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Family Film Reviews

Jane Horwitz

"Get Smart" (PG-13, 1 hr., 51 min.)

Eureka! The makers of "Get Smart" have re-imagined the beloved 1960s spy sitcom and yet retained its charms -- bad jokes, bad accents and all, delivered with just enough unforced irony to suit the present day. The result is a comic gift for summer -- a well-calibrated mix of slapstick, spy shtick and crackerjack timing. The movie should earn laughs from teens who don't remember the old TV show (originally created by laughmeisters Mel Brooks and Buck Henry), as well as from parents and grandparents who do.

Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart as a considerably brighter fellow than Don Adams' TV take. Carell's Max remains a klutz and a bit of a bonehead, but he is more geeky than dumb. He's a gifted analyst for CONTROL, an agency that exists only to foil the plots of KAOS, a cabal bent on world domination. Max longs to be an agent in the field, but CONTROL's Chief (Alan Arkin) values Max's wonkish skills too much. That changes after KAOS compromises CONTROL headquarters. Chief brings in operatives whose covers have been blown, among them the suave, macho Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson, formerly The Rock), and promotes Max, making him Agent 86. He is teamed with ultra-competent, glamorous Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) and sent off to find out who's stealing uranium in Chechnya. (The plot is vague, but it doesn't matter.) Agent 99 gripes about Max's inexperience and he can't stop flirting with her, but somehow they can work together.

Standouts in the fine cast include Terence Stamp as Siegfried, KAOS' snide leader, James Caan as a clueless U.S. president, and Masi Oka and Nate Torrence as CONTROL's gadget-inventing nerds. The film briefly uses Arab stereotypes and features comic shootouts, head-banging fights, chases and other mayhem, most of it nongraphic. The script has rare profanity, toilet humor, fat jokes and sexual innuendo. Phobics should prepare to see rats.

"The Love Guru" (PG-13, 1 hr., 29 min.)

Mike Myers has invented another fun caricature in the dizzy-yet-wise Guru Pitka. Yet he still insists on tarting up "The Love Guru" (he co-wrote and co-produced the film) with endless penis jokes, sexual euphemisms and puns, and toilet humor. Such gags can make audiences -- especially teens -- laugh reflexively, but they don't enrich the film so much as pad a flimsy story. The movie is awfully raunchy for middle-schoolers.

Myers plays an American-born, Indian ashram-trained guru who longs to be a bigger star than self-help author Deepak Chopra. His chance comes when the gorgeous but desperate owner (Jessica Alba) of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team invites Guru Pitka to solve the marital problems of her star player (Romany Malco). The player's wife (Meagan Good) has left him for the goalie (Justin Timberlake) of the L.A. Kings. Guru Pitka spars hilariously with the Maple Leafs' tiny coach (Verne Troyer, who played Mini-Me in two of Myers' "Austin Powers" films, also PG-13s), so there are lots of little-people insults. He also falls for the team owner, but is trapped in the chastity belt his own guru fitted on him years ago, saying Pitka must learn to love himself before he can love another. Flashbacks to Pitka's training with Ben Kingsley as his extremely cross-eyed guru are high comic points, along with clever spoofs of Bollywood musical numbers.

A much stronger PG-13 than "Get Smart," "The Love Guru" also includes a visual of elephants mating. The script is peppered with sexual language as well as rare plain profanity. There is a bar brawl and drinking.

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Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- FINE FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:

"Kung Fu Panda" PG -- In ancient China, a pudgy panda dreams of being a Kung Fu fighter in this riotous, artfully animated gem. "Kung Fu Panda" doesn't rely on cheap pop-culture jokes or double-entendres. It unfolds as a classic hero's journey, with deliciously inventive verbal and visual humor among its animal characters, and delicately spun messages about overcoming self-doubt and being "your own hero." Po the panda (voice of Jack Black) lives with his dad, a goose (James Hong), and works in their noodle shop, but imagines himself a hero. At the local palace, Kung Fu master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) holds a contest among the Furious Five -- Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu) and Crane (David Cross). The winner must fulfill a prophecy and defeat the evil snow leopard (Ian McShane). Clumsily flinging himself over the palace walls to see the contest, Po crash-lands into the middle of it. A wise old turtle (Randall Duk Kim) says Po must be destined to fulfill the prophecy. Master Shifu trains him hilariously. Po yowls at one point about getting hit in "the tenders." Fine for kids 6 and up and many kindergartners. The fights are intense but stylized. The yellow-eyed snow leopard may scare tots.

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-- MORE FOR 10 AND OLDER:

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" PG -- Plenty of kids 10 and older will dive happily into this second installment, but a familiarity with the first film ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," PG, 2005), or with the books by C.S. Lewis would help. It is a solid enough fantasy/epic, but slower, darker and less witty than the first film, more sword-and-sorcery than storybook. The Pevensie kids -- Lucy (Georgie Henley), Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) -- are back in World War II-era London. Thirteen-hundred years have passed in Narnia time and the magical land and its creatures are ruled by the evil human, Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), who plots against his nephew, Prince Caspian (bland Ben Barnes), the true heir to the throne. Caspian sounds a horn and the Pevensies are whisked back. Battle scenes push the PG limit, implying that arrows and blades pierce flesh. Kids under 10 may cringe at a charging bear and two demons. The film begins with an intense childbirth scene. The Christian parable aspects of Lewis' tale are subtle. Kids of any faith can enjoy it.

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-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"Get Smart" (NEW) -- Eureka! The makers of "Get Smart" have re-imagined the hit 1960s spy sitcom and still retained its charms -- bad jokes, bad accents, all expertly delivered with just enough wry knowingness to suit the present day. The result is a summer comedy that will get laughs from teens unfamiliar with the old TV show and parents and grandparents who remember it fondly. Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart as a considerably brighter fellow than Don Adams did on TV. Carell's Max is still a klutz and a bit of a bonehead, but he is also a gifted analyst for CONTROL, the secret spy agency that exists only to foil the plots of KAOS, an organization bent on world domination, and he longs to be a secret agent in the field. It is because of Max's analytical skill that CONTROL's Chief (Alan Arkin) is unwilling to let him leave his desk. That changes after KAOS compromises CONTROL headquarters. Chief calls in all agents whose covers have been blown. Among these is smooth, macho Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson, formerly The Rock). Chief promotes Max, making him Agent 86, teams him with gorgeous Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) and sends them off to find out who's stealing yellow-cake uranium in Chechnya. (The plot is vague, but it doesn't matter.) Action scenes are a well calibrated mix of slapstick and spy shtick. The fine cast play off one another beautifully. They include Terence Stamp as Siegfried, the snide leader of KAOS, James Caan as a clueless U.S. president, and Masi Oka and Nate Torrence as gadget-crazy nerds at CONTROL. The film uses Arab stereotypes in one scene, and contains comic shootouts, fights, chases and other mostly mild mayhem. The script has rare profanity, toilet humor, fat jokes and sexual innuendo. Phobics should be aware there is a scene with rats.

"The Love Guru" (NEW) -- Mike Myers has invented another fun caricature as the dizzy, occasionally wise Guru Pitka, but the actor still insists on tarting up his comedy (he co-wrote and co-produced the film) with endless penis jokes, sexual puns and toilet humor. Such verbal and visual gags can make us laugh reflexively, but don't enrich the film so much as pad a flimsy story. Myers plays an American-born, Indian ashram-trained guru who longs to be a bigger star than author/philosopher Deepak Chopra. His chance comes when the gorgeous owner (Jessica Alba) of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team invites him to solve the marital problems of their star player (Romany Malco), whose wife (Meagan Good) has left him for the goalie (Justin Timberlake) of the L.A. Kings. Guru Pitka spars with the Maple Leafs' tiny coach (Verne Troyer, who played Mini-Me in two of Myers' "Austin Powers" films, both PG-13s) and falls for the embattled owner, but is trapped by a chastity belt his own guru gave him years ago, telling Pitka he must learn to love himself before loving another. Flashbacks to Pitka's training with Ben Kingsley as a cheery, cross-eyed guru are high points. There are also funny spoofs of Bollywood musical numbers. The movie is clearly iffy for middle-schoolers because of its constant sexual references, puns and obvious euphemisms. The film also contains a scene of elephants mating, some plain profanity, jokes about dwarfism, a bar brawl and beer drinking.

"The Incredible Hulk" -- This latest big-screen take on the Marvel Comics anti-hero has the frenetic energy of a good chase thriller, though its dialogue and quiet scenes could use some crackle. Yet while inferior to "Iron Man" (PG-13), "The Incredible Hulk" is still an entertaining ride, with stunning (and deafening) mayhem. It takes place five years after scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) was afflicted by a failed experiment. When angered, Banner now turns into the huge, powerful, seething, green Hulk (voiced by one-time TV Hulk Lou Ferrigno). He has been living incognito in a Brazilian slum, practicing anger management and avoiding a U.S. general (William Hurt) who wants to harness Banner's Hulkiness for the military. Pursued by Ross' commandos, Banner makes his way to the college where his love, Betty (Liv Tyler), the general's daughter, teaches. Ross' top Hulk hunter, Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), puts himself through the same experiment to boost his strength. The chases, fights, crashes and gun battles are big, but not graphic. Still, middle-schoolers may blanch at the huge hypodermic needles and scenes in which Blonsky morphs into the gross Abomination, with vertebrae popping out of his back. There is semi-crude language, a brief nonexplicit sexual situation and cigar smoking.

"You Don't Mess with the Zohan" -- Adam Sandler messes with the Israeli-Palestinian dispute in miniature here, but this farce trivializes the conflict and stereotypes the people. High-schoolers will learn little about the issues, but a lot about hummus. There are a good few laugh-out-loud moments, but the bawdy humor makes the film problematic for middle-schoolers. Sandler plays Israeli army commando Zohan, whose real passions are hairstyling and sex. During a shootout with a terrorist (John Turturro), Zohan fakes his own death, stows away to New York, lands a job at a Palestinian-owned salon run by the lovely Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui) and is shocked to find Israelis and Palestinians living side by side. He becomes the go-to stylist/seducer of ladies over 60. The movie features crude sexual slang, strongly implied sexual situations, many crotch gags, comedic violence, ethnic slurs, gay jokes and mild profanity.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" -- Nearly 20 years after "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (PG-13, 1989), this belated fourth chapter offers flashes of high amusement, yet feels a little cobbled-together and at times a little dull. It is 1957. Intrepid archeologist Indiana Jones at 60-plus is still wry and athletic. The tale opens with him held captive by KGB agents led by a rapier-wielding woman (Cate Blanchett) obsessed with psychic powers. Jones escapes, but loses his teaching job when the red-baiting FBI doubts his story. Mutt (Shia LaBeouf), a smart-aleck 20-something, brings news that a colleague (John Hurt) has been kidnapped in the Peruvian jungle after unearthing an ancient crystal skull. Jones and Mutt go to Peru and fight tribesmen and KGB agents. Aside from near-bloodless gunplay and fights, there are wild stunts (a few of which fall a tad flat) and chases. Under-10s may cower at man-eating ants, scorpions, mummified skeletons, zombie-like creatures and a shattering nuclear test. There is mild profanity and drinking. OK for most teens and preteens, but adults may need to explain the Cold War.

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-- R's:

"The Happening" -- The very leaves on the trees turn against humanity in this cautionary thriller about an airborne, foliage-bred toxin that wafts through New York's Central Park, disorienting people and causing them to commit suicide. The phenomenon soon spreads across the Eastern seaboard. This R-rated fable is not writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's best work ("The Sixth Sense," PG-13, 1999), but it is quite strong and likely to grab high-schoolers with its well-drawn characters, strong emotions and neatly dramatized post-9/11 dread. That noted, the dialogue often sounds clunky and even the catastrophes grow repetitive. Yet the movie's understated creepiness casts a real spell. Mark Wahlberg plays a science teacher who, with his wife (Zooey Deschanel), his pal (John Leguizamo), and his pal's daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez) flees to the countryside. Though a mostly mildish R, "The Happening" does include two graphic gun murders and a video in which a zoo lion tears off a man's arms. There are also strongly implied hanging and gun suicides (the shots just off-camera), people jumping off buildings, mild profanity and sexual innuendo. OK for most high-schoolers.

"Sex and the City" -- Bigger isn't always better. A sequel to HBO's hit series, this prolonged celebration of self-absorption feels like an endless, vacuous soap opera, despite the fab clothes and racy repartee. One hopes girls 17 and older will at least acknowledge the crass consumption that fuels the four fashionista friends of "Sex and the City" as much as romance. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), the narrator and chronicler of their adventures, plans to wed wealthily with her on-again-off-again love, Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Her pals Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and the shameless Samantha (Kim Cattrall) all face marital and romantic crises as they move into middle-age. The finale of forgiveness, love and friendship doesn't make up for the triviality that comes before. There are explicit sexual situations, sexual language, nudity, crude humor, profanity and drinking. Not for under-17s.

(c) 2008, Washington Post Writers Group.

This news arrived on: 06/20/2008

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