Movie guidelines for family viewing
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Tuesday, September 7, 2010
WASHINGTON — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting.
Charlie St. Cloud (Universal: PG-13) — After losing his younger brother (Charlie Tahan) in a car accident for which he was indirectly responsible, a gifted sailboat racer (Zac Efron), racked by guilt and grief, becomes the caretaker of the cemetery where his sibling rests, on the edge of which, briefly each evening, he is mysteriously able to see and communicate with the lad. But his reclusiveness is challenged when a high school classmate and fellow sailor (Amanda Crew) returns to town and captures his heart. Though unusually spiritual and even explicitly religious, the melancholy parable never quite jells. Nongraphic premarital sexual activity, a few instances of sexual humor, at least one use of profanity, a couple of crude terms and six crass remarks. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III —adults.
Dinner for Schmucks (Paramount: PG-13) — To score a promotion, a financial analyst (Paul Rudd) must bring a suitable guest to the titular meal organized by his boss (Bruce Greenwood) as a competition to see which corporate hotshot can produce the most amusing idiot as a target for secret ridicule, so his accidental meeting with a bizarrely naive and nerdy IRS agent (Steve Carell) seems like a godsend until his victim’s well-intentioned bumbling begins to ruin both his career and his relationship with his live-in girlfriend (Stephanie Szostak). Though its underlying message is one of sensitivity and respect, comedy showcases numerous wayward riffs on topics such as adultery, casual sex and venereal disease. Shadowy rear and partial nudity, cohabitation, much sexual and brief irreverent humor, a couple of uses of profanity, at least one use of the F-word, six crude terms. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.
Eat Pray Love (Columbia: PG-13) — Off-kilter values underlie this fact-based narrative of a travel writer’s (Julia Roberts) self-initiated divorce (from Billy Crudup), brief affair with a much younger actor (James Franco) and yearlong quest for enlightenment and self-understanding via Italian cuisine, Hindu spirituality (under the guidance of Richard Jenkins) and romance with a Brazilian expatriate (Javier Bardem) living in Bali. Displays an ambivalent attitude toward marriage, ignores Christianity as a source of insight and revolves around an interminably navel-gazing central figure. That figure, along the path of her pampered pilgrimage, confuses psychobabble for wisdom. Complex religious themes, acceptability of divorce, nonmarital and premarital situations, rear nudity, some sexual humor, an obscene gesture, a few uses of profanity, at least one rough and a half-dozen crude terms. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.
The Expendables (Lionsgate/Millennium: R) — Brutally violent action vehicle in which a veritable Who’s Who of Hollywood tough guys and professional sports stars form a ragtag brotherhood of mercenaries who travel the world freeing hostages and toppling dictators. On the advice of the group’s soulful guru (Mickey Rourke), its leader (Sylvester Stallone) and the gang’s knife specialist (Jason Statham) head to a fictional South American nation where a rogue CIA agent (Eric Roberts) is running a corrupt regime. Relentless bloody and graphic violence, including shootings, knifings, explosions, decapitations, torture, and implied rape, some rough language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.
Inception (Warner Bros.: PG-13) — Ingenious sci-fi brainteaser in which, at the behest of a powerful CEO (Ken Watanabe), a corporate spy (Leonardo DiCaprio) who uses “shared dreaming” to extract secrets from the minds of sleeping executives leads a team of skilled collaborators (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and Dileep Rao) on a raid into the subconscious of the heir (Cillian Murphy) to a rival business. A tour de force of spectacle and suspense that eventually involves four adventures unfolding simultaneously at different levels of consciousness, though his crafty action tale is rife with explosions and gunplay and engages the imagination more than the heart. Much violence, some of it bloody, several uses of profanity, a few crude and crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults.
The Last Airbender (Paramount: PG) — Strained 3-D fantasy adventure, set in an alternate world where some human beings have the power to “bend,” that is, control, one of the basic elements of fire, earth, air and water, and where a brother and sister (Jackson Rathbone and Nicola Peltz) assist a child (Noah Ringer) who is the latest incarnation of a global peace-giver in his quest to restore order to society by ending the oppressive rule of a warlike, imperialist nation (led by Cliff Curtis and Aasif Mandvi). Though free of objectionable language or behavior, live-action adaptation of an animated TV series fails to gain dramatic traction, bogging down in stilted dialogue and endless explanations of its back story, some aspects of which suggest pantheism or nonscriptural beliefs. Potentially confusing religious themes and much nongraphic martial arts and combat violence. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents.
Nanny McPhee Returns (Universal: PG) — The eerie but magically effective matron of the title (Emma Thompson) transports herself to wartime Britain, where she comes to the rescue of a frazzled rural mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal). With her husband (Ewan McGregor) away at the front, she is failing spectacularly to cope with the raucous squabbling between her three children (Asa Butterfield, Lil Woods and Oscar Steer) and a duo of snobbish London cousins (Rosie Taylor-Ritson and Eros Vlahos). A sweetly nostalgic tale underpinned by lessons about cooperation, sharing, courage and the need to believe in happy endings, with only some mildly gross barnyard humor and slapstick violence to give parents pause. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage.
The Other Guys (Columbia: PG-13) — This occasionally amusing but excessively vulgar action comedy follows the odd-couple antics of an eccentric, paperwork-loving police accountant (Will Ferrell) and his frustrated perforce partner (Mark Wahlberg) — a former street cop unwillingly desk-bound after making a high-profile mistake — as they investigate the financial shenanigans of a British-born banker (Steve Coogan). Relentlessly foul-mouthed dialogue and tiresome bedroom jokes. Considerable, though bloodless, action violence; much sexual humor; a couple of uses of profanity; and pervasive crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.
Ramona and Beezus (Fox: G) — Gentle, winning comedy about a good-hearted but accident-prone 9-year-old (Joey King) whose antics annoy her more conventional teen sister (Selena Gomez) as their happy existence in an idyllic Portland, Ore., suburb is temporarily overshadowed by their accountant dad’s (John Corbett) loss of his job, and the resulting mild tensions between him and their mom (Bridget Moynahan), but brightened again by the rekindled romance between a favorite aunt (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her high school sweetheart (Josh Duhamel). Traditional values and close-knit family relationships reign and, though nothing very momentous happens, what does take place transpires in the nicest possible way. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage.
Salt (Columbia/Relativity: PG-13) — Well-acted but thoroughly violent action thriller in which, after being accused by a Russian intelligence officer (Daniel Olbrychski) of being a double agent, a highly skilled CIA operative (Angelina Jolie) goes on the run, leaving her colleagues (principally Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor) scrambling to uncover whether she is friend or foe, even as they try to track her down. Jolie makes a weak script reasonably compelling, and her character displays strong marital loyalty; yet, as an all-but-superhuman killing machine, her path is littered with corpses. Frequent violence, some of it bloody, profanity, one instance of the F-word. The Catholic News Service classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Universal: PG-13) — Wildly violent, sexually freewheeling action comedy in which an angst-ridden Toronto twentysomething (Michael Cera) dumps a 17-year-old high schooler (Ellen Wong) to romance the aloof girl of his dreams (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). He must then battle a succession of her “evil exes” in bone-crunching, video-game-style combat. In addition to the relentless throwdowns, the script also features subplots portraying gay relationships and group sex as perfectly acceptable. Pervasive harsh, though bloodless violence, frivolous treatment of aberrant sexuality, brief nongraphic nonmarital sexual activity, a same-sex kiss, several bleeped and one audible use of the F-word, some crude and much crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Summit: PG-13) — A well-behaved vampire (Robert Pattinson) and an equally courtly werewolf (Taylor Lautner) overcome their natural antipathy and temporarily unite to protect the teen mortal (Kristen Stewart) they both love from the threat posed by a vengeance-driven bloodsucker (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her plasma-hungry minions. Third installment in the hugely popular Gothic romance franchise draws on self-referential humor to leaven its potentially ridiculous proceedings as it ramps up the mostly bloodless supernatural battling, but shifts the basis of the main couple’s chaste interaction from a matter of constraint to one of choice. Considerable stylized violence, an off-screen rape, a scene of nongraphic sensuality, a birth control reference and a few mildly crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents.
Vampires Suck (Fox: PG-13) — In this pale, stale and mirthless spoof of the “Twilight” films, Matt Lanter is a tortured vampire and Jenn Proske is the mortal high schooler he loves. Completing the triangle is her friend with werewolf issues played by Chris Riggi. The bottom of the comedy barrel is scraped mightily with a collection of sight gags strung together to approximate the story arc of the famed teen-vampire franchise. Fleeting profane, crude and crass language, some sexual innuendo. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults.
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