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Film
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 6, 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.
The Lion King A
(G) -- The 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.
(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.
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 fisticuffs violence.
(PG-13) -- Leonardo DiCaprio may attract young viewers, but parents should be ready to discuss the consequences of his character's teen crime spree, during which he posed as a lawyer, a doctor and an 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, sexual situations, mature themes, including divorce and adultery.
(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.
(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.
(PG) -- The Motion Picture Association of America gave a PG rating to this comedy about a kangaroo stealing mob money and the klutzes (Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson) retrieving it. But reasons for the rating -- "language, crude humor, sensuality and violence" -- sound more like PG-13 material.
(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.
(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. They include pacing and dialogue that young viewers may not appreciate, plus mature themes of child abuse, a childbirth scene and mild violence.
(PG-13) -- Jackie Chan is popular with children, but this isn't his TV cartoon series. The Western spoof includes plenty of martial arts violence that shouldn't be attempted at home, plus a few profanities and a dollop of sexual situations and double-entendres.
Biker Boyz B-
(PG-13) -- Laurence Fishburne leads a motorcycle club composed of African-American businessmen who swap their suits for leathers after work. The MPAA rating is due to violence, sexual content and profanity.
(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.
(PG-13) -- A winged creature called the Tooth Fairy terrorizes teenage lovers and the girl's younger brother. Intense terror and grisly images, along with brief profanity, are reasons for the rating.
(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.
(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 pacing and mature themes -- including lesbianism, infidelity, AIDS and suicide -- are too downbeat for young attention spans. And for some adults. Moderate profanity.
(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.
(PG-13) -- Loud, persistent violence, some sensuality and Martin Lawrence's potty mouth are reasons for the rating.
(PG-13) -- A CIA expert (Al Pacino) coaches a rookie agent (Colin Farrell) in spy games, then uses him to identify a double agent. Moderate violence, sexuality and profanity.