CATCH THAT KID

CATCH THAT KID has genuine warmth. It extols intact families and parents who become involved with their children. Maddy’s desire to help her injured father gives the caper a generous emotional center, and the young performers mostly do a good job.

The problem is that the movie asks children to rob a bank, lie, and risk their lives and the lives of others—then does not adequately rebuke those choices. Its moral resolution is unsatisfying, and some characters and situations are so silly and unrealistic that they weaken both the suspense and your sympathy for the young protagonists.

You may find heart here, but the film’s moral confusion makes a home screening the wiser choice, especially for younger viewers.

Maddy is a precocious 12-year-old who loves climbing, just like her father. When he needs an expensive operation after a paralyzing mountain-climbing accident, she decides to rob a bank vault designed by her mother.

With help from Gus, who works on her father’s go-kart track, and Austin, who knows computers and film cameras, Maddy plans to defeat the vault’s modern security system. But dangerous challenges await the three friends.

Two stars means this is a watchable movie with clear weaknesses. Most of the performers do a good job, and the story has considerable heart.

But a silly, over-the-top bank security guard feels unrealistic, as do other situations. Those choices make the exciting moments less suspenseful and involving than they should be. The protagonists’ bad decisions also undercut the audience sympathy the film needs.

The movie’s positive moral elements center on family life and parents becoming involved with their children. Maddy’s effort to help her father reflects strong affection and loyalty within an intact family.

At the same time, the film’s Romantic worldview treats people as fundamentally good at heart and lets emotion weaken moral accountability and careful thinking. Maddy and her friends steal from a bank, lie to obtain help, and recklessly risk lives. Maddy’s mother also lies to help her at an important point, while the children are never truly punished for their actions. The movie does not adequately distinguish loving motives from wrong choices.

The film’s heart is its love for family, but Scripture joins love with truth and obedience: “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise” (Proverbs 13:20).

CATCH THAT KID has heart and a strong love for family, but its silly situations and weak moral resolution limit its value. Because the film does not properly rebuke stealing, lying, and reckless risk-taking, WAIT FOR HOME is the wiser choice for your family. For more suitable options, see.