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Film
Family Movie Guide
By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 17, 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
Agent Cody Banks B
(PG) -- Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz becomes an adolescent James Bond, echoing the secret-agent misadventures of Spy Kids. Like that film and its sequel, Agent Cody Banks includes bloodless blow-'em-up violence and a few rude words but nothing to offend. Brief, mild sensuality from an adult spy (Angie Harmon) is harmless fun.
Ghosts of the Abyss A-
(G) -- Titanic director James Cameron revisits that historic tragedy, filming an expedition to explore the ship's wreckage. The result is an exciting 1-hour documentary filmed in 3-D (and IMAX-size proportions in other U.S. markets). Moderate true-life tension.
Piglet's Big Movie
(G) -- Winnie the Pooh's tiny pal Piglet faces size discrimination by the citizens of the Hundred Acre Woods, in a movie that will be on home video soon. Nothing objectionable except Disney's attempt to shove inferior projects into theaters for fast cash.
What a Girl Wants D
(PG) -- Fans of The Princess Diaries may enjoy this teen-girl fantasy starring Nickelodeon favorite Amanda Bynes. She plays a cute klutz meeting her biological father (Colin Firth) for the first time. Some parents may blush while explaining that to young children, but the film is essentially a harmless fairy tale with some mildly rude language.
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
Bend It Like Beckham B-
(PG-13) -- Teenage girls, especially those with athletic interests, should enjoy this British comedy about a young Sikh soccer player resisting her family's traditional role expectations for women. The humor includes some sexual suggestiveness, and a few rude works sneak into the hard-to-follow accents. But this is a nice piece of cross-cultural fluff, like Billy Elliot and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Bulletproof Monk D
(PG-13) -- A mysterious warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) appoints and trains his successor (Seann William Scott) in the dangerous task of protecting a sacred scroll. Loads of acrobatic, Matrix-style violence, moderate profanity and some sexual content make this questionable fare for children.
The Core D
(PG-13) -- The end of the world is coming, this time because Earth's core has stopped spinning. A team of terranauts travels to the center to detonate a jump-starting nuclear bomb. The MPAA rating is due to sci-fi tension and brief profanity, not to mention the wrong answers that could result on geology tests.
Chasing Papi F
(PG) -- A playboy (Eduardo Verastegui) juggles three girlfriends in different states, then copes with all of them in one hectic weekend. This is a grownup romantic comedy with mild sensuality and profanity, although the Hispanic flavor could make it appealing to younger viewers in that demographic.
Holes A
(PG) -- The Newberry Award-winning book inspires the comic adventures of juvenile delinquents at a detention camp forced by wicked guards (Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight) to dig for buried treasure. The film contains mild profanity and violence, plus mature themes of corrupt authority figures and the heroes' brushes with the law. Recommended for ages 10 and over.
NOT RECOMMENDED
Anger Management B-
(PG-13) -- Adam Sandler has his share of young fans, but parents should know that many of the jokes in this film deal with crude sexual subjects and moderate profanity, including f-words. The film's MPAA rating was successfully appealed from its original R, but the film is still more appropriate for adults.
Bringing Down the House B
(PG-13) -- A lonely guy (Steve Martin) flirts on the Internet and meets an escaped convict (Queen Latifah) who adds spice to his dull life. Some of that fun comes in the form of sexual humor, punch-line profanity and drug references.
Chicago A
(PG-13) -- The Academy Awards' best movie 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.
Head of State C
(PG-13) -- Chris Rock's humor is toned down a bit for this political satire, but there's still plenty of comical profanity, some sexual references and drug-related humor.
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.
Malibu's Most Wanted C
(PG-13) -- Jamie Kennedy experiments with movie stardom, playing an upper-class white guy with a severe hip-hop fixation. His misadventures include all the unsavory elements of the culture: crude sexual humor, harsh profanity and semi-automatic violence. It's intended as a spoof, but parents should discuss that fact with children before they think such behavior is being glamorized.
View from the Top
(PG-13) -- Gwyneth Paltrow stars as a small-town refugee dreaming of becoming a flight attendant. Desperate lunges for humor include sophomoric sexual jokes, profanity.
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