Family Film Reviews

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"TANGLED" PG -- An animated, 3-D riff on the Rapunzel fairy tale, "Tangled" turns out to be a humorous, prettily made delight, and a good bet for kids 6 and older. The dialogue brims with modern slang, but the anachronistic language is consistent and somehow it works, despite the medieval setting. The sorceress Mother Gothel (voice of Donna Murphy) steals the baby princess Rapunzel from the castle and locks the child in a tower. Rapunzel grows up thinking the sorceress is her overprotective mother. The king and queen still hope to see their child again and send colorful lanterns into the sky every year on her birthday. Through the sorceress' machinations, Rapunzel's ever-growing (600 feet) magical hair keeps the crone looking young. When Rapunzel reaches 18 (now voiced by Mandy Moore), while her "mother" is away, the tower is scaled by Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), a thief on the run, having just stolen a crown from the palace. He's pursued by Maximus, a haughty royal horse (who often acts like a dog). Rapunzel, aided by her chameleon Pascal (adorable), bops Flynn on the head with a skillet. So they "meet cute." Flynn helps Rapunzel get out and see a bit of the world, and then drops his criminal ways to protect her from those who want to cause her harm. "Tangled" is also an old-style musical, with tuneful ballads and witty production numbers.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Besides the head-banging with the skillet, there is a scene in which Rapunzel and Flynn nearly drown, but most of the action sequences are not scary and played for comedy. The 3-D effects are muted and not likely to scare kids 6 and older.

"BURLESQUE" PG-13 -- Glitzy, schlocky, kitschy, a rip-off -- all these describe "Burlesque." Yet so does another word -- fun. The movie is too sexualized for most middle-schoolers, but for high-schoolers and adults, it's a guilty pleasure. It's hilariously easy, for example, to predict dialogue and plot twists. Meanwhile. Bob Fosse, the late director of the 1972 hit film "Cabaret" (PG, based on the original Broadway show), would be stunned at all the ideas that "Burlesque" director/writer Steve Antin has lifted from him. Pop diva Christina Aguilera plays Ali, a waitress who leaves a small town in Iowa and goes to Los Angeles, hoping to dance and sing. She discovers a club called the Burlesque Lounge, run by the sequined and formidable Tess (Cher) and her right-hand man Sean (Stanley Tucci). The girls at the club dance sexily and lip-sync to famous songs, but they do not sing. Ali lands a job as a waitress at the club and meets bartender/would-be composer Jack (Cam Gigandet). They become platonic roommates (he's engaged), with lots of sexual tension. Finally Ali proves to Tess she has musical and dancing chops, but another dancer, Nikki (Kristen Bell), tries to stop her. Tess' club is on shaky financial footing and Ali handles that, too.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There are several implied overnight trysts between Ali and Jack, but we see only kissing, ever-skimpier clothing, and then they cut to the next morning in bed. The dancing, as mentioned , is very steamily choreographed, but not exactly sexually explicit. Characters drink a lot and the script contains occasional midrange profanity.

"THE NEXT THREE DAYS" PG-13 -- This tightly wound thriller feels more like an R-rated film and is better geared to high-schoolers. The quick bursts of violence, while not excessively graphic, are intense and upsetting, as is the story of a family torn apart. Adapted from a French film, "The Next Three Days" chronicles community college professor John Brennan's (Russell Crowe) determination to get his adored wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) out of jail, where she sits convicted of murdering her boss. She has declared her innocence and John absolutely believes her. (The opening scene when the Brennans are finishing breakfast as the police break in to take Lara prisoner is very unsettling, with their 3-year-old son sobbing amid the chaos.) A couple of years go by and John becomes obsessed with breaking Lara out of jail. As he enters the criminal underworld in search of fake passports and such, he finds he must use violence to survive, and he lets his obsession change him irretrievably.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The action scenes include a couple of loud and lethal shootings, bloody wounds and some fistfights. The dialogue features occasional midrange profanity. We learn that Lara attempted suicide in jail and see her bandaged wrists. There is a violent scene in a meth lab. The sense that their little boy's well-being is always at risk is very strong.

"LOVE & OTHER DRUGS" R -- Teens 17 and older who enjoy an intense love story with a weepy-happy finale will glean much pleasure from "Love & Other Drugs." The R rating reflects steamy, semi-nude, quite explicit sexual situations, and strong language. Extremely well acted by stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, with a sharp, witty script and a sweeping, big-emotion approach by director Edward Zwick, the movie is a full-on experience. It's 1997. Jamie (Gyllenhaal) is a self-absorbed playboy with a low opinion of himself, seconded by most of his loving but critical family. He gets a job hawking Pfizer prescription drugs to doctors, and soon he's selling them the new Viagra. He falls hard for one doctor's (Hank Azaria) patient, Maggie (Hathaway), a sarcastic, beautiful artist who has early-stage Parkinson's Disease. She claims she wants no emotional ties -- just an affair. Jamie agrees, until his stronger feelings take over. How they work out their relationship makes for a juicy soap-opera-ish finale.

THE BOTTOM LINE: In addition to the sexual situations, the film includes very strong profanity, graphic sexual slang, much drinking and some prescription drug misuse.

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-- OK FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:

"HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS -- PART 1" PG-13 -- More violent and darkly moody than last year's film ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," PG, 2009), "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1" deserves a stronger rating than PG, but something less than a PG-13. Anyone for a PG-10? Most kids 10 and older who are familiar with the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's series will be OK at the film, despite its escalation of harrowing moments. They'll revel in the exquisite detail and the deeply felt characterizations and yes, the sense of danger. One caveat: Much plot-clarifying dialogue spoken by the young stars is unforgivably mumbled, but those who know the story will have no trouble. Kids under 10 may quail at the intensity of the attacks on wizards-in-training Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) by the evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and his shape-shifting Death Eaters. Harry and friends don't go to Hogwarts this time, in the wake of Professor Dumbledore's death at the end of "Half-Blood Prince." They leave friends and family, perhaps forever, to wander in the forest, trying to avoid the Death Eaters and find a way to destroy the Horcrux they acquired at the now Voldemort-controlled Ministry of Magic. The Horcrux contains part of Voldemort's soul, and they must destroy it prior to Harry's final duel with the evil wizard. The movie has humor, but it is often solemn and with a vivid sense of mortality and dread.

THE BOTTOM LINE: With SPOILER ALERTS: Tragic deaths of humans (not central characters) and magical creatures occur, as well as several bloody injuries. Voldemort holds a professor from Hogwarts in suspension, then sics his huge serpent on her, its jaws gaping, though we don't see the actual devouring. Someone nearly drowns, and everyone engages in explosive wand battles. Harry has a mildly sexually charged kiss with Ginny Weasley. Dumbledore's tomb is opened. Harry weeps at his parents' grave.

"MEGAMIND" PG -- It's tough to categorize this animated 3-D sci-fi comedy for a particular age group. It spoofs superhero movies with sharp repartee and clever references to other films in ways that will tickle teenage and grown-up film buffs. Yet there's enough uncomplicated silliness in it to divert kids 10 and older. Younger than that, and "Megamind" may prove soporific. It's also uneven -- intermittently clever and sometimes hilarious, but occasionally dull for everyone. The blue, oblong-headed supervillain Megamind (voice of Will Ferrell) terrorizes Metro City (which he mispronounces as "atrocity" with an "m" at the front). His archenemy is the preening superhero Metro Man (Brad Pitt). Both superhumans, we learn in a prologue, were sent to Earth as babies, when their own planet was destroyed. Back in the "present day," Megamind unexpectedly destroys Metro Man. Never much of a self-starting villain, he's at a loss without him. He finds himself yearning for love and falling for TV reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey), who hates him. Aided by his fish sidekick Minion (David Cross), Megamind creates a new superhero nemesis.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Megamind refers to "getting my butt kicked." Some action sequences, though animated, are a little intense, with explosions and large robotic fighters. We see what might be the skeleton of the vaporized Metro Man. Roxanne's dopey cameraman, morphed into a superhuman "hero" by Megamind, becomes a bully.

-- PG-13s:

"UNSTOPPABLE" -- Teens who like action flicks will get adrenaline kicks out of this runaway-train saga and its true-blue working men and women heroes. But those who like their movie thrills intensely realistic may feel shortchanged. While full of crackerjack performances, "Unstoppable" earns its PG-13 by pulling punches when it comes to disaster-movie tradition. All kinds of terrible events are predicted, but most never happen. The excitement lies in the lightning edits and the sound of tons of steel shrieking down the tracks. A veteran locomotive engineer, Frank (Denzel Washington), and his rookie second-in-command, Will (Chris Pine), risk their lives to pursue a freight train that has rolled away from its incompetent engineer and headed under full power down a track. It's pulling tankers full of toxic material and headed straight for a city. Frank and Will throw their engine into reverse and go after the train, hoping to latch on and slow it down. Rosario Dawson wears authority gracefully as a rail yard official.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The movie depicts much destruction of property at train crossings. One man trying to board the train from a helicopter appears to be seriously injured, but his and other injuries, except for one bloodied foot, are shown nongraphically. School kids on another train seem briefly at risk, but are safe. The dialogue uses midrange profanity and mild sexual innuendo about Frank's college-age daughters earning tuition at Hooters.

"MORNING GLORY" -- Rachel McAdams' wonderfully witty portrait of a workaholic TV producer may be the only thing that draws in high-school-age audiences. (The script is a little crude for middle-schoolers.) As a comedy about network morning shows, the film goes for the broad laugh and features lots of folks in late middle-age. It's amusing, but not the least bit edgy or subtle. Becky Fuller (McAdams), an ambitious morning show producer, lands a job at a struggling network show called "Daybreak." She convinces the brass to let her use the network's legendary former evening news anchor Mike Pomeroy (a growling, scowling Harrison Ford) as co-host. Bitter about losing his evening gig and big on Scotch, Mike despises chatty morning shows and openly sulks on-air, infuriating the show's longtime female co-host (Diane Keaton). Becky has her work cut out for her.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The movie includes a couple of semi-steamy but nonexplicit sexual situations -- Becky and her new love tearing each other's clothes off and kissing. The script includes much, mostly mild but sometimes naughty, sexual innuendo, as well as midrange profanity.

-- R's:

"127 HOURS" Limited Release -- The grislier aspects of this survival story earn the R rating, though they occur only in the last part of the film. High-schoolers 16 and older with strong stomachs and a love of experimental cinema may find "127 Hours" riveting. Director Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire," R, 2008) has created an impressionistic film with lots of split-screen images and an unusual, electronic soundtrack. The film is based on the experiences of real-life hiker and climber Aron Ralston, played with utter honesty by James Franco. In 2003 Ralston went hiking in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. The film re-enacts how, in a split second, a small, loose boulder hit him, pinned his hand and trapped him in a narrow crevasse. Armed with a cheap pen knife, Ralston tries but cannot free his hand. It becomes horribly clear what he must do to save his life.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The amputation sequence is agony to watch, intensified by that music, sounding like nerve endings. There are also sequences about drinking his own urine after his water runs out. Some of Aron's flashbacks include nongraphic but strongly implied college drink-and-sex-a-thons. The dialogue includes profanity.

"DUE DATE" -- Crass, profane and emotionally tone deaf, this raucous road-trip comedy isn't nearly as funny or clever as it aims to be, and teens 17 and older will note that, especially if they saw director Todd Phillips' comedic triumph, "The Hangover" (R, 2009). "Due Date" has moments of modest hilarity, but it's more often tiresome. And when Phillips tries to layer real sentiment into it, the result seems phony. Robert Downey Jr. plays Peter, who's trying to make it from Atlanta to Los Angeles in time for his wife's (Michelle Monaghan) cesarean birth of their first child. Before take-off, a misunderstanding on the plane with flaky would-be actor Ethan (Zach Galifianakis) gets both men tossed off and put on the no-fly list. They share a rental car to L.A. Peter is sarcastic, quick to anger and clearly not daddy material. Ethan is ignorant and inappropriate. They set off cross-country destined to clash.

THE BOTTOM LINE: In one supposedly comic scene, Peter punches an annoying little boy hard in the stomach, then just as despicably scares him into not telling anyone. The film contains strong profanity; a fairly explicit masturbation scene; major marijuana use; nonlethal violence; and crazy car crashes. A major theme in the film involves Ethan's recent loss of his father and how he'll dispose of the ashes.

"FOR COLORED GIRLS" -- Writer/director Tyler Perry has done a terrific job adapting for the screen Ntozake Shange's beloved "choreopoem" (published in 1975 and opened off-Broadway in 1976) about the interconnected lives, triumphs and tragedies of a group of urban African-American women. Alas, the film is not for moviegoers under 16 or 17. Some of the stories are harsh, involving a back-alley abortion, a rape, and a drunken, abusive husband dropping two young children to their deaths. Perry has retained many of the solo poems from Shange's stage play as close-up monologues, and he's added a linking narrative. Kimberly Elise is heartbreaking as the bereaved mother. Phylicia Rashad, Loretta Devine, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg and Janet Jackson all give fine performances. The movie runs long, and may feel stagey to some, but it is a rich, unusual piece.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The death of the children is not shown graphically -- we see the father let go of their hands -- but is still horrific. The film depicts a vicious date rape which, while clothed, feels graphic. Consensual sexual situations with partial undress are more implied and not explicit. The abortion scene also stops short, but has explicit implications. The dialogue includes strong profanity and some characters drink.