Film

The plastic empire of historical dolls created by Pleasant T. Rowland in 1986 and sold to aggressive-marketing toy juggernaut Mattel in 1998 has resulted in this silver-screen infomercial, the first in multiplexes but the fourth in a line of bland product-placement features that debuted on the WB. Like the previous films, which counted Mia Farrow, Marcia Gay Harden and Molly Ringwald among their ranks, Kit Kittredge boasts an eclectic mix of Oscar-caliber actors and colorful B-listers. First among them is Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin, whose pixie charms are no match for the lifeless civic lesson offered up as a plot.

As with all the fact-based characters fashioned by American Girl, Kit lives during a specific era that challenges her with a social injustice: in this case the Depression and the resultant homeless who are unfairly accused of causing a hobo crime spree on the streets of Cincinnati. Kit herself tastes economic desperation when her family is forced to take in boarders for money, and turns Nancy Drew on some surprising suspects when valuables go missing. By all means, teach our children about America’s storied past, but don’t use history to put lipstick on a narrative pig bred for selling bacon.