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Family movie guide
The Family Movie Guide should be used along with the Motion Picture Association of America rating system for selecting movies suitable for children. Only films rated G, PG or PG-13 are included in this weekly listing, along with occasional R-rated films that may have entertainment or educational value for older children with parental guidance. Compiled by St. Petersburg Times film critic Steve Persall.
By Times staff
© St. Petersburg Times
published June 20, 2002
RECOMMENDED
Lilo & Stitch
(PG) -- Disney's summertime animation offering is closer to Cartoon Network shenanigans than classics such as The Lion King and Aladdin. Children will love Stitch, an ill-tempered alien posing as a pet on Earth. Girls in particular will bond with Lilo, a Hawaiian orphan dealing with a big sister, taunting classmates and loneliness. A few crude jokes are harmless, and a few nice messages shine through.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
(G) -- Nothing objectionable except animal peril, as a wild horse gallops through the Old West, meets good and bad humans and falls in love with a mare.
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
Scooby-Doo
(PG) -- The venerable cartoon series gets the big-screen treatment with live actors and a computer-generated Great Dane who likes Scooby snacks. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar will attract young viewers, and parents who tag along shouldn't be embarrassed by the material. Some crude humor emerges, of course, plus some rude language and scary action as Scooby and the Mystery Machine gang chase zombies in an amusement park.
Spider-Man
(PG-13) -- Comic book-style violence -- loud, incendiary and occasionally gruesome -- is the main concern for parents, whose children probably won't be deterred from seeing Spidey on the big screen. Some scary images, including Willem Dafoe's villainous Green Goblin makeup, but hardly nightmare material. More like daydreams.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(PG) -- Jedi warriors are back in full Force in the next chapter of the Skywalker saga, a more mature, violent movie than the childish fantasy of Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Several sustained space battles contain explosive, occasionally gruesome violence, lightsaber fights and scary creatures, and the intrigue behind the birth of the evil Empire may bore young children. Otherwise, it's a cool way to spend a summer matinee.
NOT RECOMMENDED
About a Boy
(PG-13) -- Hugh Grant plays a philanderer lying to single mothers and persuading a boy (Nicholas Hoult) to pose as his son. Mature themes include suicide, single-parenting problems and arrested development. Minor profanity. Despite its young co-star, children won't find much of interest in this comedy made for adults.
Bad Company
(PG-13) -- Chris Rock has a youthful following, so this spy thriller and occasional comedy may appeal to them. Rock, however, isn't rolling at his HBO raunchiest here. The movie includes several episodes of violence and intense dread, plus a few sexually charged one-liners, and the moderate profanity includes one f-word.
The Bourne Identity
(PG-13) -- Matt Damon plays an amnesia victim gradually becoming aware that he's an assassination target. Mature spy themes don't have much youth appeal anyway, but the film contains moderate profanity and several intense episodes of violence.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
(PG-13) -- Young boys won't have much interest in a cross-generational story of mothers and daughters. Young girls who don't already like the taste of Fried Green Tomatoes could also be bored. The PG-13 rating is based on mature themes, moderate profanity and brief sensuality, including a discreetly topless joyride scene.
Enough
(PG-13) -- Jennifer Lopez has plenty of young fans, but Enough may be too much for them to handle. J.Lo plays a viciously abused wife who retaliates with excessive force. The rating results from "intense scenes of domestic violence, some sensuality and language."
Juwanna Mann
(PG-13) -- Moderate profanity and sex-related humor earned the MPAA rating for this basketball comedy. The story involves a male player posing as a woman to continue his career in a professional league for females. Expect several naughty close calls in the locker room and sexual tension when Vivica A. Fox tempts the hero out of his disguise.
Minority Report
(PG-13) -- Only Steven Spielberg could get away with a PG-13 rating for such a tense, violent and thematically frightening film. It's science fiction, which may attract young viewers, but the film's vision of a future world where civil liberties are dispensable is too bleak and cerebral for some children. Mature themes include a parent's worst nightmare, drug addiction and grisly humor. Brief sexual situations and profanity.
The Sum of All Fears
(PG-13) -- Young viewers aren't the target audience for movies based on Tom Clancy's CIA adventure novels. Much of this movie is more political talk than action, and the exciting parts depict the city of Baltimore under nuclear attack by terrorists, hardly a comforting thought for children these days. The disaster images may be troubling to some viewers. Other violence includes strangulation murder. Moderate profanity including one f-word. Mild sensuality.
Undercover Brother
(PG-13) -- Occasionally raunchy spoof of blaxploitation movies of the 1970s, so children won't get some of the best jokes anyway. Much of the humor is sexually charged, plus drug-abuse references and campy violence.
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