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"Hairspray" (PG, 1 hr., 47 min.)
Big hair, big music, big laughs and big fun mark this exuberant movie musical, a loving spoof of early 1960s Baltimore, from bouffant 'dos to cramped rowhouses to a somewhat sugarcoated take on the struggle for racial equality. Nearly as irreverent as indie director John Waters' nonmusical 1988 film (rated PG) and as inventive as the ongoing Broadway hit it inspired, this "Hairspray" ought to delight many kids 10 and older and most kids from middle school on up. They'll have a ball and absorb a bit of cultural history as well. The film contains some sexual innuendo, but either encoded in euphemisms or visually subtle enough so most preteens won't catch it (though some will, of course). There are also suggestive dance moves, an implied teen pregnancy, smoking and drinking. A sly '60s tableau shows pregnant women smoking and drinking.
Bubbly Nikki Blonsky plays high-schooler Tracy Turnblad. Plump, short, and fearless, she is determined to dance with the cool kids on Baltimore's American Bandstand-style "Corny Collins Show" (James Marsden as Corny). Tracy wants to cut a rug with her crush, Link Larkin (Zac Efron). She also thinks African-American kids ("Negro" kids, in the terminology of the era) should be integrated onto the show, instead of getting their once-a-month "Negro Day." But snarky producer Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer, who could have had a bit more fun with the role), views Tracy with contempt. Undeterred, Tracy and her pal Penny (Amanda Bynes) befriend African-American classmate Seaweed (Elijah Kelley), his kid sister Little Inez (Taylor Parks) and their mom, Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), who hosts Negro Day. Their alliance will be Velma Von Tussle's Waterloo.
John Travolta inhabits the crazy/comfy role of Tracy's huge, self-deprecating mom, Edna, a part that has always been played by men. Fat-suited and bewigged, Travolta's Edna is a dainty lady with a low voice and an odd accent that occasionally distracts, but he is riveting. Christopher Walken plays Edna's hubby, Wilbur, who owns a joke shop. Their declaration of love in "You're Timeless to Me," is a treat. "Hairspray" holds up under heat or humidity.
P.S. FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER: If you're interested in the more serious themes in "Hairspray," about the early days of the civil rights movement, check out the excellent movie "The Long Walk Home" (PG, 1990) with Whoopi Goldberg.
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"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" (PG-13, 1 hr., 55 min.)
Whatever hopes the filmmakers had of making a movie that would enlighten Middle America on the subject of homosexuality, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" isn't it. The movie is stunningly awful -- a fizzled brew of crude homophobic humor that undergoes an unconvincing third-act conversion to preach tolerance. It spews tasteless, cheesy (and generally unfunny) gags in haphazardly directed scenes aimed strictly at the lowest common denominator, then turns around and says, it didn't mean it. This tale of two New York firefighters, the caddish ladies' man Chuck (Adam Sandler) and the shy widower Larry (Kevin James), who pose as a gay couple to get life insurance benefits for Larry's kids, never settles on a tone and though it skewers anti-gay prejudice, it also exploits it.
Wildly inappropriate for kids of middle-school age or younger, "Chuck and Larry" deals in surprisingly explicit sexual and homophobic slang, gags and innuendo, including thinly veiled references to sexual arousal, suggestive dancing, a shower scene in a firehouse with an endless don't-drop-the-soap joke, and a man posing as gay and feeling a woman's breasts to see if they're real. (She's Jessica Biel as the gorgeous lawyer hired to -- unbeknownst to her -- help perpetuate Chuck and Larry's fraud.) Chuck also takes multiple women home to his bedroom, though we see none of their group antics. The film mines more cheap laughs targeting overweight people and ethnic stereotypes, not to mention toilet humor, a gag with a burned rat, a marijuana reference, and lots of profanity.
A subplot about Larry's grade-school age son (Cole Morgen), who shows no interest in sports but loves singing, dancing and cooking, is handled clumsily, too. Morgen plays the child with unaffected sincerity, but the assumption that the boy might be gay just fuels more crass jokes.
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BEYOND THE RATINGS GAME
-- FINE FOR 8 AND OLDER:
"Evan Almighty" PG (Milder sequel to "Bruce Almighty" (PG-13, 2003) updates the Noah story in a flat-footed way; yet its portrayal of adults acting silly and wild animals acting tame may tickle many kids; Steve Carell plays new Congressman Evan Baxter (a TV anchorman in the first film) who moves his family to a McMansion near Washington; a big-shot congressman (John Goodman) pressures him to back an evil land bill, and Evan starts getting odd deliveries of tools and wood; then God (Morgan Freeman) appears and tells him to build an ark; Evan's beard grows; critters flock to him in pairs; movie's themes may put off some on political or theological grounds. Bird doo gags; rare, mildly off-color lines; kid describes a duck's penis; drug reference; implied nudity; intense scene of homes swept away by flood; mild, partly muffled profanity.)
-- MOST ACCESSIBLE TO 10 AND OLDER:
"Hairspray" PG (NEW) (Exuberant film version of the Broadway musical based on John Waters' original 1988 film (PG), about plump, fearless Tracy Turnblad (newcomer Nikki Blonsky), a teen in early 1960s Baltimore who longs to be on the local American Bandstand-style dance show; she infuriates the nasty producer (Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle) by agitating for the show to be integrated (instead of the show's once-a-month "Negro Day"); Tracy and her pal Penny (Amanda Bynes) befriend African-American classmate Seaweed (Elijah Kelley) and his mom Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah), the host of "Negro Day"; John Travolta plays Tracy's mom, Edna Turnblad (she has always been played by men); in fat-suit, wig and weird Baltimore accent, Travolta's dainty Edna is riveting; Christopher Walken as hubby Wilbur has a lovely turn with Edna in the couple's song-and-dance, "You're Timeless to Me." Some sexual innuendo, either encoded in euphemisms or visually subtle enough so most preteens won't catch it (though some will); suggestive dance moves; implied teen pregnancy; smoking; drinking; brief tableau of pregnant women smoking and drinking. An irreverent hoot and a painless injection of cultural history for most kids 10 and up and all teens.)
"Ratatouille" G (Gorgeous, richly written, computer-animated fable about how anyone can follow his or her bliss; young French rural rat Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt) has a genius for food and rejects his family's love of garbage and hatred of humans; by accident and fate, he lands in Paris; the spirit of a TV chef (Brad Garrett) he idolizes leads him to the now-dead chef's restaurant; there Remy bonds with a gawky kitchen boy (Lou Romano) and turns him into a chef by hiding in the fellow's hat and pulling his hair to guide his hands. Remy and his (sometimes swarming) rat pals have cute pink noses, but film will still chill the rodent-phobic ; harrowing scenes when Remy is nearly trampled, or chased by humans brandishing guns and meat cleavers; store selling rat poison displays dead rats; wine-drinking. "Ratatouille" preceded by "Lifted," a droll animated short about space aliens abducting a man, partly baring his behind.)
-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:
"I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" (NEW) (Cheesy comedy spews tasteless gags about gays, then turns around and preaches tolerance; Adam Sandler and Kevin James as New York firefighter pals who enter into a same-sex marriage to get life insurance benefits for widower Larry's (James) two kids; longtime male co-workers, Little League dads shun them; Jessica Biel as the lawyer -- and secret love of Chuck's -- who unwittingly helps perpetuate the fraud; crassly handled subplot about fear that Larry's young son (Cole Morgen), who hates sports and likes dancing, is gay. Surprisingly explicit homophobic humor, slang; strong sexual innuendo with veiled references to sexual arousal; suggestive dancing; shower scene in firehouse with endless don't-drop-the-soap gag; a man checks a woman's breasts to see if they're real; caddish Chuck (Sandler) entertains many women at once; cheap laughs at overweight people, ethnic stereotypes; charred rat gag; toilet humor; marijuana reference; much profanity. Not for anyone under high-school age.)
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (Wizard-in-training Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) at 15 hits a mood of alienation and foreboding in this gripping, somber treatise on the trials faced by truth-tellers in any world, real or magical; it is a darkly dramatic take on J.K. Rowling's fifth book; the Minister of Magic (Robert Hardy) makes Harry a pariah for allegedly lying about his encounter with evil Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) -- as recounted in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (PG-13, 2005); vile Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) joins the Hogwarts faculty to impose the Ministry's Taliban-esque rules; convinced he must face Voldemort again, Harry begins teaching his friends in secret so they'll be able to fight the evil wizard; the film's climactic battle, with wands and computer effects instead of swords and blood, is still quite chilling. Skeletal, smoky spirits such as Dementors and Death Eaters could spook younger kids, but Voldemort's awful face is the eeriest image; Umbridge etches words on Harry's hand as if by an invisible knife -- a subtle act of torture; younger kids may shrink from gamekeeper Hagrid's (Robbie Coltrane) giant half brother, the childlike Grawp; gross humor about boils; adults drink. Parents of younger kids may want to screen first.)
"Rescue Dawn" (LIMITED RELEASE) (Director Werner Herzog's gripping fact-based dramatization -- all mud, sweat and tears, filmed in the grainy style of 1960s news film -- of the great escape of Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale), a U.S. Navy pilot shot down on a bombing run over Laos in 1966, as the Vietnam War escalated; at a jungle prison camp he cajoled emaciated prisoners (chiefly the excellent Jeremy Davies and Steve Zahn) to escape with him, his spirit unwavering. Starvation, torture, toilet issues graphically discussed, but understatedly shown; beatings, torture more hinted at than graphic, though scenes are intense; a character's beheading is more strongly implied; gunplay; eating maggots, chewing on a live snake; mild profanity. Mature high-schoolers.)
"Transformers" (Giant, robotic, ever-morphing space aliens -- good Autobots and evil Decepticons -- do battle on Earth in great-looking sci-fi action flick based on Transformer action figures -- a cool blend of live-action filming and digital effects, but with vivid human characters who prevent techno trivia from taking over; teen protagonist Sam's (Shia LaBeouf) first car, an old yellow Camaro, turns out to be the Autobot Bumblebee (voice of Mark Ryan) in disguise; Sam and Mikaela (Megan Fox), the girl he lusts after, ally with Bumblebee and Autobot leader Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen). Intense, if bloodless mayhem: younger kids may quail as Transformers morph from vehicles into huge robot warriors who shatter buildings; battlefield violence; strong sexual innuendo, slang, verbal reference to masturbation; rare profanity; mild ethnic, misogynistic slurs; drug reference; adults drink. Too much sexual content for preteens.)
"License to Wed" (Robin Williams in lame comedy as an eccentric minister who requires bland couple Sadie (Mandy Moore) and Ben (John Krasinski) to pass his marital counseling course, even having their bedroom bugged to enforce his abstinence rule; Williams' semi-lewd stand-up riffs ill-fit a cleric's persona; also, Reverend Frank is a bachelor whose 24-7 companion is a preteen minister-in-training (Josh Flitter) -- a truly tone-deaf touch. Crude, sometimes sexual, references to "doing" someone, "the clap," Viagra, sexual orientation; midrange profanity; slightly steamy but nonexplicit bedroom scenes; Ben bashes an animatronic infant -- a scene more disturbing than comic; Sadie drives while blindfolded, nearly hitting an old man; ethnic stereotypes; drug reference; drunkenness; women in labor. Not for middle-schoolers.)
"Live Free or Die Hard" (Bruce Willis returns after 12 years as tough New York cop John McClane, drolly paired with a young computer hacker (likable Justin Long) to save America from a cyber villain (Timothy Olyphant) scheming to paralyze the nation; smart-aleck repartee and spectacular stunts mute the film's undercurrent of jingoism, making it just fun. PG-13 rating (previous "Die Hard" films were R's) reflects more about coarsening of PG-13s than softening of "Die Hard" brand. Loud gunplay nears R range despite muted gore; bone-cracking fights; explosions; citizen-endangering, property-wrecking plane and car stunts; profanity nears R level (McClane calls people "jerk-off"); racially insensitive remarks; McClane's adult daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) rebuffs a date who tries to grope her. OK for teens unfazed by big-screen mayhem.)
"1408" (John Cusack easily carries this nifty, low-tech spook-fest (based on a Stephen King tale) on his Everyman shoulders as a gloomy scribe who debunks ghost stories; a tip about room 1408 in a Manhattan hotel beckons; the grim manager (Samuel L. Jackson) warns him, but he still checks into 1408 and nightmarish events begin, using his grief over a dead child as fuel; images include flashbacks to her illness, seeing her in the afterlife, her body reduced to ashes in his arms, suicide spirits jumping out windows; murderous figures lunging for him; nongraphic but bloody photos of past 1408 victims; room bursts into flame, breaks apart; strongish profanity; drinking; rare smoking; strong suicide theme. May upset some middle-schoolers; not really for preteens.)
-- AN R:
"Talk to Me" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) (Riveting, edgy reality-based drama about Washington, D.C., radio deejay Petey Greene (Don Cheadle) who, just out of prison in the late 1960s and blessed with a gift of gab, lands an on-air gig; encouraged by radio executive Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Greene takes the city by storm; a strong sequence briefly depicts the D.C. riots after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, with Greene and Hughes on-air, trying to calm the populace; Hughes tries to push Greene into the big time, but Greene, a heavy drinker, can't take the pressure; Taraji P. Henson as Greene's vampy, extroverted girlfriend steals scenes. Searing profanity; racial slurs; crude sexual slang; explicit sexual situation; infidelity theme; drug references; understated street violence; threat with a broken bottle; backview nudity; suggestive dancing; drinking; chain smoking; toilet humor. Thoughtful cinema and history buffs 17 and up.)
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