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JANE HORWITZ - FAMILY FILMGOER |
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``The Ex'' (PG-13, 1 hr., 29 min.) ``Georgia Rule'' (R, 1 hr., 50 min.) Rather than elicit sympathy as a troubled older teen come to stay with her strict Idaho grandmother in the often amusing ``Georgia Rule,'' Lindsay Lohan comes across as a snarky, selfish, oversexed, anti-social pain. Her irritating character's every encounter in the first half of this comedy-drama seems designed to upset, unsettle and hurt people she barely knows. The urge to deliver young Rachel (Lohan) a face-stinging comeuppance becomes nearly overwhelming. And when we learn things about her that should gain our sympathy, Lohan's portrayal -- and, in fairness, the way she's directed by Garry Marshall and the way her character is written by Mark Andrus -- makes it nearly impossible to care. Lohan being Lohan, of course, many teens will see ``Georgia Rule,'' and if they're open to it, the movie reveals little pockets of good acting and writing that now and then offset Lohan's scene-stealing skimpy wardrobe, chunky jewelry and flouncy angst. More for older high-schoolers, the movie is a mild R by current standards, but does contain extensive verbal discussion of childhood sexual molestation as a central theme. It also depicts alcoholism and includes verbal references to teen drug use and promiscuity and implies the start of a couple of sexual situations. Other R-ish elements include strong profanity and crude sexual language. Some may find the film's comically pious portrayal of Mormons unkind. ``Georgia Rule'' boasts fine performances by Jane Fonda as grandmother Georgia of the title, whose small-town Idaho rules Rachel would rather not obey, and by Felicity Huffman as her alcoholic daughter Lilly, Rachel's mom. Their scenes crackle with pain and wit. Garrett Hedlund is a treat as Harlan, a sweet, devout Mormon whom Rachel semi-seduces. Dermot Mulroney gives a strong, quiet portrayal as the town veterinarian. If only the film let Lohan's character sulk more in the background and gave the grown-ups center stage. BEYOND THE RATINGS GAME -- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY: ``The Ex'' (NEW) (Zach Braff as Tom, a restaurant cook who gets fired just as his wife (Amanda Peet), a lawyer, quits her job to be a stay-at-home mom (she's soon bored); financially strapped, they leave New York for her Ohio hometown, where her dad (Charles Grodin) gets Tom a job at the ad agency where he works; Tom hates it and worse yet, must work with Chip (Jason Bateman), a high-school beau of his wife's who is out to sabotage him; Tom can't retaliate because Chip uses a wheelchair; clever spoofing of office politics and new-mommydom. Pushes the boundaries of taste in portrayal of paraplegic character who becomes the target of comic mayhem (thrown down a flight of stairs) and sexually tinged jokes (he dishes it out, too, and is in no way helpless); much lewd sexual innuendo; slang references to sex organs; profanity; ethnic slurs; implied locker room nudity; start of a sexual situation. Not for middle-schoolers.) ``The Salon'' (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Belated release of 2005 film (with dated references to J-Lo and Ben Affleck, Anna Nicole Smith) -- a broad comedy-drama adapted from a stage play; set in a Baltimore salon owned by Jenny (Vivica A. Fox), story follows her efforts to raise her young son (Dabir Snell) alone, stop the city from tearing down her shop and keep peace among her employees while surviving on a street frequented by toughs and prostitutes; racial, ethnic, gay stereotypes and slurs; lewd, crude sexual language; occasionally stopped dead by righteous speeches about social issues such as corporal punishment, homophobic hate crimes, black-white romance. Brief sexual situations; profanity. Older high-schoolers.) ``Lucky You'' (NEW) (Tedious tale of a Las Vegas poker player (Eric Bana) aiming to win the world series of poker and triumph in a lifelong rivalry with his poker-champ dad (Robert Duvall); romance with a novice singer (Drew Barrymore) falters when her high moral standards don't jibe with his; Bana is too brooding, heavy-hearted in the role, adding to the film's slowness, despite edgy moments with Duvall and interesting poker scenes. Profanity; sexual innuendo; implied overnight tryst; drinking, smoking; pervasive gambling theme. More for high-schoolers.) ``The Flying Scotsman'' (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Earnest, if somewhat staid, made-for-TV-ish film about real-life Scottish bicycle racer Graeme Obree (Jonny Lee Miller), who overcame unfair rules of competition in 1993 to break the one-hour record with a redesigned bike made from scrap metal and washing machine bearings; film is most interesting in dealing with his serious depression and the help he gets from a clergyman (Brian Cox), his friend (Billy Boyd) and his wife (Laura Fraser). Suicide theme; mild sexual innuendo; middling profanity; threat of violence; flashback of four bullies urinating on a young Graeme; drinking. More for high-schoolers.) ``Year of the Dog'' (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Darkly comic, offbeat, poignant tale of a lonely woman (Molly Shannon) who spirals into a depression after the accidental death of her beloved beagle; she falls for an animal rights activist (Peter Sarsgaard) and becomes obsessed with the cause to the point of psychosis; Laura Dern shines as her sister-in-law, a wildly overprotective mom. Muted depiction of a dying dog; a big dog that bites; references to a hunting accident; takes young niece and nephew to a chicken processing plant to observe the slaughter, but relents when they cry at the prospect; tranquilizers; sexual innuendo; rare profanity; drinking. More for older high-schoolers or college age.) ``Spider-Man 3'' (Overlong third film turns eloquent soul-searching of ``Spider-Man 2'' (PG-13, 2004) into lugubrious, pseudo-spiritual piffle; busy Peter Parker/ Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) is headed for a fall; he fails to notice his beloved Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is having trouble with her acting career; and he must face down: his former pal Harry (James Franco) as the blade-slinging New Goblin; the shape-shifting monster Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) who, in human form, is the escaped convict who killed Peter's Uncle Ben's (Cliff Robertson); the lizard-toothed Venom (Topher Grace), in human form a cocky schemer who wants Peter's photo gig at the Daily Bugle; and the slithery alien snaky whatsits that turn Peter bad. Nongraphic violence includes high-flying, glass-shattering, blade-hurling battles; one character impaled, another shot; innocent victims dangle above street; grim flashbacks of Uncle Ben's murder; Sandman turns into a cloud billowing down a street, echoing 9/11; mild sexual innuendo; drinking; smoking. Too slow, somber for some younger teens; even high-schoolers may squirm, snicker at times.) ``The Invisible'' (Parable of teenage anti-social behavior, forgiveness, redemption, with a supernatural spin, is surprisingly effective despite a sanitized plot and teen-flick cliches, thanks to good acting. Nick (Justin Chatwin), a rich, fatherless high-schooler, gets on the wrong side of his school's criminal girl, Annie (Margarita Levieva); she and her pals beat him up badly and leave him for dead; he emerges as a spirit, his undiscovered body still hovering between life and death; unseen and unheard, he tries to get her to tell the cops where he is. Nick dreams of suicide while alive, tries it as a ``ghost,'' fantasizes pushing Annie off a roof; Nongraphic knifings, gunplay; subtly implied overnight tryst; a steamy make-out scene; mild profanity. A bit grim for middle-schoolers.) ``Next'' (Improbable, yet quite gripping thriller stars Nicolas Cage as a weird, sad-sack Las Vegas magician who can actually see minutes into the future and even farther when in the presence of a woman (Jessica Biel) he envisions he will meet; a solemn FBI agent (Julianne Moore) wants him to help find terrorists who have a nuclear device, but he wants to be left alone; yet fate and duty call; cool plot device shows him imagining alternate outcomes at key moments. Hostage strapped to a wheelchair and blown up in upsetting scene, shown from a distance; point-blank shooting and a throat-slitting -- both non-gory; fights; intense downhill chase; couple kiss, then are seen cuddling in bed; midrange profanity; drinking; smoking. Too intense for middle schoolers because of central terrorist theme.) ``Disturbia'' (Exploitative, awkward mix of dark, violent R-ish themes with PG-13 teen romance; Shia LaBeouf as a troubled kid grieving for his father (who dies in a car accident in an upsetting prologue); he socks a teacher and gets three months' house arrest, complete with electronic ankle bracelet; bored, he starts spying on neighbors with his pal (Aaron Yoo) and the cute new girl next door (Sarah Roemer); they suspect a man (David Morse) of serial murder. Female victims shown wrapped in plastic; hints of the crimes -- screams, blood spattering; understated sexual innuendo and implied teen longing; steamy kisses; shots of girls in bikinis and of a young woman undressing (her back to the lens) show no nudity, but are from the voyeuristic teen protagonist's view; little boys secretly watch a lewd video showing topless women covered in whipped cream; infidelity theme; profanity; drug reference. Not for middle-schoolers.) -- R's: ``Georgia Rule'' (NEW) (Lindsay Lohan in uneven comedy-drama about a selfish, snarky, sex-obsessed older teen in skimpy clothes and chunky bracelets, sent to spend her pre-college summer with her strict grandmother, Georgia (Jane Fonda) in Idaho, whose rules she prefers to ignore; when her character needs our sympathy later on, it's tough to grant because she's so annoying; scenes between Georgia and Lilly (Felicity Huffman), Rachel's alcoholic mom, play terrifically; film has other gems, but Lohan's flouncing angst nearly dims them. A mild R by current standards, but with extensive verbal discussion of childhood sexual molestation as a central theme; depiction of alcoholism; verbal references to teen drug use, promiscuity, lying; beginnings of implied sexual situations; strong profanity; crude sexual language; some may find comically pious portrayal of Mormons unkind. Older high-schoolers.) ``Hot Fuzz'' (Super-droll, if overlong British comedy pokes sly fun at American action flicks and English country life; a by-the-book London cop (Simon Pegg), disliked by his lazier colleagues, is transferred to a country village, where he suspects a spate of deaths is not ``accidental''; he can't convince his clueless new partner (Nick Frost) or any other cake-eating village constable that murder is afoot. Comedic but graphic images of severed heads, charred or decaying corpses, rats, bloody crime scenes, stabbings, shootings, someone's head demolished by a toppled church steeple; a huge gun battle; child briefly taken hostage; very crude sexist slang; strong profanity; ethnic slur; drug references; toilet humor; smoking; drinking, including teen drinkers. More for college kids.) ``Fracture'' (Thriller starts out glitzy and superficial, but becomes an intriguing morality tale; Anthony Hopkins steals the show as a cold aeronautics exec (yet more human and less clever than his Hannibal Lecter) who shoots his unfaithful wife (Embeth Davidtz); Ryan Gosling as a hotshot prosecutor sees evidence melting away and must decide whether to pursue justice or decamp to a fancy law firm. Understated compared to many R films: stylized gun violence, not hugely graphic but with much blood; stylized, nongraphic sex scene; midrange profanity; semi-crude sexual language; milder sexual innuendo; toilet humor; drinking. OK for high-schoolers.) (c) 2007, Washington Post Writers Group |
Copyright 2007, Washington Post Writers Group, 1150 15th St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20071
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