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Film

Family Movie Guide

By STEVE PERSALL
Published April 14, 2005

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.

SUITABLE FOR FAMILIES

(G) - Like The Princess Diaries, this Disney release about an aspiring skater (Michelle Trachtenberg) is squeaky clean and aimed at a young, female audience.

(PG) - Two British boys find a fortune and dream of ways to spend it before the switch to euros makes the loot worthless. Mild morality issues at work here, plus brief profanity and perilous events. Danny Boyle's film resembles Finding Neverland with its occasional flights of fantasy.

(PG) - An animated world populated by robots (with voices by Robin Williams, Halle Berry and Mel Brooks) is visually appealing to children. The MPAA rating results from mildly crude language and a few double-entendres to keep grown-ups interested.

SUITABLE, WITH RESERVATIONS

(PG-13) - Queen Latifah's new comedy - a spinoff from the Barbershop series - features racy humor, sensuality, profanity and brief drug references.

(PG-13) - A single mother (Emily Mortimer) writes letters to her young son, posing as the father he never met. Then she hires a stranger (Gerald Butler) to act the part during a meeting with the curious boy. The MPAA rating is due to profanity and the abandonment theme, but older children may discuss the movie with parents and find inspiring messages.

(PG-13) - Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon are popular with the youth market, and parents shouldn't worry much about children seeing this romantic comedy. Mildly crude humor with a few sexual punch lines and brief profanity, but tamer than most MTV-friendly films these days.

(PG-13) - Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher co-star in a remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, putting a funnier spin on interracial marriage than 1967 conditions allowed. The MPAA rating is the result of sex-related humor.

(PG-13) - Sandra Bullock returns as a tomboy FBI agent forced into a feminine undercover role, this time as a Las Vegas showgirl, to catch kidnappers. Sex-related humor.

(PG) - Action star Vin Diesel goes the family-film route, playing a special operations commando protecting the children of a murdered scientist. Action-violence, crude humor and brief profanity give rise to the rating.

(PG-13) - Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz co-star in a desert adventure containing loads of action violence. Nothing graphic, but perhaps too intense for viewers younger than age 10.

NOT SUITABLE

(PG-13) - Will Smith is popular with young viewers, but the sexual references and profanity (including an f-word) are strictly for grown-ups.

(PG-13) - Not that children will be interested in seeing Woody Allen's new movie, but if they do, it includes sexual humor, profanity and boredom for all ages.

(PG-13) - This Japanese import focuses on four children abandoned by their single mother, making a life for themselves to avoid being split up by careworkers. The downbeat themes, 141-minute running time and English subtitles won't keep young viewers interested, although adults with discerning tastes should enjoy it.

[Last modified April 13, 2005, 10:28:03]