Olivia Haden's father is run over by a robber and killed. Thirteen months later, Olivia is alone with her older brother Miles as their mother leaves on a business trip. Olivia is walking her dog at 2am when she witnesses her rich neighbor being kidnapped. Her brother dismisses her. The cops don't believe her either. While detective Dottie Wheel (Susan Sarandon) is skeptical, she gives her a card. Olivia investigates on her own.This is what great actors do in between the good stuff. Not everything can be gold. There's no shame in doing it for the money. It's work. This is a low grade kiddie movie with some rather dangerous crime drama. Little Ripley Sobo reminds me of a child Lindsay Lohan with her red hair and spunky personality. Sarandon is out of place like a World Series MVP playing in a Little Leagues game. They filmed this in NYC and that ground level sense is at least something. This is mostly weak with sad comedic attempts. The other actors are functional to relatively good. The writing is simply weak and this is not good.

Not many late summer kiddie movies come out every year. Catering to Pre-teens is tough. Yet, too often the efforts that are made to woo this age group turn out to be bad. That's what has happened with this film too. Ace the Case has nothing to ace neither there is a case. The mystery is not half as intelligent as it should be for the kids that it targets. Yet, its not totally unwatchable. In fact, kids would probably love Olivia, A 9 year old everyday New York girl who will resonate with a lot of kids of her age. Being involved in a detective story that takes her to the uncharted and "dangerous" big city all alone is a child trap. While some may consider it risky content for kids, I think its standard children's story trope. Kids these days are exposed to much worse. Heck, even Home Alone movies had more violence. There's also this adorable dog and a humongous rabbit in it which btw, have zero significance to anything happening in the movie. However, if you ask me its just a steaming pile of toddler puke. Chances are that your kids are asking for this movie or you want to take them out to see it. My advice is well, rather take them to a museum or something. Then again, they're your kids, so do whatever you want. I may even recommend it for my own nieces and and nephews.Susan Sarandon is a pro and its endearing to see her interacting with the the main character of the movie. I hope she got paid well for the role and its not a favour to the producers because her every scene in the movie added a little bit of life to its limp plot. Ripley Solo who plays the role of Olivia, the little red-head kid trying to solve a crime, is promising. Its no wonder that she comes from Broadway experience. She should get more sensible roles in Hollywood while she's cute and charming. We know what happens to most of the prodigious child stars when they grow up. Unless, she turns out to be the next Natalie Portman. Besides these two, every other cast and character is basically unimportant and treated that way.I can see why kids might enjoy it but won't they gobble up just about anything that's got a child doing bold things? Just plop them in front of a TV and put on a DVD of this movie. It will work. Although, I wouldn't go so far as to claim it is the modern Home Alone. It does remind of the Macaulay Culkin's New York misadventures but its not as entertaining. What's most puzzling is that despite so much classic material available for children movies, filmmakers choose to experiment with sub-par concepts that don't sit well with any generation. Make a modern adaptation of Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer and even adults will go to watch it. On second thought, Ace the Case is probably a welcome break from constant barrage of superhero movies that are not even talking to kids anymore.

I'd seen a lot of ads for this film on social media and thought I would give it a try. I mean you can't go wrong with Susan Sarandon. The beginning of the film was a bit disjointed, but 10 minutes in I was hooked! Is it getting an Oscar nomination? Probably not, but it's a cute film that I know my little cousins will love. They love Matilda the Musical so I think they will be excited to see Ripley Sobo as Olivia the detective! As a big brother to a much younger sister, It was interesting seeing how this dynamic played on screen. My sister is 6 years younger than me and growing up we had very little in common. Aaron Sauter does an excellent job of playing the uninterested and annoyed older brother. It reminds me of Home Alone and Harriet the Spy from when I was a kid.

Ace The Case is at times a thrilling mystery, and at others is a fun-filled family caper. I rented this on Itunes and ended up buying it for my two girls who really identified with the main character. My family and I live and work in New York City- It was definitely a love letter to the city- The locations visited and seen on screen are beautifully shot. Visually the Director of Photography and the Director combined forces to really showcase the setting. I thought that the production really found a gem of an actress with Ripley Sobo (Olivia). We had seen her earlier in the year on Broadway in "Matilda." I've always liked Susan Sarandon- not just her as an actress but her politics too- and she does well as a seasoned detective. My husband and I were a little bit wary at times of the scary aspects in the film- (kidnapping, hostage) but it never gets so out of hand that we were worried about our kids seeing it. Overall this film is lovely, and I can see several more evening viewings in our families future.