BY GLENN WHIPP >FILM CRITIC

"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" begins with a tight shot of a manual typewriter going rat-a-tat-tat. We hear a close-harmony version of the old chestnut "Side by Side" and listen as a plucky little 9-year-old girl shares her lifelong goal - she wants to be a reporter.

It's hard to decide which is more outdated - the typewriter or Kit's dream. But there is plenty of modern-day relevance in the thoughtful and sweetly entertaining "Kit Kittredge," the first feature film based on a character from the hugely successful doll line and story series now owned by Mattel.

The movie takes place in 1934, and the youthful reverie of Kit (Abigail Breslin) is soon interrupted by the harsh reality of the Great Depression. It's hard to think of too many family films featuring foreclosures, hobo camps and talk of the Civilian Conservation Corp, not to mention the tough (and sometimes wrong) choices parents must make to keep families afloat in tough times.

But then, "Kit," written by Ann Peacock and directed by Patricia Rozema, is that rare all-ages movie that never talks down to its audience and isn't afraid to use history to illuminate current times.

When Kit's mother (beautifully played by Julia Ormond) tells her daughter that "we're all just a few strokes of bad luck away" from being on the street, it isn't a stretch to think about the current mortgage foreclosure crisis and its ripple effect.

Sounds like fun at the movies, huh? Well, there's a pretty good little kid-focused mystery at the center of "Kit" where the bad guys are bad, but not too scary, and Kit and her friends learn a fine lesson about not judging people by the way they look. (Actually - and accurately - it's the grown-ups who are most in need of learning that truth.)

All the while, the implacable Kit remains focused on her goal, pestering the city editor at the local Cincinnati rag (Wallace Shawn, having fun) to publish her "kid's view" of the Depression. Shawn's ink-stained wretch swats her away every time she knocks on his door, but Kit's a girl who can't hear "no." And if she does, it certainly doesn't stop her from running down her dream.

Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672

glenn.whipp@dailynews.com

review>

KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL

>G

>Starring: Abigail Breslin, Julia Ormond, Chris O'Donnell.

>Director: Patricia Rozema.

>Running time: 1 hr. 40 min.

>Playing: Pacific's The Grove Stadium 14 in Los Angeles. Expands citywide on July 2.

>In a nutshell: Every parent's answer to "Bratz: The Movie."