Today's movies don't offer many opportunities for mother-daughter dates, so the G-rated "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" would attract notice even if it weren't based on a highly popular line of dolls and books.

It's an old-fashioned movie in terms of its themes and values. Even the harsher aspects of its Depression-era setting are gently handled.

Although older viewers may complain that some of the roles verge on caricature and some of the actors are prone to overact, the fan base isn't likely to be bothered by such things. After all, these 'tweens probably have seen several previous "American Girl" cable TV movies, and are primed for this first movie released on the big screen.

Also likely to attract young viewers' attention is that the title role is played by that Everygirl of the moment, Abigail Breslin, who brings plenty of energy and charisma to the part. Breslin herself seems like a throwback to Shirley Temple-type child stars of the studio era.

The well-grounded story concerns 10-year-old Kit Kittredge, living with her family in Cincinnati in 1934. Although it's the height of the Great Depression, everything seems fine for this particular family. Kit's dad (Chris O'Donnell) owns a car dealership and her mom (Julia Ormond) is absorbed in the sort of garden club activities suitable for a solidly middle-class family.

Then everything suddenly falls apart. Dad loses his job and goes on his own to Chicago in search of new employment, and Mom makes ends meet by transforming their lovely home into a boarding house. Director Patricia Rozema does a really nice job of showing how the bad news is interpreted from a child's perspective. Kit's initial confusion and anger give way to her determination to get through a potentially depressing scenario.

This is basically a girls' adventure story, because Kit is an aspiring journalist who wants to publish her observations in a daily newspaper. She's brushed off by the paper's snooty editor, Mr. Gibson (Wallace Shawn), but Kit keeps banging away at her typewriter in the spirit of a 1930s newspaper comedy.

Her big journalistic break, if you will, comes about as a result of her friendship with some local hobos. An unemployed teen and the unrelated child for whom he's admirably looking out are given domestic chores by Kit's mom, and these juvenile hobos introduce Kit to an entire hobo community living out in the woods.

Most of the neighborhood residents are suspicious of the hobo camp, blaming it for a rash of criminal activity. Kit snoops around and her investigative journalism suddenly gives the static story some momentum. Young audience members will like the Sherlock Holmes aspect of this movie, and the mild suspense should keep them in their seats.

Among the boarding house residents who figure into the intrigue-laden story are a mobile librarian (Joan Cusack), whose book-filled van brings literary culture and perhaps more into their lives; and a traveling magician (Stanley Tucci), whose profession is the literal embodiment of how mysterious the world can seem to a child.

Cusack and Tucci also typify the cast's tendency to overplay roles that already verge on caricature, but it's such a good-natured movie that it's best to just smile as Kit investigates the adult schemes and ultimately produces a hobo headline that's sure to sell newspapers and, for that matter, movie tickets. Grade: B

"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" (G) opens Wednesday, July 2, at area theaters.

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