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"Smart People" (R, 1 hr., 35 min.)
Discerning high-schoolers and lots of adults may be amused and engaged by "Smart People," in which it is proved that perfect SAT scores and huge vocabularies cannot bring happiness. This consistently droll comedy -- a very mild R -- unfolds in a low-key, slow-paced style. Anyone who remembers an equally likable and lackadaisical film called "Wonder Boys" (R, 2000) starring Michael Douglas will understand this film." The English-major essence of "Smart People's" repartee and its gray, wintry Pittsburgh setting will not entrance all high-schoolers, that's for sure. Even the presence of "Juno" (PG-13) star Ellen Page, using a bright, sarcastic tone identical to that of her breakout role, may not be enough.
A grumpily dysfunctional family of brainiacs sits at the bruised heart of "Smart People." Dennis Quaid, in full beard and scowl, plays English professor Lawrence Wetherhold, a cranky, disengaged widower disliked by his students. His smart, equally friendless daughter Vanessa (Page) is poised to ace the SATs and leave home. His unhappy son James (Ashton Holmes) is a poet and Lawrence doesn't even know it. A minor accident leaves the professor with a concussion and doctor's orders not to drive for six months. This proves to be his salvation. His charming adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), a sweet ne'er-do-well, arrives short of cash and stays to drive the unwelcoming Lawrence around. The family dynamic thickens as Vanessa develops a crush on her middle-aged not-really-an-uncle (he firmly pushes her away). Lawrence, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the emergency room doctor (Sarah Jessica Parker) who treated him.
The film includes midrange profanity, nonsexual backview nudity, brief, nonexplicit sexual situations, marijuana use, drinking, and smoking -- none of it much beyond PG-13 territory, except a few extra swear words.
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BEYOND THE RATINGS GAME
-- OK FOR KINDERGARTNERS ON UP:
"Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who!" G -- Just a delight. This computer-animated take keeps the Seussian whimsy, but adds three-dimensional furriness to the high-haired Whos, weight to Horton the Elephant (voice of Jim Carrey), and new dialogue that doesn't drown out the old rhymes. There's a neat contrast between the Jungle of Nool and Whoville, that microscopic, Rube Goldbergian city-on-a-speck that Horton risks all to save. He and the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell), who communicate by a quirk of sound convergence, must prove each other's existence to disbelieving neighbors. Kids 6 and younger may cringe at: Vlad (Will Arnett), a bird of prey chasing Horton and causing Whoville to teeter; Horton hanging on a rope bridge that breaks; a mob capturing him; a scary-funny bit with the Mayor, a dentist, and a hypodermic needle.
-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:
"Nim's Island" PG -- Jodie Foster proves a deft comic actress in this kid-friendly South Seas adventure. While the film is an ungainly mix of animated interludes and a splintered live-action narrative, nimble-minded kids 8 and older will follow it easily. Abigail Breslin plays Nim, who lives in an island paradise with her widowed microbiologist dad Jack (Gerard Butler) and has lizard, sea lion and pelican pets. Nim loves Alex Rover adventure books and doesn't know they're written by Alexandra Rover (Foster), an agoraphobic woman scared to step outside. Alex the writer e-mails Jack seeking information on volcanoes. Jack is at sea doing research, so Nim answers, thinking she's e-mailing with Alex the book-hero. A big storm hits and Jack doesn't return. A frightened Nim begs Alex to come. The writer forces herself onto a plane, her heroic alter ego (also Butler, looking Indiana Jones-ish) urging her on. The film could be scary for under-8s, as it shows a man nearly drowned at sea, a volcanic eruption and Nim hurt in a fall. There is toilet humor, and the image of a pig roasting on a spit. A re-enacted scene from a book has stereotyped Arab villains.
-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:
"Shine a Light" (NEW) -- There are few special effects in this rock concert film. Hannah Montana would not feel at home. It's just the 60-something Rolling Stones singing, playing and drumming the daylights out of their classic hits at a couple of 2006 concerts in New York's Beacon Theatre. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese and a team of cinematographers shoot a little behind-the-scenes stuff (the Clintons are there for a charity benefit), but mostly they put the audience inside the music-making and offer choice glimpses of the onstage bond among lead singer Mick Jagger, guitarists Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, and drummer Charlie Watts that keeps them and their music going. There are fragments of old interviews in which they look incredibly young, but the music as they do it now is the thing. There are guest duets with Jack White, Christina Aguilera and blues man Buddy Guy. Guy and Jagger sing "Champagne and Reefer," so there are drug references, as well as profanity (not a lot), cigarettes, sexual innuendo and Jagger's suggestive stage moves. For teens into their parents' (and grandparents') rock 'n' roll.
"Leatherheads" -- A genial comedy about the early years of professional football, circa 1925, "Leatherheads" has rich characters, glib repartee and fine atmospherics -- boozy speak-easies, harmless fisticuffs and tunes like "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" and "Over There." Yet it seems slow and heavy compared to the light-on-their-feet screwball comedies of the 1930s and '40s that director/star George Clooney wants to emulate. Dodge Connelly (Clooney) is a graying pro footballer who cajoles an Ivy League star (John Krasinski) into joining his struggling pro team. Lexie (Renee Zellweger), a wisecracking newspaper gal, plans to debunk the college star's war record. There is much flirting, drinking, smoking and midrange profanity. Fine for teens into old-style films.
"Superhero Movie" -- This is an effective, if pointless, sendup of all pretentious comic book-inspired superhero films. A nerdy teenaged bully-magnet (Drake Bell) gets bitten by a mutant dragonfly while on a field trip to a science lab. His altered state -- unaccustomed strength and the ability to climb the sides of buildings -- leads him to create Dragonfly, a superhero who stops Hourglass (Christopher McDonald), a mad, superhuman scientist on a killing spree. There is bawdy sexual innuendo (mutant animals trying to mate with the young hero; breast jokes), toilet humor, profanity, and gags spoofing scientist Stephen Hawking, who is physically disabled, that are beyond tasteless.
"Flawless" (LIMITED RELEASE) -- Teens with a taste for films of yore may like the burnished style of this diamond heist saga, set in London, circa 1960. People smoke and drink; women in red lips and nails clack across marble floors in spike heels. Yet despite the gems, "Flawless" unfolds with too little flash to keep all teens enthralled. Demi Moore plays an ambitious executive at a diamond trading firm, frustrated by the glass ceiling. A grizzled janitor (Michael Caine, at his most Cockney) lures her into a scheme to rob the vault -- just a few stones; they'll hardly notice. The film includes occasional profanity and references to a miners' uprising met with deadly force in Apartheid South Africa.
"21" -- In this slick, unsurprising Faustian fable, Ben (Jim Sturgess), a gifted M.I.T. student, is lured by Micky (Kevin Spacey), a sly math professor, into a scam. Every weekend Micky and several hand-picked students fly to Las Vegas and win gobs of cash at blackjack using the mental technique of card-counting. Seductive cohort Jill (Kate Bosworth) tells Ben it's not really cheating. But a heavy-fisted casino snoop (Laurence Fishburne) is on the lookout. Based on a true story, the film has style, not intensity. When Ben sees the selfish lout he's become, it grips you, but not his journey there. Along with middling violence, "21" includes a nongraphic sexual situation, other sexual innuendo, suggestive dancing, profanity and drinking. More for high-schoolers.
"Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" -- Writer/director Tyler Perry's enjoyable recipe blends broad comedy, strong emotion and inspiration. Angela Bassett brings intensity to Brenda, a single mom doing her best to keep three kids in school and out of trouble. Unemployed and desperate, she grabs the kids and heads south when Georgia relatives send tickets to the funeral of the father she never knew. Her small-town kin include nice people as well as buffoonish Leroy (David Mann) and drunk Vera (Jenifer Lewis). A handsome basketball scout (Rick Fox) interested in recruiting her son (Lance Gross) also turns up. The film includes marijuana use, drug deals, a shooting, racial and ethnic stereotypes, jokes about "hos" and sexually transmitted diseases, a hinted threat of sexual assault, drinking, and mild profanity. More for high-schoolers.
"Drillbit Taylor" -- Owen Wilson plays another charming scalawag in this amusing, slightly bawdy trifle. Three nerdy high-school freshmen -- chubby Ryan (Troy Gentile), skinny Wade (Nate Hartley) and dorky Emmit (David Dorfman) -- advertise online for a bodyguard to save them from a bully (Alex Frost). They hire Drillbit (Wilson), a fast-talking vet who, unbeknownst to them, lives on the beach, showers (backview nudity) next to the highway, and has criminal pals. He poses as a substitute teacher. It's hard not to like the film, formulaic plot aside, for its fresh acting and zingy repartee. It has midrange profanity, make-out scenes, homophobic humor, implied toplessness, jokes about sexually transmitted diseases and hints of beer drinking. OK for most teens.
-- R's:
"Smart People" (NEW) -- Discerning high-schoolers and lots of adults will be tickled by "Smart People," a grumpy, consistently droll comedy in which it is proved that tenured professorships and perfect SAT scores do not equal happiness. A bearded, grim-faced Dennis Quaid plays English professor Lawrence Wetherhold, a sarcastic widower disliked by his students. His smart, equally friendless daughter (Ellen Page) is preparing to ace the SATs and leave for college. His son (Ashton Holmes) is a poet and Lawrence doesn't know it. An accident leaves Lawrence with a concussion and his ne'er-do-well adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) comes to stay and drive him. As the family dynamic thickens, Lawrence also falls in love with the emergency room doctor (Sarah Jessica Parker) who treated him. A very mild R, the film has midrange profanity, backview nudity, nongraphic sexual situations, marijuana use, drinking and smoking. A teenage girl flirts with an adopted uncle, who firmly rejects her advances.
"The Ruins" (NEW) -- A horror/thriller with an overdeveloped sense of gore and an underdeveloped story, "The Ruins" follows the classic formula: A few callow young American tourists find themselves in mortal danger and must show courage and ingenuity when cell phones, credit cards and whining don't work. At a Mexican beach resort, four Americans (Jonathan Tucker, Jena Malone, Shawn Ashmore and Laura Ramsey) and a German acquaintance (Joe Anderson) trek out to see a little known Mayan pyramid. At its base they're surrounded by heavily armed villagers who won't follow them up the ruin, but won't allow them off it, either. Aside from bloody violence and gory injuries, "The Ruins" depicts graphic emergency amputations and a gross, flesh-eating vine. There is also profanity, drinking, sexual innuendo and seminudity. Not for under-17s.
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