Editing Catch That Kid

{{Short description|2004 film by Bart Freundlich}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Catch That Kid!
| image = CatchThatKidMovie.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Bart Freundlich]]
| producer = {{plainlist|
* Andrew Lazar
* Uwe Schott
}}
| writer = {{plainlist|
* [[Michael Brandt]]
* [[Derek Haas]]
}}
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Klatretøsen]]''|[[Nikolaj Arcel]]|Hans Fabian Wullenweber|[[Erlend Loe]]}}
| starring = {{plainlist|<!-- Per poster's billing block -->
* [[Kristen Stewart]]
* [[Corbin Bleu]]
* [[Max Thieriot]]
* [[Jennifer Beals]]
* [[Sam Robards]]
* [[John Carroll Lynch]]
* [[James LeGros|James Le Gros]]
}}
| music = [[George S. Clinton]]
| cinematography = [[Julio Macat]]
| editing = Stuart Levy
| studio = {{plainlist|
* [[Fox 2000 Pictures]]<ref name=afi>{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63009-CATCH-THATKID|title=Catch That Kid (2004)|work=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|accessdate=2020-01-19}}</ref>
* Mediastream III<ref name="variety">{{cite web |title=Catch that Kid |url=https://variety.com/2004/film/markets-festivals/catch-that-kid-1200536599/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date= February 5, 2004 |access-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref>
* Mad Chance<ref name="variety"/>
* Nimbus Film<ref name="variety"/>
}}
| distributor = [[20th Century Fox]]<ref name=afi/>
| released = {{film date|2004|02|06}}
| runtime = 92 minutes<ref name=afi/>
| country = {{plainlist|
* Germany<ref name=afi/>
* Denmark<ref name=afi/>
* United States<ref name=afi/>
}}
| language = English
| budget = $12 million<ref name=boxofficemojo>{{cite web | url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=catchthatkid.htm | title=Box Catch That Kid (2004) - Box Office Mojo| accessdate=2009-11-01}}</ref>
| gross = $17 million<ref name=boxofficemojo/>
}}
'''''Catch That Kid''''' is a 2004 [[family film|family]] [[action comedy film]] directed by [[Bart Freundlich]], written by [[Michael Brandt]] and [[Derek Haas]], and starring [[Kristen Stewart]], [[Corbin Bleu]], [[Max Thieriot]], [[Jennifer Beals]], [[Sam Robards]], [[John Carroll Lynch]], and [[James LeGros|James Le Gros]]. It is a [[remake]] of the Danish film ''[[Klatretøsen]]'' (2002) and tells the story of three kids who rob a bank to obtain the money to pay for the expensive and experimental surgery needed for the father of one of them when the insurance company and the bank president won't help his wife.

The film's working titles were ''Mission Without Permission'' (also the film's British title as well as part of one of the taglines), ''Catch That Girl'', and ''Catch That Kid!'' The film received negative reviews.

==Plot==
Madeline Rose "Maddy" Phillips is a 12-year-old girl who loves to climb, often ascending the nearby water tower. Her father Tom shares her passion but fell more than 100 feet during a climb years earlier. Tom and his wife Molly are afraid Maddy may suffer a similar accident and have forbidden her from climbing. Latent injuries from Tom's fall have recently paralyzed him from the neck down.

The family hears of an experimental operation which can save him, but insurance will not pay for the operation and the family does not have $250,000 for the treatment. Harderbach Financial's president Donald Brisbane refuses to loan the amount, despite Molly being employed by the bank to design a security system. Maddy comes up with a plan to rob the bank for the money with her knowledge of her mother's system.

Maddy steals three [[go-kart]]s from her father's racecourse and recruits her two friends Gus a young mechanic, and Austin a computer geek and aspiring filmmaker, to help her. To convince them, she separately tells each one she loves him and gives him one-half of her friendship necklace.

They break into Harderbach Financial on the night of a party Brisbane is throwing, bringing along Max, Maddy's infant brother, whom she is supposed to be babysitting. Maddy distracts the security guards Ferrell and Gus' older brother Chad. Maddy and Gus progress to a room with thousands of security deposit boxes while Austin watches Max and manipulates the cameras and alarms to keep the guards away from them. After a sudden equipment failure with her climbing gear, Maddy is forced to free-climb the rest of the way up to the main vault containing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Upon reaching the vault door, she accidentally triggers a timer, then with seconds left, cracks the code ("Madeline"), grabs $250,000 from the vault, and flees the room, unintentionally setting off the alarm after forgetting to type the exit code. The trio manages to escape the bank's [[Rottweiler]]s and re-escapes Chad who tasers Ferrell, but then lets them go before accidentally tasering himself.

Molly arrives at the bank and Brisbane accuses her system of being useless and fires a Phillips family friend and bank employee Hartmann. Brisbane's guest Francois Nuffaut apologizes to Molly and redirects the blame onto Brisbane for throwing a party at the bank before the security system was operable.

Gus and Austin find out that Maddy played them after seeing each other's necklaces and leave her, but the trio reunites during a police chase and evades them successfully.

Maddy and her friends go to the hospital with the money to pay for the surgery, but Molly realizes who the thieves are (through the amount they stole being equal to that of surgery costs and the climbing gear Maddy left in the vault) and intercepts them. Molly realizes her daughter was only doing what she thought was right for her father and does a cover-up by telling the bank executives that the robbery was an unplanned test she performed as chief of security. As they leave, reporters outside the hospital give the public the full story.

Molly forgives Maddy for her actions. The public and the news studio sympathize with the Phillips family and donate money for Tom's surgery. Brisbane is fired; Hartmann is promoted to bank president and gives them the loan.

Three months later, Tom has recovered from the surgery. Maddy, Gus, and Austin continue to argue playfully about who will be a better boyfriend for Maddy.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Kristen Stewart]] as Madeline "Maddy" Rose Phillips, a young girl who is an expert climber.
* [[Corbin Bleu]] as Austin, a friend of Maddy who is an expert hacker.
* [[Max Thieriot]] as Gus, a friend of Maddy who is a mechanical expert.
* [[Jennifer Beals]] as Molly Phillips, the mother of Maddy who works as a security consultant at Harderbach Financial.
* [[Sam Robards]] as Tom Phillips, the proprietor of a go-kart business whose internal injuries from an earlier climbing activity have left him paralyzed enough to motivate Maddy's bank-robbing plot.
* [[John Carroll Lynch]] as Al Hartmann, a family friend of the Phillips family and worker at Harderbach Financial.
* [[James LeGros|James Le Gros]] as Ferrell, a security guard at Harderbach Financial.
* Grant Hayden Scott and Shane Avery Scott as Maxwell "Max" Phillips, the baby brother of Maddy.
* [[Michael Des Barres]] as Donald Brisbane, the bank president of Harderbach Financial.
* [[François Gideroy]] as Francois Nuffaut, a guest at Brisbane's banquet at Harderbach Financial.
* [[Stark Sands]] as Chad, Gus' brother who works as a security guard trainee at Harderbach Financial under Ferrell.
* [[Christine Estabrook]] as Sharon
* [[Kevin G. Schmidt]] as Skip, a boy who Maddy, Austin, and Gus know.
* [[Meagen Fay]] as Doctor
* [[Audrey Wasilewski]] as Nurse
}}

==Production==
[[Mara Wilson]] revealed she auditioned for the role of Maddy Phillips, despite knowing she was too old for the role, in a 2016 article written by the actress for ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilson|first=Mara|date=2016-09-17|title='Being cute just made me miserable': Mara Wilson on growing up in Hollywood|url=http://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/sep/17/being-cute-mara-wilson-growing-up-hollywood|access-date=2022-01-19|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Box office===
''Catch That Kid'' opened at #6 in the weekend of February 6, 2004, raking in $5.8 million in its first opening weekend. The film spent two weeks at the U.S. box office top ten. The film made $16.7 million in the United States and $226,963 in other countries for a worldwide total of $16.9 million, against a budget of $12 million.

===Critical response===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film received an approval rating of 13% based on 86 reviews and an average score of 3.82/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "An unimaginative heist movie aimed strictly at the preteen set."<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|catch_that_kid|Catch That Kid}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film holds a score of 33 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/transformers-age-of-extinction |title=''Catch That Kid |publisher=[[Metacritic]]/[[CBS Interactive]] |accessdate=2014-08-29}}</ref>

Critics overall expressed dislike towards the film's questionable morals and lack of originality, comparing it unfavorably to the [[Spy Kids trilogy|''Spy Kids'' trilogy]]. Despite these negative reviews, [[Roger Ebert]] of [[Ebert & Roeper]] and the [[Chicago Sun Times]] gave ''Catch That Kid'' "thumbs up", stating that it lacks the flash of ''[[Spy Kids (film)|Spy Kids]]'' and is more fun than ''[[Agent Cody Banks]]''.

==Novelization==
A [[novelization]] of the story was released in conjunction with the film. The novel was written by [[Suzanne Weyn]], [[Michael Brandt]], and [[Derek Haas]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Catch That Kid | first1 = Suzanne | last1 = Weyn | first2 = Michael | last2 = Brandt | first3 = Derek  | last3 = Haas | isbn = 9780439588119 | date = 2004 | publisher = Scholastic}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 2004]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0337917|Catch That Kid}}
* {{Mojo title|catchthatkid|Catch That Kid}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|catch_that_kid|Catch That Kid}}
* {{Metacritic film|title=Catch That Kid}}

{{Bart Freundlich}}

[[Category:2004 films]]
[[Category:2000s adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:2004 crime comedy films]]
[[Category:2000s heist films]]
[[Category:2000s teen comedy films]]
[[Category:American adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:American children's comedy films]]
[[Category:American teen comedy films]]
[[Category:American crime comedy films]]
[[Category:American heist films]]
[[Category:American spy films]]
[[Category:American remakes of Danish films]]
[[Category:English-language German films]]
[[Category:German spy films]]
[[Category:German adventure comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language Danish films]]
[[Category:Danish comedy films]]
[[Category:20th Century Fox films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Bart Freundlich]]
[[Category:Films scored by George S. Clinton]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:2000s German films]]
[[Category:English-language crime comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language adventure comedy films]]