Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

New Line Cinema

Review in a Hurry: Adorable Abigail Breslin brings her ray of Little Miss Sunshine to the titular heroine, a resourceful 10-year-old who saves her family's home during the Great Depression. As Annie and "the sun'll come out tomorrow" as that sounds, Kit is sweet without being sappy, cute without being cloying.

The Bigger Picture: Not familiar with American Girl? Then you're clearly not a little girl or the parent of young daughters. The hugely popular dolls and tie-in books—which blend historical fact with inspirational fiction—have finally spawned a big-screen adaptation. But you don't have to be in that pink-and-pretty-princess demographic to be charmed by this winning film.

Times are tough in Depression-era Cincinnati, home to aspiring newspaper reporter Kit Kittredge (Breslin). Her dad (Chris O'Donnell) loses his car dealership and leaves town to find work, so Kit and her mom (Julia Ormond) have to manage on their own. To make ends meet, they take in assorted boarders, including a lusty dancer (Jane Krakowski), a stuffy matron (Glenne Headly) and a shady magician (Stanley Tucci).

When a crime spree strikes the city and the Kittredge home, all signs point to two young hobos Kit has befriended. It's up to the plucky girl with a nose for news to snoop out the real culprits and keep her family from financial ruin.

Though bathed in soft, golden light, K.K. never sugarcoats the Depression but presents a more realistic—and surprisingly relevant—portrait of homelessness, unemployment and even class conflicts, which Kit confronts at school. In addition to fascinating period details, such as "hobo jungles" and a "hobo language," the flick weaves in positive messages about tenacity, altruism and compassion (and thankfully avoids the stock "just be yourself" lesson often wedged into children's movies).

But things never feel educational or preachy, thanks to an engaging, gently paced story and endearing cast of characters. Ormond and the usually bland O'Donnell do solid supporting work here, but the film really flies because of Breslin, who makes her Kit a genuine, likeable kid.

Take that, Dakota.

The 180—a Second Opinion: Joan Cusack way overplays the kookiness as a mobile librarian who crashes her van into stuff. Straining for laughs, she bugs her eyes, flails her arms and scrunches her face more than Renée Zellweger. We love you, Joan, but tone it down.