar Code Tattoo and The Bar Code Rebellion books...
.