Family Film Reviews

NEW THIS WEEK

-- A HARD-EDGED, HYPER-ARTICULATE DRAMATIZATION OF HOW A HARVARD COMPUTER NERD INVENTED (OR STOLE THE IDEA FOR) FACEBOOK; TOO R-ISH FOR MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS:

"THE SOCIAL NETWORK" PG-13 -- The machine-gun dialogue, computer hijinks, collegiate sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll at the center of this terrific movie make it problematic for middle-schoolers. But sophisticated high-schoolers won't be able to ignore "The Social Network" and its sad, edgy portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. Based on the nonfiction book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich, David Fincher's film (using "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin's crackerjack script) portrays Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) during his undergrad years at Harvard as a socially inept computer geek and arrogant intellectual motormouth. It's 2003. Zuckerberg gets dumped by his girlfriend (Rooney Mara) and viciously trashes her on his Harvard blog. The backlash makes him a pariah, but it also gives him an idea. He hacks into Harvard's and other colleges' e-mail systems, invents new algorithms, and Facebook is born. Soon, Mark is a billionaire. Only it's not that simple. The film actually cuts between the Harvard years and a law office a few years later, when Zuckerberg is trying to reach a settlement on lawsuits brought by former friends who say he stole the Facebook idea and betrayed them. This may or may not be accurate, but it's sure dramatic.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Despite the PG-13 rating, "The Social Network" takes a fairly R-ish approach to the behavior of its college-age characters. The film depicts drug use, drinking, smoking, a strongly implied sexual situation and less strongly implied promiscuity, as well as partial nudity, verbal and visual innuendo. Characters use sexist slurs and occasional strong profanity.

-- A TRULY ARTFUL VAMPIRE SAGA ABOUT LONELY CHILDREN, BUT TOO GRAPHICALLY VIOLENT FOR MOVIEGOERS UNDER 16:

"LET ME IN" R -- A chilling and bloody horror story that also becomes a poignant portrait of childhood loneliness, "Let Me In" is grim fare, even for true horror buffs, if they're under 16. A remake of the hit Swedish film "Let the Right One In" (R, 2008, based on the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist), this new version, on its own, is a stunning, moody tale. The story uses vampirism as a way to explore feelings of alienation in a sad and lonely boy. Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives with his ultrareligious mom (Cara Buono), who doesn't really listen to him. He misses his dad, who has left them, and he gets bullied horribly at school. At home, he spies on the neighbors with his telescope. When the mysterious Abby (Chloe Moretz) moves into the apartment next door with her "father" (Richard Jenkins) that cold winter, 12-year-old Owen finally makes a friend his own age. By the time he learns the truth about her, he is more loyal to Abby than anyone.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The scenes of vampirism include murder and throat-slitting, biting and drinking of blood. Despite special effects, these attacks seem graphically real. Other violence involves a crash and bullying. Adult characters smoke and drink. One brief nonexplicit sexual situation between adults includes partial nudity. The mild adolescent sexual tension between Abby and Owen isn't developed. Characters use rare profanity.

-- AN INFURIATING HEARTBREAKING DOCUMENTARY ABOUT OUR SCHOOLS, MORE FOR PARENTS, BUT ALSO FOR OBSERVANT KIDS 12 AND OLDER:

"WAITING FOR SUPERMAN" PG -- Documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth," PG, 2006) takes on America's troubled public schools in this heart-rending call to action. Though aimed at parents (and teachers and school board members and politicians), the film could have an impact on thoughtful kids 12 and older who may wonder about their own academic futures. While Guggenheim focuses (though not exclusively) on kids attending inner-city schools, the problems he finds of entrenched bureaucracy and barriers to change seem to be nationwide, with a few hopeful exceptions. Some people have faulted the film for seeming to champion charter schools at the expense of public schools, but it doesn't come off that way. Guggenheim gives the story an emotional core by focusing on several wonderful children who go to bad schools, and their parents who struggle to get them into better ones.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The strongest feeling adolescents and parents will get from "Waiting for Superman" may not be just about schools. The film sheds a harsh light on just how difficult everyday life in this country has become for many people -- whether it's affording groceries, or trying to get their children into better schools with limited space and being at the mercy of a lottery system that offers terrible odds.

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ALSO PLAYING

-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:

"ALPHA AND OMEGA" PG -- Implications of wild-animal violence make this animated feature about wolves an iffy choice for kids under 6. Add to that a clunky visual style (wolves with piggish noses) and a heavy-handed narrative and you have a disappointing kids' film. Yes, "Alpha and Omega" (made in lackluster 3-D) has moments of humor kids will like, but these are not abundant. Kate (voice of Hayden Panettiere) is an adolescent wolf. As the daughter of the pack leader she's destined to be an alpha huntress. Kate learns she's expected to marry the son of Tony, leader of a rival pack. One day Kate and her childhood pal Humphrey (Justin Long) go out wandering and are shot with tranquilizer darts and transferred from Canada to Idaho by humans. A golf-playing goose (Larry Miller) and his duck caddy (Eric Price) help the pair get home. Along the way, they're shot at, and chased by bears. Humphrey, an Omega, tries to convince Kate that he should be her love, though wolf tradition dictates that alphas and omegas do not "howl" together -- the film's euphemism for mating.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There are enough scary moments in "Alpha and Omega" to unsettle kids under 6 -- huge bears, a shotgun, and Kate's mom making threats of lethal wolf violence to anyone she deems a threat. Scenes of caribou stampeding and of the rival wolf pack preparing to fight are also scary. The film has brief toilet humor and mild sexual innuendo.

-- OK FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:

"LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA'HOOLE" PG -- The level of violence, and complex war themes in this beautiful, harrowing animated 3-D feature make it a problematic choice for kids under 10. An adolescent owl named Soren falls from the family nest with his brother Kludd. As they struggle to get airborne and flee a snarling wolf, they are kidnapped by owls from the feared Pure Ones group -- an authoritarian parliament that aims to dominate weaker owls and rule the owl world through brainwashing (called "moon blinking") and force. While Soren tries to avoid indoctrination, his brother Kludd buys into it and betrays him. Soren escapes the Pure Ones and flies to the great mythic Guardian owls about whom his father told bedtime stories. Once with the Guardians, Soren becomes a warrior and fights the Pure Ones. Based on the books by Kathryn Lasky, this story of turmoil and war clearly harks back to the rise of fascism and communism in the 20th century, woven though it is into a sword-and-sorcery style.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Even without recognizing the historical references, kids will find the evil owls, the Pure Ones, frightening. The battles between owl civilizations show the feathered creatures in armor, and taking part in aerial dogfights, a la World War II. Narrative elements about brothers torn asunder by ideology, or infants kidnapped and separated from their parents, are strong and poignant.

"YOU AGAIN" PG -- Kids 10 and older may glean a few early giggles amid all the unfunniness in this awful comedy about high-school grudges played out in adulthood. But those few laughs thin out fast. A good idea for an edgy farce gets sentimentalized and watered down in "You Again" until the cast is left with nothing to do but gape and mug. Marni (Kristen Bell) is a public relations executive who, we learn in the prologue, has overcome her high school days as a pimply, nearsighted bullying victim and outcast. She goes home for her brother's wedding only to discover that his fiancee is Joanna (Odette Yustman), the cheerleader who was her chief tormentor. Then, wouldn't you know, Joanna's aunt (Sigourney Weaver) arrives, and she's the one who shoved Marni's mom (Jamie Lee Curtis) into a pool on prom night when they were in high school. Sheesh! All these old grudges are hashed out in a most unsubtle and unsatisfying way.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The sitcomy humor features very mild sexual innuendo, some drinking and rare mild profanity.

-- PG-13s:

"WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS" -- Teens may be entertained by "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," but they're unlikely to learn much about how or why our financial system nearly went belly up in 2008. In this flabby sequel to his 1987 indictment of coldhearted American financiers, "Wall Street" (R), filmmaker Oliver Stone doesn't render a searing moral judgment the way we were hoping he would. His new movie turns out to be a shiny soap opera. Jake (Shia LaBeouf), a young Wall Street trader, is in love with Winnie (Carey Mulligan), a liberal blogger who is the estranged daughter of convicted inside trader Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). Gekko gets out of prison and gets back into the game. Jake believes father and daughter should reconcile and starts meeting with Gekko without Winnie's knowledge. This leads Jake into financial shenanigans. Gekko manipulates Jake to settle old scores against another shady trader (Josh Brolin), while also trying to win back Winnie's love.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Characters drink a lot of very good wine and liquor and use some salty profanity. The film includes sexual innuendo, particularly scenes in a men's club that may be an upscale brothel.

"DEVIL" -- A nifty little occult thriller, "Devil" offers a few worthy chills for high-schoolers, but may be too intense for some middle-schoolers. It feels -- and this is a compliment -- rather like an episode of the old "Twilight Zone" TV series from the 1960s, but with enough blood and mayhem to make it "modern." A group of five strangers are trapped on a stalled elevator in a Philadelphia high-rise. Security men in the building's nerve center see the people on the elevator turning homicidal -- or so it appears. But one devout guard believes the Devil is causing all this, and that the trapped people are there for a reason, as is a police detective (excellent Chris Messina) assigned to stop the crisis.

THE BOTTOM LINE: While the violence occurs in flickering light and nongraphically, we do see blood, people with shards of glass embedded in their necks, strung up on an extension cord or seemingly electrocuted. A flashback depicts a lethal drunk driving accident, showing the bodies of a mother and child. The script uses occasional midrange profanity and a little sexual innuendo. The film also deals early on with a possible suicide jump.

"EASY A" -- High-school kids talk about sex in a candid, slang-filled way that will make some parents cringe in this funny but very mature-themed teen comedy -- not really for middle-schoolers. Olive (Emma Stone) is smart, funny and dateless. Then she tells a little lie to her nosy friend -- that she has lost her virginity. Soon Olive's "news" goes viral and her image at school goes from wallflower to slut. Her favorite teacher (Thomas Haden Church) happens to be assigning "The Scarlett Letter" as this all unfolds. Her parents (Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson) know nothing of Olive's scandal. Her gay friend Brandon (Dan Byrd) begs her to tell the other kids she's had sex with him so they'll stop tormenting him. At a party (where teens are drinking) she and Brandon retire to a bedroom and make loud grunts so eavesdropping teens assume they're having sex. Guys start offering Olive money for sex, or for pretending to have sex with them. Olive gets fed up and comes to school in a bustier with a big letter "A" on it.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Not for middle-schoolers, "Easy A" offers a sophisticated examination of sexual attitudes among today's teens and the power of Internet-fueled gossip. The implied level of teen sexual activity -- and anxiety -- though little is shown, is disturbing, amid the laughs. There is also a marital/sexual betrayal among adults. Sexual innuendo and slang are very strong for a PG-13, but the dialogue is rich in humor. The film also spoofs phony religiosity.

-- R's:

"THE TOWN" -- Film buffs 17 and older who like crime dramas will be drawn quickly into this taut, gritty, violent saga. Ben Affleck stars and also skillfully directed and co-scripted "The Town," about a bank robbery gang from Boston's blue-collar Charlestown neighborhood. Affleck plays the gang's leader, Doug MacRay, who can't stop a trigger-happy cohort Jem (Jeremy Renner) from leading the gang into ever bloodier territory, making the FBI's lead man on their trail (Jon Hamm, in a bland turn) more eager than ever to catch them. Doug complicates his situation more by falling for Claire (Rebecca Hall), a bank officer that Jem foolishly takes hostage during a robbery. She is safely released, and can't identify any masked robbers, but Doug arranges to "meet" Claire and starts a relationship with her under false pretenses.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The shoot-outs and other head-banging mayhem in "The Town" feel very real, lethal and frightening. The film includes briefly explicit sexual situations, as well as a topless dancer, very strong profanity, drinking and smoking.

"RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE" -- The surreal yet bloody mayhem in this 3-D film, plus its post-apocalyptic fashion statements will likely give sci-fi fans 16 and older a kick, despite lame dialogue and a disjointed narrative. Milla Jovovich stars again in this fourth installment of the video-game-inspired series. As Alice, a superhuman zombie fighter, she's a one-woman army who can mow down hordes of the undead and never smudge her eyeliner. Alice has superpowers because she was experimented upon by the evil Umbrella Corporation, which made the virus that turned most of humankind into zombies. She's out for revenge and in search of other survivors. She finds her friend Claire (Ali Larter) in Alaska. They fly to Los Angeles, where they discover a few survivors holed up in a prison.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Despite the dreamlike use of slow-motion and 3-D, the beheadings, impalings and spattered blood in "Resident Evil: Afterlife" feel real enough -- strong stuff for anyone under 16 who is sensitive to screen violence. The script includes strong profanity.