Wondering
what to expect when you take the family to the movies? Movie Choices
for Kids takes the guesswork out of going to the movies with your
kids. These movie reviews by Jean Joachim offer parents a preview of what to expect, before
you take your children on a movie date.
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MADE OF HONOR (Running time: 101 minutes) 050508
Rated PG-13 Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd
Made of Honor is a chick flick. And it has all the bells and whistles: true love, an impending wedding, male bonding, female bonding, in-laws and incredibly romantic and gorgeous scenery. The problem I had with this movie for younger girls, like ages 10-14 is that the main character, Jack (Dempsey), is an incredible womanizer. He never makes connections that are not sexual with women. He is irresistible to them but they are very resistible to him.
While we women who are a little older and more experienced understand that he is just afraid of commitment. But the movie seems to say that it’s okay to be like that as long as in the end, you finally find a woman of worth and make a commitment.
To give Jack credit, he falls in love with a woman who is also his best friend, which does send a great message to girls. Still, if you are going to take ‘tween girls to this movie, you should plan to have some conversation afterward about avoiding men like that and what is acceptable behavior in boyfriends.
That said, Made of Honor is a charming movie. It’s funny, sweet, sad, slightly suspenseful and romantic as heck. There is a little bad language, implied sex and no violence. So take your girls, ages 12 or 13 and up while the guys are watching sports, drinking beer and scratching themselves…the older guys that is.
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IRON MAN (Running time: 126 minutes) 050508
Rated PG-13 Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard
It may be straight from Marvel Comics, but I absolutely loved Iron Man. This is the most thoughtful, well-acted, suspenseful action-hero movie since the original Spiderman. Robert Downey, Jr. is amazing as Tony Stark, engineering genius and rich playboy.
Iron Man is longer, which allows for more plot development. It starts off painting the portrait of the genius turned rich spoiled brat. He’s flip, he’s superficial, and he’s self-absorbed. Then he gets captured by terrorists in Afghanistan and everything changes.
Tony is held captive and forced to create the newest weapon, invented for the rich weapons company created by his dad. Instead, Tony creates an iron man around himself. He uses this iron man to kill his captors and escape.
Once home safe and sound Tony is a changed man. He is serious and worries about what is really happening to the weapons his company is making. Are they on the side of the good guys or the bad guys? While Tony is perfecting his Iron Man, he relies on Pepper Pots (Paltrow), his gal Friday and his butler, a robot that saves his life.
The special effects are spectacular. The machines clicking into place, the computer screens showing complex engineering plans and the aerial scenes had me fascinated. Iron Man has a little bad language, lots of violence with some blood and some implied sex. If your child, 12 and up who can get the plot won’t be disturbed by the violence, Iron Man is an excellent choice to see together, it’s really riveting, if you’ll pardon the pun.
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YOUNG AT HEART (Running time: 135 minutes) 042108
Rated PG Documentary
Wow! I don’t know when I last saw such an enjoyable film…and it’s a documentary. This is the perfect film for grandma or grandpa, but schlep your children along, too. The film is about a senior chorus founded in Massachusetts. The singers’ average age is 80, but they are some of the liveliest people around. They have traveled all over the world, singing – not “old fogy” songs, but everything from The Clash to James Brown!
The film follows a few of the members more intimately. We meet Stan, Joe, Fred, Bob, Eileen and some other soloists. While everyone is over 70 and most over 75, no one is complaining. They are all focused on learning the words and music for new songs and honing their performances. The chorus has become the focal point of their lives.
The folks in this movie defy old age stereotypes: they are not cranky, critical, or self-absorbed. Instead they are accepting, fun and interesting, providing great messages about old age for children. Perhaps that is what I most liked about this movie. But there is so much to like about this inspirational movie!
The singers are often funny, both intentionally and unintentionally. Much of the film is poignant as well, as several members of the group die during the time the group is preparing a new show. The group goes forward, even while grieving the loss of these friends.
When the singers perform for their toughest audience, the local prison, they get a standing ovation. The positive, cheerful outlook of these seniors is contagious.
If ever there was a movie to span the generations, Young At Heart is it. There is a little bad language and a few references to sex, but nothing to cause concern. Young At Heart is great for anyone from 8 to 88…and older. Don’t miss this one.
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BABY MAMA (Running time: 96 minutes) 042108
Rated PG-13 Starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Steve Martin, Sigourney Weaver
Baby Mama has some of the best comedy writing in films. It is clever as it takes a poke at working women, working moms, stay-at-home moms, business gurus, organic foods, adoption and motherhood in general.
Tina Fey is Kate, the ultra successful business woman whose biological clock just ran out. She wants to have a baby in the worst way and is unable to get pregnant, even though she isn’t married. She attacks this problem with the same determination she uses to succeed at work.
Amy Poehler plays her surrogate, or baby mama, Angie. Angie is “white trash” and Kate is upper class. Angie ends up moving in with Kate and the two women clash daily. The movie is as much about these two learning to get along as it is about motherhood and infertility.
Tina and Amy have chemistry on the screen. They create warmth and laughter while facing off. Then the first plot twist comes along. The movie moves away from its originality here as it struggles to conform to the traditional movie format.
There is some sadness, some bad language and implied sex in Baby Mama. But even with the plot twists and clichés, it is a warm and funny movie. It should be fine for children 12 and up who can understand the concept of the biological clock.
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21 (Running time: 123 minutes) 041408
Rated PG-13 Starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey
I didn’t expect to like 21. But it is an engaging film from a book based on a true story about a group of M.I.T. whiz kids who win huge sums from Las Vegas casinos by counting cards. The story centers on Ben (Sturgess), a mathematical genius, trying to get enough money to pay for Harvard Medical School.
Ben is recruited by his teacher who sees his mathematical potential adding up to big money at the casinos. Ben resists at first, but becomes frustrated by his low paying job and the heavy competition for scholarship money. Medical school will cost him $300,000. The casinos look like his only way to get what he needs to fulfill his lifetime dreams.
Ben’s dilemma is real. The number of students like Ben who work hard at school for perfect grades, have jobs, do activities and still do not get admitted to or do not receive scholarship money for college is growing. Ben, a nerdy guy is at the end of his rope, so he joins the team.
The scenes in the casino are dazzling. The lure is so strong you can feel it in the theater. Ben gets hooked on the high life: grand suites, hot clubs and pricey shopping sprees. The sweet boy disappears to be replaced by a cocky kid who thinks he can outsmart the world.
As high as he goes, he falls even deeper. Ben loses everything: M.I.T., Harvard Medical School, all his winnings and even the nerdy friends he turned his back on.
21 is a great story of rise, fall and redemption. The lessons here are clear and the punishments dramatic. There is violence, some implied sex and some bad language. 21 should be good for kids 12 and up who can understand that such risks often have serious consequences.
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THE VISITOR (Running time: 108 minutes) 041408
Rated PG-13 Starring Richard Jenkins, Hiam Abbass, Haaz Sleiman
This gentle film seems to make a statement about the methods the government takes to eliminate terrorists by deporting illegal, innocent aliens. Walter Vale (Jenkins), a lonely widower has lost his enthusiasm for anything. A college professor, he is just going through the motions of teaching at a college in Connecticut.
Forced to attend a conference, Walter returns to stay at the vacant Manhattan apartment he owns. While he was gone, someone broke in and rented his apartment illegally to two illegal immigrants.
Walter befriends the two young people. He lets them stay and their lives become entwined. Tarek (Sleiman) and Walter play the drums together in the park until Tarek is picked up for allegedly jumping a turnstile in the subway.
Then this sweet picture turns grim. Walter tries everything he knows to get Tarek out of detention, but he is unsuccessful. The movie makes these innocent immigrants sympathetic as they are caught in the tightening web created by 9/11.
There is no violence, sex or bad language. But this is a slow movie about the different generations coming together and those in need helping each other. It might be too adult for most children, especially those under fifteen. Still it is a beautiful film.
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NIM’S ISLAND (Running time: 95 minutes) 040708
Rated PG Starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler
Nim’s Island, from the book by the same name, is a lovely movie with no violence or bad language, however the mother is dead when the movie opens and the father gets lost at sea, albeit temporarily.
The opening begins with charming animation and arty cut-outs that introduce us to Nim and her dad, Jack. They live on an uninhabited island near a volcano that can’t make up its mind whether to be active or not.
Nim’s friends are a lizard, a sea lion and a pelican. She is home-schooled and is happy to be alone with her Dad on the island in the South China Sea, where every day is summer and the sun always shines. For fun Nim loses herself in the book adventures of Alex Rover, a courageous soldier of fortune.
Then dad has to go on an expedition to retrieve special plankton and Nim insists on staying behind to rescue sea turtles about to be born. From this point on the movie doesn’t have a dull moment. It moves back and forth between Nim’s adventures on the island and her father’s attempts to survive an unexpected storm.
Nim’s Island crams many adventures into 95 minutes, which makes it engaging and lively. The beautiful cinematography may have your kids asking to move there. This fairy tale, while a little harrowing when the father is struggling, is fun and enchanting. Everything turns out well in the end and there is nothing to be frightened of – no violence, no bad language and no sex – except becoming an orphan!
Nim’s Island should provide a fine weekend outing for parents and kids ages 7 and up who won’t be bothered by the dead mother and almost-dead dad.
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LEATHERHEADS (Running time: 114 minutes) 040708
Rated PG-13 Starring George Clooney, Renee Zellweger, John Krasinski
Leatherheads is a period movie supposedly about the start of professional football in the U.S. However, the movie never states that anything is true in this story. Leatherheads opens in the 1920’s when pro football players were a bunch of thugs, misfits and losers and liquor was illegal.
The Duluth team has a 45-year-old quarterback named Dodge Connelly ( Clooney).
A hotshot player, Carter Rutherford (Krasinski), is tearing up the field playing for Princeton University. When told that his team is folding as are the other teams because there is practically no attendance and therefore no money, Connelly gets the idea to hire the Princeton hero.
There is a subplot of phony war heroism and both men are out to get the girl, ace reporter, Lexie Littleton (Zellweger). The movie has the look and feel of an older movie with muted tones and absolutely marvelous music; some from the era and the rest is the masterpiece of Randy Newman, musical genius.
Leatherheads is not a brilliant movie, but its fun. The old fashioned clothes, football scenes in those old-time uniforms and the old cars all make this journey back almost a history lesson for kids. There is some bad language, bar scene brawls, lots of illegal drinking but no sex in Leatherheads. The messages are mostly positive. Leatherheads is a good rainy day movie for parents and kids 11 and up who will understand what’s going on.
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SUPERHERO MOVIE (Running time: 85 minutes) 033108
Rated PG-13 Starring Sara Paxton, Leslie Nielsen, Drake Bell
Yawn. Another supposedly funny movie doing take-offs of other movies. Yes, this movie makes fun of Spiderman. But none of these types of movies is as funny as Scary Movie, the first, the pioneer of this type.
Instead of clever humor, the movie uses bathroom humor and silly sexual references. Instead of being bitten by a spider, our hero is bitten by a dragon fly, which is wrong, since dragon flies don’t bite humans. But anyway, he gets his superpowers from the enhanced dragon fly.
Then there is the blond bully, the girlfriend our hero is afraid to be honest with about his feelings and the elderly aunt and uncle. Leslie Nielsen as the uncle is the one bright spot. Although he doesn’t have great lines as the writing isn’t great, he is funny anyway.
What passes for humor should really appeal to middle school and high school students. But the adults in the theater didn’t seem too impressed. I didn’t crack a smile. This tired stuff is a waste of time when you can be watching Be Kind, Rewind, and laughing your head off.
There is some violence, sexual and bathroom humor. Superhero Movie should be okay for kids 12 and up. Perhaps this is just one movie too many in the category for me.
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RUN FAT BOY RUN (Running time: 97 minutes) 033108
Rated PG-13 Starring Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
Run Fat Boy Run, a badly titled movie, isn’t nearly as funny as Hot Fuzz, also starring Simon Pegg. But it is funny, very warm and touching. The story is about Dennis (Pegg) a security guard with low self-esteem who, somehow, has managed to attract the attention of a warm and beautiful woman, Libby, (Newton). But when it’s time to marry this lovely creature, Dennis is afraid and runs out, leaving her at the altar, pregnant.
Simon spends the next five years regretting his cowardice. While he is still in love with his lady fair and sees her regularly as he has a terrific relationship with their son, he’s afraid to try to get back together with her.
Then he meets Libby’s new boyfriend, Whit, (Azaria) who is tall, dark, handsome, successful and crazy about Libby. Dennis feels competitive with Whit. So much so that he decides to run a marathon, which is a joke since he can’t even run one block without getting winded.
The competition between the two men mushrooms into a full blown battle which comes to a head during the marathon. Will Dennis run? Will he finish? See the movie and find out.
The best parts of this movie are the relationships between: Dennis and his best friend, Dennis and his landlord, and Dennis and his son. The supporting characters are quirky, interesting and funny. Run Fat Boy Run has good messages along with the bad language and the decadent behavior, which includes: gambling, drinking and smoking. There is no sex and only a little violence.
Run Fat Boy Run is not really a movie for kids because it is about adult issues, like commitment, responsibility, discipline and self esteem. If you have a teen or tween who wants to see it, it should be okay for kids 13 or 14 and up. Fine for adults, too.
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TYLER PERRY’S MEET THE BROWNS (Running time: 100 minutes) 032408
Rated PG-13 Starring Angela Bassett, Tyler Perry, Rick Fox
I like the way Tyler Perry creates real, hard luck situations to get his messages across about the power of love and family and doing the right thing. But some of his characters are so extreme as to be more annoying than funny.
This is the story of ( Bassett), single mother, who has three children by three different men. She is working very hard to support her kids, alone.
Brenda gets a letter telling her that her father, who she never knew, has died. The letter includes four tickets to Georgia for his burial. Brenda, losing her electricity and her struggle to survive, goes to Georgia. Her kooky family takes her in and her children too. She finds love and acceptance, but returns to Chicago to try again anyway.
Michael, her oldest and a basketball star has a friend who sells drugs. Michael goes to his friend to return the drugs he has decided not to sell when trouble breaks out and Michael is shot. Perry shows that even hanging around temporarily with a bad element can get you in trouble.
Despite some annoying family members with loud, shrill voices, this is a warm film about love and hope. There are drug situations, no bad language, some violence and no sex. Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns should be fine for kids 13 and older who understand the adult themes.
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DRILLBIT TAYLOR (Running time: 102 minutes) 032408
Rated PG-13 Starring Owen Wilson, Leslie Mann
I’m not a fan of Owen Wilson perhaps because he is overexposed in so many bad movies, but this one isn’t his fault. The writing here is awful. This movie is a mean-spirited, bully movie that is supposed to be funny but ends up being sadistic instead.
Three nerdy boys are terrorized by two horrible bullies their first week in high school. The “pranks” are not funny. The pain the boys feel is not funny. They go to the principal, who doesn’t believe them and doesn’t help. So, having no one to turn to, the boys are reduced to hiring a bodyguard who turns out to be a homeless bum just out to steal from them.
In walks Owen Wilson, a panhandler and thief. He needs to get $387 to get airfare to Canada and a start at a new life. These boys are his ticket to Canada.
That these young guys are terrorized, then victimized again by Drillbit (Wilson), is sad and not funny. Fat jokes aren’t funny. Punching weaklings isn’t funny. Masquerading as a teacher and taking advantage of a lovely lady teacher. Letting down these boys isn’t funny.
The bully is such an evil villain that you really cheer when he is beat up. But that isn’t funny either. In fact, nothing is funny about this movie. That Drillbit is “saved” by these boys and turns himself around isn’t believable.
I’d like to give the writers fifteen minutes with the horrible bully they created and see if they think he’s funny. Drillbit Taylor is a total waste of time. There is violence, bad language and implied sex…in school no less, between two teachers! Reserve this waste for kids 13 and older who have absolutely nothing else to do. Mr. Wilson, you should know better.
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HORTON HEARS A WHO (Running time: 88 minutes) 031708
Rated G Starring Jim Carrey, Steve Carell
Wow! Dr. Seuss runs away at the box office, which proves that his animated figures outdo live performances by a mile. Perhaps this is true because in the animated version, the emphasis is on the characters and the story, not on the actors hamming it up.
The story of an elephant who sticks to his guns to save a village of tiny people is as fresh, lively, funny and charming as it was when it first came out so many years ago. Jim Carrey reins himself in to let the character of Horton shine through.
Steve Carell as the Mayor of Whoville, lets the warmth and frustration of the character shine through. The animation is beautiful and completely true to Seuss’ characters. Also, the narration is in rhyme, straight from the book, while the dialogue is more up-to-date.
There is no violence, bad language or sex, as usual in Dr. Seuss’s works. But the glory of the story fills the screen and the hearts and minds of the audience.
One note: if your child can’t sit for an hour and a half, then he or she is not ready to see this in the theater. Otherwise, Horton Hears a Who, a “don’t miss” movie should be most enjoyable for kids from 5 to 95.
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COLLEGE ROAD TRIP (Running time: 83 minutes) 031708
Rated G Starring Martin Lawrence, Raven Symone, Donny Osmond
This silly movie is about a father (Lawrence) who can’t let go and his perfect daughter (Symone) who is getting ready to go off to college. The father wants his daughter to go to college 40 miles from home and she wants to go to a college 700 miles away.
While the antics of the ridiculous police chief dad range from unbelievably stupid to laughable, parents will be able to understand the worry that comes from sending kids off to college far from home. Donny Osmond plays the most annoying movie dad of all time.
Teenagers might like this movie because it makes the father look like a complete nut job, over-the-top control freak. While the movie has some funny parts, they throw in tired, clichéd comedy situations, hoping to boost the laughs. I’m wondering why we can’t have more “G” rated movies that are less annoying and predictable than this one.
College Road Trip is completely harmless – no violence, bad language or sex -- and should be fine for kids from eight to eighteen. Although younger children won’t understand the college angle, they will enjoy the silliness and the pratfalls.
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MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (Running time: 93 minutes) 031708
Rated PG-13 Starring Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee Pace
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day takes place in London just before WWII broke out in England. Miss Pettigrew (McDormand) is a nanny who is unemployed and starving when she steals a job opportunity to work for a young woman.
The young lady she works for, Delisha (Adams) is a nightclub singer sleeping her way to the top. She is trying to become a legitimate actress by illegitimate methods.
While all comes out well in the end, the movie does not have great messages for teenage girls. I enjoyed the costumes, humor, and wonderful performances, but this is strictly for adults.
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