Review of Under the Same Moon (2007) by Clayton W — 12 Sep 2008

Short reviews:

[i]Under the Same Moon[/i] is basically [i]August Rush[/i] en Espanol, but it doesn't have the charm or the weird energy. The young lead is extremely talented and is the biggest success of the movie. The main plot gets lost among uninteresting secondary characters and pointless subplots that seem to go back on what they set out to establish in the first place. The father is going to redeem himself; [i]no he isn't![/i] She isn't in love with him; [i]yes she is![/i] It's really quite annoying. Also, the subtitle settings on the DVD were absolutely whack. Not a waste of a movie, but not the heart-warming story it bills itself as.

[i]Kitt Kittredge[/i], on the other hand, was an absolute delight. I didn't expect an American Girl movie to be so good, but the excellent cast (Stanley Tucci and Julia Ormond are really great) and fun mash-up of genres (it's basically a children's historical mystery comedy) make this one of the year's biggest surprises. It's undeniably sincere, and it's cool to see so many able young performers gathered in a single movie. Little Miss Sunshine's pals all keep up with her formidable talent, and the neatly handled finale ties everything up nicely.