Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Last Friday, I saw the movie ‘Catch that Kid’ on Disney+. Apparently, it’s a remake of the Danish film called ‘Klatretøsen’. Not that I would know that fact beforehand when watching this film, though I have seen the film on display at DVD stores and it has taken me a while to check this certain film out.
I assumed this was going to be another ‘Spy Kids’ or ‘Agent Cody Banks’-style of film, especially with there being three kids involved in an action mission of some kind. Instead, it turned out to be a bank heist movie, as three kids become involved to rob a bank to obtain money to save someone’s father.
This was unusual to see whilst watching the film. Now that’s not to say the film is excellent by any means. In fact, this film was met with mixed reviews when it came out in 2004. But it was enjoyable excursion regarding how three talented kids handled a bank heist with climbing, mechanics and computer hacking.
Incidentally, this film was also called ‘Mission Without Permission’ when released on DVD in the UK, giving me the impression that this was another ‘Spy Kids’ rip-off. A bit annoying, as it’s the ‘X-Men 2’ argument that I have when films are called one thing in one country and another thing in another. 😐
This film happens to feature Kristen Stewart in one of her early roles as an actress in her career. Yep! Before she did ‘Zathura: A Space Adventure’ as well as ‘The Twilight Saga’ films, Kristen Stewart appeared in this bank heist movie for kids, which was interesting and enjoyable to see while watching this.
Kirsten Stewart plays Maddy Phillips, a 12-year-old girl who loves to climb, but finds herself in a dilemma when her father becomes hospitalised from a climb years earlier. She’s joined by two friends – Max Thieriot as Gus and Corbin Bleu as Austin – who assist her to rob a bank to get money.
This is because Maddy and her mother need $250,000 in order to get the experimental operation that Maddy’s father needs in order to survive. Gus is a mechanic whilst Austin is a computer geek, and with their talents and Maddy’s climbing, the trio work together to conduct this huge bank heist.
The film is clearly catered for kids and there’s a lot of comedic moments and over-the-top performances from the actors appearing in this film. Sometimes it’s charming, sometimes it’s cringy. It was funny to see Gus and Austin vying for Maddy’s affections so one of them can be her boyfriend. 😀
Maddy uses that to her advantage in order to get what she wants by making the boys help her, as she make semi-romantic promises. This ultimately doesn’t work in her favour in the end, as the boys realised that Maddy tricked them to get what she wants. Thankfully, they remain friends by the end.
The rest of the film’s cast includes Jennifer Beals as Molly, Maddy’s mother who works as a security consultant at Harderbach Financial, and Sam Robards as Tom, Maddy’s father who gets paralyzed in the film. I found Jennifer Beals and Sam Robards’ performances quite good throughout the movie. 🙂
There’s John Carroll Lynch as Al Hartman, a family friend of the Phillips family and a worker at Harderbach Financial, who sees himself as an aspiring actor. There’s also James Le Gros as Ferrell, a security guard at Harderbach Financial, who I found way over-the-top and incompetent at security. 😀
It was funny how Ferrell got stunned and did an over-the-top fall to the floor. 😀 Maddy, Gus and Austin also have to look after Max, Maddy’s baby brother, played by Grunt Hayden and Shane Avery Scott, whilst they’re doing the bank heist. The trio of kids also get to and fro in go-karts in the film. 🙂
There’s Michael Des Barres as Donald Brisbane, the bank president of Harderbach Financial, who I found too mean and too stupid throughout the film. And there’s Stark Sands as Chad, Gus’ brother who works as a security guard trainee at Harderbach Financial under Ferrell. Not greatly, I would add. 😀
‘Catch that Kid’ or ‘Mission Without Permission’ has been enjoyable to watch as a film on Disney+ lately. It does have quite a number of over-the-top performances and comedic moments, but it was fun to see this as a bank heist movie with three kids and it was intriguing to see a young Kristen Stewart in this. 🙂
Fun fact: Mara Wilson who played Matilda in the 1996 film did audition for the role of Maddy, which was interesting to discover. 😀
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 