Catch That Kid (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Action Comedy	Main Menu Introduction Menu Audio Deleted Scenes Short Film-Inside Look - Gone Nutty (Animation)
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	87:56
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (34:48)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Bart Freundlich
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Kristen Stewart Corbin Bleu Max Thieriot Jennifer Beals Sam Robards John Carroll Lynch James LeGros Michael Des Barres Stark Sands Lennie Loftin François Giroday Christine Estabrook Kevin Schmidt
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	George S. Clinton

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, X-Box prominently featured.
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The box-office success of Spy Kids seems to have led to a boom in the 'kids with gadgets' subgenre. We have been bombarded with similar films, including the likes of Agent Cody Banks, and more recently Catch That Kid. The younger members of my reviewing team (check out my bio via the link at the bottom of this review to see who they are) had heard a little about Catch That Kid, but felt it did not have the same 'rep' as the others I have mentioned, but they were keen to watch it nevertheless. As it turns out, the whole family had fun with this one.

    The film begins with a young girl (aged about 12-13 or so) climbing the side of a storage tower with what looks like mountain climbing gear. Her name is Maddy (a nice performance from Kristen Stewart), and she is hoping to follow in the steps of her mountain climber father Tom (Sam Robards), though her mother (played by Jennifer Beals) doesn't want her climbing because of a bad accident Tom had during a free climb. As it turns out, the accident Tom had was worse than suspected and he collapses unexpectedly and is rushed into hospital.

    The prognosis at the hospital is not good, and the family are faced with a bill of $250,000 for an experimental operation (which is not covered by their medical insurance because of the experimental nature of the surgery). They are unable to raise the money (as the bank manager kindly notes - "a bank has no heart"). Maddy conceives a wild plan to break into the bank (where her mother works as the chief security consultant) and steal the money needed for the operation. She enlists the aid of her friends Austin (a mechanic) and Gus (a computer genius) and they embark on a Mission Impossible style break-in.

    Well, I won't go into the details of the break-in and its denouement except to say that there is some good humour and also a decent stab at building up a little tension during the robbery. The young stars do a decent job and there is a nice little subplot involving the two boys and their romantic interest in Maddy. The main plot is more troubling; apart from the dubious moral of 'if you don't have the money you need just steal it', how was Maddy hoping to explain the money to her parents? So, as with most action-comedy films, you have to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride (and explain that it is only a movie to any impressionable youngsters in the audience, hence the PG rating). My sample audience ranged from 5-12 years old - they all loved the film, and the adults watching passed a pleasant 90 minutes or so as well, so what more can you ask for in a piece of escapist entertainment such as this?

Video

    This is a very recent film with a very good video transfer, though I have seen better, which suggests this one was made on a moderate budget. Some effective use is made of split screens and jump cuts.

    The aspect ratio of the transfer is 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced; this was the ratio on its original release.

    The transfer is sharp, but I was left with a feeling that the picture just didn't look as crisp as it should for a DVD made in 2004 (which may have been an issue with the original print). There is reasonable shadow detail (as at 10:23), though some of the night scenes later in the film are lacking a little in this area. There is no low level noise.

    Colours are good - they are bright most of the time with some nicely reproduced flesh tones.

    There are occasional flecks on the picture, mostly positive artefacts, which is disappointing for a film of this vintage. The only other issue I have with the video transfer on the disc is that there is also some edge enhancement, particularly around the face of the characters.

    The only subtitle track on the DVD is an English for the Hearing Impaired track. This is of fair quality, with audio cues such as "woman over headphones" and "crowd cheering", but it misses the odd word, and occasionally even an entire sentence.

    The layer change takes place at 34:48 and was not disruptive on my equipment.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio transfer is just above average, and somewhat variable in quality.

    The only audio track on offer is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, encoded at a bitrate of 448 Kb/s.

    The dialogue is rather disappointing, being muddy at times which made it difficult to pick up what was being said. The audio sync is good, both in dialogue and effects.

    The music by George S. Clinton is not too bad, though it is the songs in the soundtrack which really give the film its drive. The volume level is fine compared to the other audio elements in the film.

    The level of surround presence is variable - at 3:56 the surrounds kick in with some serious activity, but I had been wondering if they were connected up to that point. During the rest of the film the surround activity varies from (VERY) subtle to aggressive, with the bank's alarm system particularly good. The subwoofer makes an effective contribution to both music and effects, while also being mysteriously absent at times.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    While there are technically two extras on the disc, only one of them has anything to do with the film, so the disc is a little lacking in this regard. We are also missing an audio commentary which is present on the Region 1 disc, so this is a pretty poor effort.

Menu

    The menu has accompanying audio. From the menu you can Play the Movie, go to Language Selection (the lone subtitle), go to Scene Selection (24 of those), select Special Features (note the plural, only the Deleted Scenes are to be found there), or select an Inside Look (more on this below).

Deleted Scenes

    There are 8 deleted scenes, presented at an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1, non 16x9 enhanced. They run for a total of 7:56 and are interesting but not essential to the film. I always enjoy watching deleted scenes and this selection was no exception.

Inside Look

    This one is really strange. Firstly, I'm not sure why it isn't found under Special Features on the disc. Secondly, I'm not sure how it qualifies as an 'Inside Look' on this disc when it is actually the Gone Nutty feature from the Ice Age DVD (and featuring one of the animal characters from that film). I have absolutely no idea what it is doing here, but if you have not seen it before it runs 4:34 and is very funny.

    As mentioned earlier the Region 1 version of this DVD includes an audio commentary track. It is by the three young actors who play the leads in the film, and is apparently rather poor, but on the assumption that any commentary is better than none, I suggest that the Region 1 version of the disc is preferred.

    This is an enjoyable film aimed at the younger members of the audience. It comes with a good video transfer and fair (though variable) audio transfer. The extras are lacking and the suggested retail price is rather high, giving you the opportunity to rent first and check that the kids like it, and possibly purchase when it nears the $20 mark.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall