Catch That Kid (released as Mission Without Permission in the UK) is an action-comedy family film released by 20th Century Fox in 2004. It's a remake of the Danish film Klatretøsen.
The father of 12-year-old Madeline "Maddy" Phillips (Kristen Stewart) has been paralyzed from the waist down due to old injuries sustained from a climbing accident; while an experimental treatment is available, insurance won't cover it and her family doesn't have the $250,000 needed for the operation. Maddy decides that the only logical course of action is to rob a bank, and she recruits her friends Austin (Corbin Bleu) and Gus (Max Thieriot) to help her. Complicating matters, however, is that their bank of choice has a security system designed by Maddy's mom (Jennifer Beals).
This film provides examples of:
- Black and Nerdy: Austin is black and the team's hacker.
- Chekhov's Gun: Austin is being taught to calm down a guard dog by giving it the command "ausfahrt" (which is German for "exit"). He botches the command up several times by saying "ass fart", causing the dog to give chase to him until he escapes. During the heist, the kids end up getting chased by the same guard dog, and this time, Austin gets the command right, subduing the dog.
- Chekhov's Hobby: The bank owner is a big fan of Robert De Niro. This not only provides the kids with a clue about what the master security password is, but also provides the owner with a particular Badass Boast to belt out at the finale:(After getting fed up with the bank manager) "Are you talking to me?! Are you talking to me? There's nobody else here, so YOU MUST! BE TALKING! TO ME!!
- Chekhov's Lecture: Maddy's mother tells her she thinks about her all the time. This makes Maddy realize her name is the final password.
- Chekhov's Skill: Maddy's climbing abilities.
- Child Prodigy: Austin the hacker, and Gus the mechanic.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Donald Brisbane, the bank manager, has this vibe."A bank has no heart, Mrs. Phillips – only paper in a vault."
- Dump Them All: Maddy rejects both love interests by the end of the movie.
- Friends Turned Romantic Rivals: Gus, Austin, and Maddy are all friends and both Gus and Austin have feelings for Maddy. She plays on this, giving them each half a locket and telling them that she has the other half, in order to get them to help her with the robbery. In the end they find out and ask her who the better boyfriend is: She runs away before choosing.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Gus, rigging his go-karts with caltrops, turbo boosters, and more.
- The Heist: The entire premise of the film.
- Hero Antagonist: Anyone out to stop Maddy, Austin and Gus to pull off their heist. Granted, the bank manager was a Jerkass, but completely within his rights.
- Love Triangle: Both Gus and and Austin have feelings for Maddy. She plays on this, giving them each half a locket and telling them that she has the other half, in order to get them to help her with the robbery. In the end they find out and ask her who the better boyfriend is. Maddie runs off without choosing either.
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": The security password used for Maddy's mother's security system is Madeline, her full first name. The bank owner uses "DeNiro" as his personal master password (oddly enough, the former application of the trope manages to subvert the kids' belief that the "DeNiro" password alone would grant them total access to the loot).
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The owner of the bank. He fires the bank's manager for having a party to celebrate the security system before it was even tested, accepted that the entire heist was a plan by Maddy's mother to show it wasn't ready, personally donated $50,000 to help the father's surgery, and assured they could agree to a loan to cover the rest of the bill.
- Teen Superspy: Three twelve year old preteens rob a high security bank.
- Unconventional Vehicle Chase: The kids end up getting away from the crime scene via go-karts.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The ending never reveals whether Chad gets into trouble for tasering his boss to help the kids escape.
