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Family Movie Guide
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 16, 2003
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.
RECOMMENDED
The Lion King A
(G) -- Disney animated classic returns in the IMAX format. The screen image is larger and the music louder, but the film's fun and inspiring themes remain intact. Mild peril and veiled violence, mature themes, including the murder of a parent and subsequent misplaced guilt.
Treasure Planet C+
(PG) -- Disney updates Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island to the space age with mixed results. The animation is equal to the studio's standards, yet the reworked story is forgettable. Bloodless sci-fi violence, perilous scenes and a few mildly scary aliens.
The Wild Thornberrys C+
(PG) -- The animated Nickelodeon series gets the big-screen treatment, with feisty Eliza Thornberry (voice of Lacey Chabert) saving elephants from poachers. The PG rating is the result of some minor perilous situations faced by Eliza and her jungle buddies.
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
Antwone Fisher A-
(PG-13) -- Denzel Washington directs and co-stars in an inspiring, fact-based tale of a Navy seaman whose childhood abuse led to counseling and a search for his biological parents. Tough material, handled delicately, includes mental, physical and sexual abuse. Mild sensuality. Moderate profanity including two f-words. Brief fisticuff violence.
The Blue Collar Tour: The Movie
(PG-13) -- Standup comedians Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White perform in a concert documentary aimed at their core audience: Southerners and Yankees who enjoy ridiculing them. Some jokes get a bit crude or sexually risque, but nothing more offensive than network television standards these days.
Catch Me If You Can B
(PG-13) -- Leonardo DiCaprio may attract young viewers, but parents should be ready to discuss the consequences of his character's teen crime spree, posing as a lawyer, doctor and airline pilot to cash bogus checks. Steven Spielberg's film makes crime look like great fun, even paying off by the end credits. Moderate profanity and sexual situations, mature themes, including divorce and adultery.
Die Another Day B+
(PG-13) -- James Bond returns for his 20th "official" film adventure (Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again were renegade productions outside the loop). This one contains the usual amount of sanitized sex and violence, but the fantasy elements and popularity of Agent 007's long career have probably taught parents what to expect. Moderate profanity, blow-'em-up action and seductive women such as Halle Berry.
Drumline B
(PG-13) -- This inspiring tale of a Harlem musician (Nick Cannon) transplanted to a Southern university on a band scholarship should appeal to young audiences. Mature themes include regional and racial tensions, plus moderate profanity and a few minor sexual references.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets B
(PG) -- Everyone's favorite junior wizard returns in the second film based on J.K. Rowling's popular book series. This time, Harry and his friends endure a scarier adventure than in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, including nightmare-inspiring creatures and malevolent adult authority figures. The film contains more intense violence, including Harry's bloody duel with a monster and an attacking tree. Harry's involvement with occult practices may concern some parents. The movie's 161-minute running time can test the patience of small children.
Kangaroo Jack
(PG) -- The MPAA gave a PG rating to this comedy about a kangaroo stealing mob money and the klutzes (Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson) retrieving it. But the reasons for the rating: "language, crude humor, sensuality and violence" sound more like PG-13 material.
Maid in Manhattan C+
(PG-13) -- Jennifer Lopez's younger fans will flock to see her fall in love onscreen, playing a hotel maid posing as a socialite to impress a political candidate/playboy (Ralph Fiennes). Moderate profanity and some humorous sexual references.
Nicholas Nickleby B+
(PG) -- Charles Dickens' tale of a young man (Charlie Hunnam) separated from his family after his father's death is filmed (again) with all those Dickensian touches intact. That includes pacing and dialogue that young viewers may not appreciate, plus mature themes of child abuse, a childbirth scene and mild violence.
Star Trek: Nemesis B
(PG-13) -- The 10th voyage through movie theaters for this spaced-out franchise includes the usual science fiction-style violence, strange creatures that could invade small children's dreams and, according to the MPAA, "a scene of sexual content."
Two Weeks Notice B-
(PG-13) -- Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant co-star in a romantic comedy spiced with sexual innuendo and humor. Mild profanity.
NOT RECOMMENDED
Chicago A
(PG-13) -- The best film of 2002 isn't for children. Director Rob Marshall turns the Broadway musical into a steamy bump-and-grind with mature themes including infidelity, using sex to get ahead, murder, corruption and all that jazz. Moderate profanity, brief violence.
Far From Heaven B+
(PG-13) -- Julianne Moore plays a 1950s housewife discovering that her husband (Dennis Quaid) is gay, then developing a close relationship with a black gardener (Dennis Haysbert) at a time when interracial friendships were uncommon. The mature themes of Todd Haynes' film are obvious and addressed with candor that movies 50 years ago -- a thematic inspiration here -- weren't allowed. Profanity, including one f-word. Strong sexual situations.
A Guy Thing
(PG-13) -- An engaged man (Jason Lee) wakes up from his bachelor party with his fiancee's cousin (Julia Stiles) in his bed, unable to remember if any infidelity occurred. The film's rating is due to profanity, crude humor, drug references and sexual content.
The Hours B-
(PG-13) -- Children generally won't be interested in this tale of three women in various centuries suicidally influenced by Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway. The film's pedestrian pacing and mature themes -- including lesbianism, infidelity, AIDS and suicide -- are too downbeat for young attention spans. Also for some adults. Moderate profanity.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers B
(PG-13) -- The second installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy features the same qualities as last year's The Fellowship of the Ring that may not appeal to small children: a three-hour running time, too many talky passages between violent battles and thousands of scary creatures.
National Security
(PG-13) -- Loud, persistent violence, some sensuality and Martin Lawrence's potty mouth are reasons for the MPA rating.
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