You can't help but think about how disastrous the current situation in Hollywood is when the umpteenth representative of the infamous category "cliché ridden, sugar coated American cute movies" arrives, and you've got to go see it because your niece is crying about itsince the first announcement. I didn't think Kitt Kittredge: An American Girl could've been an exception to the rule, but I was hoping it kind of would because I thought the atypical scenario, different era and diverse cast could have delivered a rather unique movie. It didn't happen, sadly. Kitt Kittredge is about a little girl in Cincinnati trying to become a great journalist during the Depression, while her parents and the US are struggling to get out of the tragic events that were occurring at that time. Is this movie bad? In short, yes. It's got a talented cast, but their lines and performances are mediocre at best. You can't blame the actors for everything that's wrong in this movie, anyway, because the script certainly didn't help. A really big number of clichés already seen in a thousands other movies, ridiculous gags that make you smile for how bad they are, characterizations that are so stereotyped and dull you won't believe it. This movie pushes itself even further, though, when it kicks the cheap cry pedal. There are a lot of scenes in which you're supposed to cry, but delivery is so phoned and trite you're left wondering how could anyone more than six years old would fall into these cheap Hollywood tricks in which they make you automatically cry via a mix of pompous music, ruffian camera angles and redundant lines. This is how Hollywood typically does it, but it doesn't work here. I'll keep it short: if you want to teach your sons about how the Depression was, read 'em a book, even the American Doll ones will do. Do not waste your time with this really, really cheap product which might very well be the biggest cliché fest Hollywood had produced in years. Avoid it.