In theaters

KIT KITTREDGE: AN AMERICAN GIRL; directed by Patricia Rozema, written by Ann Peacock, 104 minutes, rated G.

Here’s a surprise. So far, one of the year’s best family films is Patricia Rozema’s “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” a movie based on the American Girl books, the American girl doll line and the staggering amount of American Girl merchandise that accompanies that line.

For the uninitiated (that would be me, maybe a few others who don’t get out much), a quick glance at some of the larger Internet toy retailers suggests that the movie is so front-loaded with American Girl products, the results could have been disastrous. Certainly in lesser hands, the movie might have been viewed purely as a vehicle to sell merchandise.

But director Rozema (“Mansfield Park”) and her screenwriter, Ann Peacock (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”), resisted that urge and went deeper. They have a story to tell, they have the talent to tell it well, and what they created with their fine cast is smart and timely – a movie about the Depression, the realities of that time (which unfortunately reflect the economic mess of our own times), and one young girl’s realizations and adventures within it.

That girl is Kit Kittredge, who is played by Abigail Breslin with all the energy of a nuclear reactor. Since Breslin has the capacity to turn on the cute factor to such a degree that it could have been a turn-off, the good news is that the script allows her enough moments of drama to give her character unexpected reservoirs of depth.

But not at the cost of pluck. Eager to be a newspaper reporter, this 9-year-old powerhouse sets out to do just that in the film’s opening moments before financial woes start to hit the country – and Kit’s upscale Cincinnati neighborhood.

All around her, homes go into foreclosure. People start to lose their jobs. And then, when Kit’s father (Chris O’Donnell) loses his car dealership due to poor sales, the crisis hits home as Kit watches in despair as he leaves town to find work. Meanwhile, Kit’s mother (Julia Ormond) raises chickens, sells eggs and also takes in boarders, which turn out to be an unusual bunch of boobs, to say the least.

Among them are a shifty magician (Stanley Tucci), a librarian (Joan Cusack) with driving issues, and a leggy dance instructor (Jane Krakowski) on the lookout for a husband. Also into Kit’s life come the two hobos (Max Thieriot, Willow Smith) she befriends, which is a good thing for them since soon they’re accused of stealing from Kit’s mother. Did they do it? Kit and her friends, Ruthie (Madison Davenport) and Stirling (Zach Mill), think otherwise, and thus begins the film’s main adventure, which has its roots steeped in the mysteries of Nancy Drew.

While the realities of the Depression are given a sun-kissed glow here (David Boyd’s cinematography is as warm as Ormond’s smile), it’s also true that they aren’t entirely sidestepped – there are scenes in which the movie faces poverty head-on and doesn’t look away.

That’s just one of the reasons “Kit Kittredge” works as well as it does – it respects its young audience, it has a keen appreciation for what it means to be a child in a troubled world, and it knows that there’s plenty to be said for the optimism that comes with innocence. If that sounds corny, you should know that for the most part, the movie itself isn’t.

Grade: B+

WeekinRewind.com is the site for Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s blog, video podcasts, iTunes portal and archive of hundreds of movie reviews. Smith’s reviews appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.