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``Gracie'' (PG-13, 1 hr., 32 min.)
Teen girls in particular should find real inspiration (and a bit of outrage at the male chauvinist attitudes it portrays) in this heartfelt and touchingly acted coming-of-age tale. Set in 1978 New Jersey, ``Gracie'' tells the tale of 15-year-old Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder), who longs to play varsity soccer with the guys at her high school. (There is no girls soccer team.) She wants this because she really loves soccer and because her beloved older brother (Jesse Lee Soffer), a high-school soccer star, has died in a car accident (early in the film and not shown). She longs to honor his memory. But her surviving three brothers and grieving furniture-mover dad (Dermot Mulroney) -- a one-time soccer star himself -- think she's crazy. In fact, their attitude is stunning: A little brother declares, ``Girls lose their brains when their boobs grow'' and everyone laughs. The rest of the film -- in a narrative marred at times by scenes that seem out of order and even contradictory -- involves an emotional tug of war between Gracie and her dad: She wants him to coach her and he refuses. She reacts by flunking exams, experimenting with cigarettes and beer, joy riding and making out with a popular guy from the team (Christopher Shand) and even college boys. Her dad finally saves Gracie from herself by agreeing to train her. They must then convince the skeptical coach (John Doman) and school board to allow her to try out for the boys' team. Her mother (Elisabeth Shue), who has always felt shut out of her sons' and husband's passion, tells Gracie not to be deterred. When Gracie finally takes the field with the boys, they make an extra effort to knock her down and bloody her.
The film is loosely based on the childhood of actress Shue, who is more or less playing her own mother here, and who played soccer with the boys as a preteen in New Jersey. A strongish PG-13, perhaps not quite appropriate for more sheltered middle-schoolers, ``Gracie'' portrays the young heroine in situations that could cause her to lose her virginity at 15, with boys at one point placing bets on whether she will ``go all the way.'' But at their steamiest, the scenes never get beyond backseat kissing and a guy taking off his shirt before they are interrupted. The script uses other milder sexual innuendo, occasional mild profanity, and homophobic slurs -- an inference that girls who play sports in high school are all ``lesbos.''
P.S. FOR TEENS: Movies about young women who go against tradition -- and not only in sports -- can make for fascinating drama. One that really impressed film buffs in late 1970s was ``My Brilliant Career'' (G, 1979), starring Judy Davis. It's set in Australia in the early 20th century, about a woman who insists on following her own path and not doing what's expected. It's based on a novel by Miles Franklin.
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``Knocked Up'' (R, 2 hrs.)
Judd Apatow's new romantic comedy mixes raunchiness and heart in much the same riotous way as his previous hit movie, ``The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' (R, 2005). ``Knocked Up,'' however, remains a highly problematic choice for high-schoolers under 17 and should (in an ideal world) depend upon parental discretion. The film is ultimately quite conventional in its call for 30-ish singles who accidentally make babies to sacrifice some freedom (and lingering immaturity) to give their children traditional homes. Yet the road ``Knocked Up'' travels to reach its moral is strewn (albeit hilariously) with much strong profanity, a graphic sexual situation, crude and explicit sexual slang, graphic discussion of condom use, steaming sexual innuendo, seminudity, topless lap dancers in Las Vegas, epic marijuana use, hallucinogenic mushroom use, and other drug references, as well as drinking and toilet humor. Whew. As performed by a smart cast of comic actors (there was much improvisation, apparently), the movie exudes humanity and a wry wisdom about relationships.
Nice-guy slacker Ben (Seth Rogen) shares a filthy house with several college pals (Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Martin Starr and Jason Segel), though they are long out of school. The guys plan to start a profit-making Web site of movie-star nude scenes, but mostly they smoke dope. Ben meets gorgeous Alison (Katherine Heigl) at a bar. She is celebrating her new job at a cable network. They get drunk and have a one-night stand. A few weeks later, Alison learns, with the help of her uptight married sister (Leslie Mann), that she's pregnant. She tells Ben and what follows is a chronicle of how this mismatched pair get to know each other for the baby's sake and perhaps fall in love.
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BEYOND THE RATINGS GAME
-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:
``Shrek the Third'' PG (Droll, irreverent, inventive sequel keeps computer-animated medieval fairy-tale romp (and thinly veiled Hollywood spoof) afloat with gentle nudges about being responsible and making peace; chosen by his dying father-in-law, King Harold the frog (voice of John Cleese), to rule Far Far Away, the ogre Shrek (Mike Myers) cringes at dual prospects of being a king and a new dad; Shrek, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas) go off to find a kid (Justin Timberlake) who's next in line for the throne; evil Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and his minions invade Far Far Away on broomsticks (briefly scary image), taking Shrek's wife Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz), Snow White (Amy Poehler), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri), Cinderella (Amy Sedaris) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) hostage; Charming's silliness makes him non-scary. Verbal hint someone's tunic doesn't quite cover privates; two teens seem high on incense; alcohol reference; mild sexual innuendo; threat to kill Shrek; fights; a stabbing shown to be harmless; trees that smack people; ugly stepsister (Larry King) seems transgendered.)
-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:
``Gracie'' (NEW) (Touchingly acted tale could really inspire teen girls; 15-year-old Gracie (excellent Carly Schroeder) in 1978 New Jersey, longs to play varsity soccer with the boys (there is no girls team) for her own athletic passion and in memory of her soccer-star brother (Jesse Lee Soffer) who dies in a car crash (crash not shown); she faces stunning chauvinist attitudes, even from her surviving brothers and her dad (Dermot Mulroney); until her dad overcomes his grief and prejudices and agrees to train her, Gracie acts out with risky behavior; later, they must convince coaches and the school board that she deserves a shot; her mom (Elisabeth Shue) supports her quest; film is loosely based on Shue's own childhood soccer days; story suffers from scenes feeling out of order or contradictory, but its emotions hold up. Teen experimentation with cigarettes, beer; joy riding; boys place bets on whether Gracie will ``go all the way''; makeout scenes never get beyond backseat kissing, a guy taking off his shirt, before they're interrupted; milder sexual innuendo; occasional mild profanity; slur that teen girls who play sports are all ``lesbos''; boys try to hit, trip, bloody Gracie on the field. Not for sheltered middle-schoolers.)
``Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' (Overextended, chaotic sequel with incomprehensible plot-o'-nine-tales is mostly a bore, interspersed with moments when stars do their pirate/villain thing to great, droll effect; this time, pirate captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and callow lovers Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) and Will (Orlando Bloom) must rescue pirate reprobate Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp, doing a caricature of his caricature) from Davy Jones' (Bill Nighy with the squid face) limbo so pirate leaders can meet to discuss snarky Lord Beckett's (Tom Hollander) plan to wipe them out. Comically stylized violence still pushes PG-13 envelope with harrowing images: mass hangings -- including a boy -- with nooses around necks, feet falling through trap doors, bodies carted off; characters run through with swords, shot in head; bodies falling into sea amid cannon fire; ships going over waterfalls. The gross bits: someones snaps off a frostbitten toe; Barbossa licks someone's fallen glass eye and pops it back in; creepy fish-headed pirates in Davy Jones' thrall; mild sexual innuendo; mild profanity; drinking; themes about death, betrayal. Iffy for middle-schoolers and 'tweens with gentler sensibilities.)
``Spider-Man 3'' (Overlong third film turns eloquent soul-searching of ``Spider-Man 2'' (PG-13, 2004) into lugubrious, pseudo-spiritual piffle; Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) is so caught up in Spiderman persona's fame, he fails to notice Mary Jane's (Kirsten Dunst) stage career is failing; and he faces multiple enemies: estranged pal Harry (James Franco) as the blade-slinging New Goblin; shape-shifting monster Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) who, in human form, was the criminal who killed Peter's Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson); lizard-toothed Venom (Topher Grace), in human form the cocky schemer who wants Peter's photo gig at the Daily Bugle; and slithery alien whatsits that turn Peter bad. Non-gory high-flying, blade-hurling battles, impalings, shootings; sad flashbacks of Uncle Ben's murder; Sandman morphs into a cloud hurtling down a street, an echo of 9/11; mild sexual innuendo; drinking; smoking. Too somber for some younger teens; high-schoolers may squirm, snicker at times.)
-- R's:
``Knocked Up'' (NEW) (Director Judd Apatow (``The 40-Year-Old Virgin,'' R, 2005) turns his trademark mix of raunchiness and heart to hilarious -- yet also wise and humane -- effect in tale of Ben (Seth Rogen), a 30-ish slacker who lives with his trash-talking buds (Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Martin Starr and Jason Segel), smoking pot and barely working; he meets gorgeous, career-oriented Alison (Katherine Heigl) in a bar; drunk, they have a one-night stand; she gets pregnant, calls him, and they try to forge a relationship for the baby's sake that may even lead to love -- the road is rocky; an unconventional, savvy cast adds much. Constant strong profanity; graphic sexual situation; seminudity; crude, explicit sexual slang, discussion of condom use; steaming sexual innuendo; topless lapdancers; much marijuana use; hallucinogenic mushroom use; other drug references; drinking; toilet humor. Problematic for high-schoolers under 17 -- should (in an ideal world) depend on parental discretion.)
``Once'' (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Innovative, amiable musical film -- an unpretentious love story set in modern Dublin about a talented street musician (Irish rocker Glen Hansard) too shy to market his original songs; he meets a young Czech woman (Marketa Irglova) who plays piano and sings; they combine talents and showcase his music to great effect, their artistic pairing made bittersweet by a mutual attraction, though each has an estranged significant other they hope to reconnect with. Very mild R: Profanity; mild sexual innuendo; unwed mom; suicide reference; drinking; smoking. More for college sensibilities.)
``Severance'' (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Cleverly conceived but rather dreary British horror comedy follows a small group of marketing employees from a military weapons manufacturer on a ``team building'' weekend in rural Hungary, where they are stalked and many butchered by masked, knife-wielding killers; the victims are distinct, droll, credible, expertly acted characters, but their predicament plays out as dull and derivative. Graphic, bloody injuries -- severed head, severed leg, stabbings, shootings, explosions; drug abuse by one character; seminudity; suggestive dancing; strong sexual innuendo; crude sexual language; toilet humor. Not for under-17s.)
``Bug'' (Claustrophobic drama about two lovers' descent into madness makes you want to run screaming into the lobby; based on Tracy Letts' lauded off-Broadway play, film feels ponderously literal, lacking a play's metaphorical power; brave acting can't save it; Ashley Judd as a down-and-out, drug-and-alcohol abusing waitress whose abusive ex (Harry Connick Jr.) gets out of jail and briefly harasses her; a new guy (Michael Shannon) seems nice and she starts a romance with him, but then follows him into the abyss when he turns out to be crazy. Gory knife murder; bloody self-mutilations, including a tooth extraction, cut and scratched skin; double suicide; woman getting punched; male and female nudity; explicit sexual situation; drug abuse; drinking; smoking; strong profanity; homophobic slurs; verbal recollection of a child's disappearance. Not for under-17s.)
``28 Weeks Later'' (Bloody but highly evocative, character-rich British horror flick, a sequel to ``28 Days Later ...'' (R, 2002), conjures stinging metaphors for war, genocide; in aftermath of a pandemic that transformed people into raging, flesh-eating predators, a U.S.-led NATO force has occupied Britain, creating a ``Green Zone'' for uninfected survivors; a man (Robert Carlyle) abandons his wife (Catherine McCormack) when they're attacked by zombie hordes, then lies to his kids (Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton) about it; a new outbreak sparks a slaughter of innocents, but a medical officer (Rose Byrne) and an AWOL sniper (Jeremy Renner) help the kids. Bloody mayhem; fire bombing; chemical weapons deaths; strong profanity, sexual language; implied nudity. Too doomsday-ish for under-17s.)
``Georgia Rule'' (Lindsay Lohan stars as Rachel (Lohan), a snarky, sex-obsessed older teen in skimpy clothes and chunky bracelets, spending a summer with her grandmother Georgia (Jane Fonda), whose rules she flouts; scenes between Georgia and Rachel's alcoholic mom (Felicity Huffman) crackle; uneven film has many such gems, but Lohan's flouncy angst dims them. A mild R, but with extensive verbal discussion of childhood sexual molestation; alcoholism; references to teen drug use, promiscuity; beginnings of implied sexual situations; strong profanity; crude sexual language; some may object to a comical pious portrayal of devout Mormons. Older high-schoolers.)
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