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"Drillbit Taylor" (PG-13, 1 hour, 42 min.)
Owen Wilson plays another charming scalawag in this doggone amusing film. That rakish charm of his still works. This time, his character helps out a trio of nerdy high school freshman. A slightly bawdy PG-13 -- as co-written by Seth Rogan, who also co-wrote Superbad" (R, 2007), and co-produced by Judd Apatow, who wrote and directed "Knocked Up" (R, 2007) -- it is not nearly as raunchy as its creators' previous work. But it is full of mildish sexual innuendo, semi-crude names for body parts and midrange profanity. OK fare for most teens, it's more acceptable for high-schoolers.
On the very first day of high school, chubby Ryan (Troy Gentile), skinny Wade (Nate Hartley) and dorky Emmit (David Dorfman) have the bad luck to catch the eye of Filkins (Alex Frost), a bully who likes to punch them, stuff them into lockers and slam them against urinals. No one sympathizes, not the principal or even Wade's macho stepdad (Ian Roberts). So the boys advertise online for a bodyguard and hire the cheapest, least scary applicant -- fast-talking "Drillbit" Taylor. He tells the boys he's a veteran, schooled in self-defense and intimidation. The audience also knows, though the boys don't at first, that Taylor lives on the beach, showers (backview nudity) next to the highway, and hangs out with criminally inclined homeless guys. So his motives are dubious. He poses as a substitute teacher and of course the lonely English instructor (Leslie Mann) falls for him. Crude, predictable and still fun, that's "Drillbit Taylor."
In addition to elements listed above, it has comic make-out scenes, homophobic humor, implied toplessness, jokes about sexually transmitted diseases and implied beer drinking.
P.S. FOR TEENS: A brief appearance by actor Adam Baldwin as one of the guys applying for the bodyguard job reminded The Family Filmgoer of a nice movie called "My Bodyguard" (PG, 1980), also about a teen who hires a school bully to protect him from other bullies. A really sweet film.
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BEYOND THE RATINGS GAME
-- OK FOR KINDERGARTNERS ON UP:
"Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!" G -- A sheer delight, this inspired computer-animated take on the beloved storybook expands the tale without wrecking it. It stays true to Seussian whimsy, but adds a three-dimensional furriness to the high-haired Whos and weight to Horton the Elephant (voice of Jim Carrey). There's a neat design contrast between the pastel Jungle of Nool and the Rube Goldbergesque Whoville, that microscopic city-on-a-speck Horton risks his life to save. He and the ditzy Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell), with his 96 daughters and one son, communicate by a miraculous quirk of sound convergence and each must overcome his neighbors' disbelief. Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) hates that Horton's faith inspires youngsters to use their imaginations. Kids 6 and younger may cringe at: Vlad (Will Arnett), a bird of prey, chasing Horton and causing Whoville to shake; Horton on a rope bridge that breaks; a Noolian mob capturing him. There's a scary-funny bit with the Mayor, a dentist, and a hypodermic needle.
-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:
"College Road Trip" G -- If this family comedy were played any more broadly, the cast would be in clown suits. Part slapstick farce, part sentimental saga about an obsessively overprotective dad (Martin Lawrence), "College Road Trip" is good-hearted, but painfully silly. It's geared more to kids around 7 or 8, who dream of being grown-up. Lawrence plays a suburban Chicago police chief who drives his daughter (Raven-Symone) to an interview at Georgetown University. The more he tries to control events, the more they spin out of control. There's little to scare youngsters, but they may be startled by a potbellied pig going nuts on coffee beans (a don't-try-this-with-your-pet lesson); father and daughter screaming while sky-diving; Dad getting tasered by a sorority mother.
-- OK FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:
"Penelope" PG -- This zingy modern-day fairy tale lets a fine cast loose on a clever mix of physical comedy, verbal wit and fairy-tale magic. "Penelope" should charm kids 10 and older with its cleverly cloaked parable about self-love. Christina Ricci plays Penelope, the latest of an aristocratic line to inherit a pig nose. The curse can only be dispelled by the kiss of an upper-crust suitor. Her mom (Catherine O'Hara) introduces potential mates, but they run off screaming. Then a sleazy reporter (Peter Dinklage) hires a broke, blue-blooded gambler (James McAvoy) to woo Penelope. An edgier PG, the film shows a brief, stylized suicide -- someone jumping off a cliff. The "pig nose" is a dainty snout, just barely nonhuman. There is drinking, smoking, mild sexual innuendo and semi-crude language.
-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:
"Drillbit Taylor" (NEW) -- Owen Wilson plays another charming scalawag in the pretty doggone amusing "Drillbit Taylor," a slightly bawdy comedy co-written by Seth Rogan, who co-wrote Superbad" (R, 2007) and co-produced by Judd Apatow, who wrote and directed "Knocked Up" (R, 2007). This PG-13 is not nearly as raunchy as its predecessors. Three nerdy high-school freshmen -- chubby Ryan (Troy Gentile), skinny Wade (Nate Hartley) and dorky Emmit (David Dorfman) -- advertise online for a bodguard to protect them from the bully Filkins (Alex Frost) who stuffs them in lockers and slams them against urinals. They hire fast-talking Drillbit Taylor, a seeming veteran who, the audience learns early on, lives rough on the beach, showers (backview nudity) next to the highway, and hangs out with criminally inclined homeless guys. He takes the gig, more interested in the contents of the kids' upscale digs. He poses as a substitute teacher, and of course the romantic English instructor (Leslie Mann) falls for him. Crude and predictable though it is, it's hard not to enjoy this silliness. The film has midrange profanity and crude language, comic make-out scenes, homophobic humor, implied toplessness, jokes about sexually transmitted diseases and implied beer drinking.
"Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna)" (NEW; LIMITED RELEASE) -- So winning are the protagonists in this poignant, harrowing immigrant story, that a plot riddled with coincidences takes nothing away from its impact. It's also a fine introduction to subtitles for teens, as the story is still so American. A Mexican woman, Rosario (Kate del Castillo), works illegally as a maid in Los Angeles, while her 9-year-old son Carlitos (terrific Adrian Alonso, a kid with an old soul) lives in Mexico with his ailing grandmother. Mother and son talk every Sunday by pay phone, but miss each other terribly. After his grandma dies Carlitos decides to run to L.A. The scariest part of his trek is hiding in the car of a Mexican-American couple (America Ferrera of TV's "Ugly Betty" and Jesse Garcia) who he pays to get him across the border. In the U.S. he travels with undocumented workers, living under the radar, fleeing immigration cops. Some people threaten him, but most help the boy, none more grudgingly than cranky Enrique (Mexican comedy star Eugenio Derbez). The film cuts between Rosario's hard life and Carlitos' journey. It shows prostitutes on sidewalks and includes rare muted violence, rare profanity and beer. Mostly in Spanish with subtitles. OK for most teens.
"Never Back Down" -- This gloomy saga about a teen hero who fights the good fight purports to be about peace 'n' love. In fact, it's about pounding and getting pounded -- close-up or in slow-motion, with blood flying from smacked faces and bodies crumpling. Jake (Sean Faris), a loner haunted by the recent drunk-driving death of his dad, moves with his family to Orlando. The new school's "mixed martial arts" champ Ryan (Cam Gigandet) taunts and beats up Jake, who then hones his skills with a somber trainer (Djimon Hounsou) so he can face Ryan in a "beat down" contest. They also fight over a girl (Amber Heard), of course. Apart from mayhem, "Never Back Down" has midrange profanity, sexual innuendo, a homophobic slur, implied toplessness, a make-out scene and teens seeming to drink beer. A nasty dad offers cocktails to teens and smacks his son.
"10,000 BC" -- Whatever thrills and eye candy this prehistoric adventure flick offers to teens, it shreds them with intellectual hooey. Thanks to "10,000 BC," they'll think it's only a couple of days' walk between Central Asia and equatorial Africa, and that the pyramids of Egypt were built 8,000 years before scholars say they were, and with woolly mammoths doing the heavy lifting. An Ice Age hunter (Steven Strait) and two comrades (Cliff Curtis and Mo Zinal) track the "four-legged demons" (marauding slave traders on horseback) who raided their village and abducted his beloved (Camilla Belle). Wounds from spear, ax and bow-and-arrow are not graphic. There is an implied threat of rape. A giant ostrich-dinosaur hybrid rips into humans, mostly off-camera. OK for most teens.
"Vantage Point" -- A neat little thriller with a clever premise, "Vantage Point" doesn't hold up under deep analysis, yet it works. Dennis Quaid plays a tense Secret Service agent assigned to protect the U.S. president (William Hurt), in Spain to sign a peace accord. During the ceremony there is a terror attack. The movie keeps doubling back to tell the story from different angles, each time adding a bit more. Forest Whitaker is fun as a tourist who sees it all. The film depicts a suicide bomber, other bombings, shootings, a child in mortal danger, and uses midrange profanity. Wounds and corpses are not shown graphically, but the terror imagery may be too much for middle-schoolers.
-- R's:
"Doomsday" (NEW) -- There are cool bits in this futuristic British action/horror film -- chiefly the idea that a new Hadrian's Wall keeps post-apocalyptic hordes out of England in 2035, echoing the Dark Ages. The over-the-wall barbarians dress like 1970s Punk rockers, but fight in medieval armor. Yet "Doomsday" is really just a warmed-over version of other plague-inspired British horror flicks and its primary aesthetic is bloody mayhem. In a prologue, we learn that an Ebola-like virus decimated Britain in the present day. The uninfected were confined to London. In 2035, there is a new outbreak and evidence of survivors living like barbarians in Scotland. A female security officer (Rhona Mitra) is sent to lead a few soldiers over the wall in search of a vaccine or other hope. There is graphic violence -- beheadings, a disemboweling, cannibalism -- strong profanity, partial nudity, sexual innuendo and smoking. Not for under-17s.
"The Bank Job" -- Inspired by a famous 1971 London bank vault heist, this flick is smart, quick, wry and rich in atmosphere, if occasionally hard to follow. Mixing fact and fantasy, it implies that news of the break-in was stifled after scandalous photos of royals and government bigwigs were found in the vault. Jason Statham plays a blue-collar guy drawn into the caper. Soon he and his fellows are stalked by secret agents and thugs. There are scenes of implied torture, a gun murder, topless women depicted as prostitutes, nonexplicit sexual situations -- including in a brothel and a porn film -- strong profanity, smoking, drinking, drug references and crude humor. Not appropriate fare for most under-17s.
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