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"Hotel for Dogs" (PG, 1 hr., 40 min.)

In this illogical but cuddly fantasy, a 16-year-old girl named Andi (Emma Roberts of "Nancy Drew," PG, 2007; "Aquamarine," PG, 2006; and "Unfabulous" on Nickelodeon) and her 11-year-old brother Bruce (Jake T. Austin) fill the hole in their unhappy lives as foster kids by adopting stray dogs. Set in a sort of grungy Every City, USA, the story starts with the siblings hiding their soulful, food-stealing Jack Russell terrier Friday, found as a stray, from their mean foster parents (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon). They can't let their kindly social worker, Bernie (Don Cheadle), know about Friday, either. Bernie keeps warning them that if they mess up their latest foster home situation, he might have to place them separately. We never learn how their parents died, by the way.

Andi and Bruce engage in scams to get money for dog food and have to dodge police. One day, running from the cops over a crime they didn't commit, they follow Friday into an abandoned hotel. They discover two adorable dogs living there. The kids start bringing in food and caring for them. A nice boy (Johnny Simmons) and girl (Kyla Pratt), who work at a pet supply store, join in, as does a smart-aleck local kid (Troy Gentile) who hopes to meet girls this way. Young Bruce builds ingenious machines that feed, entertain and exercise the pooches, and deal with their waste needs. The kids turn the place into a shelter for a delightful array of strays. Of course, the nasty (what else?) guys from the pound start to wonder what's going on. The whole tail, er, tale, told in "Hotel for Dogs" is wildly improbable, but makes for much happily-ever-after fun.

Expect many variations on doggie poop jokes, but also serious themes about losing parents and flaws in the foster care system, with glimpses of grim, Dickensian group homes. At the pound, there are subtle hints that dogs are only held 72 hours before being euthanized. During a chase scene, the dogs have near-misses with vehicles. There is one crotch kick delivered by a kid to an adult, and one teen kiss.

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" (PG, 1 hr., 30 min.)

Comic Kevin James brings a lot of heart to the title role as a buffoonish shopping-mall security guard who becomes a hero. This surprisingly amusing family comedy is fine for anyone 10 and older. It is problematic for under-10s because there are bad guys in it who repeatedly threaten to shoot hostages.

Heavyset and prone to hypoglycemic fainting spells (that's why he flunked the state police endurance test), Paul Blart scoots around on one of those stand-up personal transporters, shyly flirting with the pretty girl at the hair weave kiosk, Amy (Jayma Mays). Long-divorced, Paul lives with his mom (Shirley Knight) and teenage daughter Maya (charming Raini Rodriguez), whose mother, we're told, abandoned the family long ago. (There's a gratuitous dig at undocumented Latinos in the account we hear about why Paul's wife left.) Compensating for career disappointments, Paul takes his mall job very seriously -- trying to ticket an old man on an electric scooter for speeding. When a gang of athletic, skateboard-racing robbers invades the mall, Paul tries to foil them on his own after realizing Amy and eventually his daughter are among the hostages. Meanwhile, the cops and a SWAT team assemble outside.

There is some gunfire and an explosion, and Paul and a bad guy fall through a skylight while fighting. In a comically intended moment, it is implied that Paul hits a dog while tooling around on his transporter (nothing shown, but we hear a yelp). When an angry woman shopper beats Paul up, we see the back of her bra. Paul gets drunk and acts stupid after mistaking margaritas for lemonade. We see a tattoo on his partly bare backside, and there is rare mild sexual innuendo and swearing.

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Beyond the Ratings Game: Movie Reviews for various ages

-- OK FOR KIDS 6 AND OLDER:

"The Tale of Despereaux" G -- A big-eared mouse with dreams of valor saves the day in this charming and richly imagined bit of old-fashioned animated storytelling. "The Tale of Despereaux" ought to charm kids 6 and up, but there are bits that could scare littler ones, such as rats cheering for a cat to eat Despereaux (voice of Matthew Broderick); he also falls into a dungeon and runs a gantlet of mousetraps. The film juggles too many characters, and some undergo dizzying personality changes, but kids can overlook such flaws. In the medieval Kingdom of Dor, where soup is an obsession, a rat named Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) falls into the queen's soup bowl and she dies of fright. To escape capture, Roscuro dives into the dungeon and joins gloomy, violent Rat World. Behind a wall in the palace kitchen, Despereaux is born into Mouse World. He refuses to learn how to scurry and cower. Banished to the dungeon for meeting with humans, the brave mouse and Roscuro vow to live heroic lives and are soon tested.

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-- OK FOR KIDS 8 AND OLDER:

"Hotel for Dogs" (NEW) PG -- In this illogical but very cuddly urban fantasy for dog lovers, 16-year-old Andi (Emma Roberts) and her 11-year-old brother Bruce (Jake T. Austin) fill the hole in their lives as unhappy foster kids by secretly adopting a stray Jack Russell terrier they name Friday. Clever at hiding him from their mean rock-musician foster folks (Lisa Kudrow and Kevin Dillon), and from their kindly social worker (Don Cheadle), the kids use illegal scams to get money for dog food. One day Andi and Bruce follow Friday into an abandoned hotel. They discover two more dogs living there. Entranced, they bring in food. A boy (Johnny Simmons) and girl (Kyla Pratt), who work at a pet supply store, help them, as does a neighborhood kid (Troy Gentile), who hopes to meet girls. They turn the place into a shelter for a delightful array of strays, and Bruce creates ingenious machines to feed, entertain and exercise the dogs. Soon the nasty guys at the pound start wondering where all the strays have gone. But never fear -- the kids are smarter. Poop and piddle jokes are plentiful, and there are serious themes about losing one's parents and the flawed foster care system. There are fears Andi and Bruce could be separated and subtle implications that dogs at the pound are euthanized after three days. One crotch kick is delivered by a kid to an adult, and there is one teen kiss.

"Bride Wars" PG -- Tween girls may delight in the shimmer of "Bride Wars," but many a parent will cringe at the stereotype of females who lust after all things expensive and bridal, while the guys roll their eyes. The image is ugly, retro, and so tone-deaf for 2009. If the movie were a real hoot, it might be less offensive, but its wit is more labored than laugh-out-loud. Best friends Liv (Kate Hudson), a tough lawyer, and Emma (Anne Hathaway), a sweet-natured schoolteacher, start feuding after the wedding planner (Candice Bergen) they've both hired schedules their weddings for the same date. In planning their rival nuptials, no trick is too nasty. It is gently implied that both career women live with their fiances, and there is a bachelorette party with male strippers in skimpy outfits and suggestive dancing. There is much drinking and rare mild profanity.

"Bedtime Stories" PG -- The script is a sloppy mix of sarcasm and sentimentality and the fantasy sequences look tacky, but "Bedtime Stories" has the Adam Sandler silliness factor kids 8 and older seem to like. Sandler plays Skeeter, custodian at a luxury Los Angeles hotel. The owner (Richard Griffiths) won't promote him and the snide manager (Guy Pearce) aims to keep it that way. Skeeter's divorced sister (Courteney Cox) leaves her kids (Laura Ann Kesling and Jonathan Morgan Heit) with her brother while she flies to a job interview. To perk up his young charges, he makes up stories and lets them add plot twists, which start coming true, sort of, in Skeeter's life. The crude humor includes a tasteless gag about a dwarf. The Heimlich maneuver revives a seemingly dead man, and a guinea pig with bulging eyes is creepy. The finale puts kids in pointless danger.

"Marley & Me" PG -- SPOILER ALERT: This pleasant, if uninspired, adaptation has the same last act as John Grogan's book. We see a beloved pet grow old and ill, get kissed goodbye and euthanized. Parents of under-8s (and some older kids) might consider leaving after an aged Marley recovers miraculously from his first illness. John Grogan (Owen Wilson) buys a puppy for his wife Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston) when the newlyweds get jobs as newspaper reporters in Florida. The cuddly but comically untrainable yellow lab Marley wreaks havoc before and after the couple start a family. The film shows Jennifer sad after a failed first pregnancy (a doctor says the fetus has no heartbeat). There is drinking, mild profanity, gently implied marital sexual situations and skinny-dipping, and a stabbing victim who's not badly hurt.

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-- FINE FOR KIDS 10 AND OLDER:

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop" PG (NEW) -- Comic Kevin James brings much heart to the title role in this surprisingly amusing little family comedy about a buffoonish shopping-mall security guard who becomes a hero. Paul Blart scoots around on one of those stand-up personal transporters, taking his job very seriously as he watches for transgressors, and shyly flirts with pretty Amy (Jayma Mays) at the hair weave kiosk. Paul has hypoglycemia and faints without regular sugar intakes. Long-divorced, he lives with his mom (Shirley Knight) and teen daughter Maya (charming Raini Rodriguez). When a gang of athletic robbers invades the mall and takes hostages, Paul tries to foil them solo to rescue Amy. PLOT GIVEAWAY: The 10-and-older recommendation is because the bad guys threaten to kill hostages and there is some gunfire and an explosion. There is also a quick implication that Paul hits a dog while on his transporter -- we hear a yelp. We see the back of a shopper's bra as she beats Paul up. He gets drunk after mistaking margaritas for lemonade, and we see a tattoo on his behind. There is mild sexual innuendo and mild swearing. His daughter is also endangered.

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-- PG-13s OF VARYING INTENSITY:

"Last Chance Harvey" (NEW) -- With generous, vulnerable, charming performances as two lonely people who meet by chance and learn that life hasn't totally passed them by, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson raise this sentimental tale far above the ordinary. Teens may find the story a little musty, as it's geared to an older crowd. Harvey Shine (Hoffman) is a 60-ish jingle-writer with a faltering career and a hint of a drinking problem. He comes to London to see his daughter (Liane Balaban) get married and to mingle awkwardly with his ex-wife (Kathy Baker) and her second family. Kate (Thompson) lives in London with her busybody mother (Eileen Atkins) and has no social life. It takes nearly half-an-hour for Harvey and Kate to meet, but it's worth the wait. There is crude language, mild sexual innuendo and drinking.

"The Unborn" (NEW) -- An arresting visual style and strong cast cannot mask the nonsensical narrative at the center of "The Unborn." Writer-director David S. Goyer tries to lend gravitas to this tale of a college girl (Odette Yustman) haunted by the spirit of an unborn child, tying it to Jewish mysticism and -- unforgiveably -- to Nazi experiments on twins. The mysticism and the history are trivialized for a dumb scary movie as are the talents of Gary Oldman as a rabbi who performs an exorcism and Jane Alexander as an old woman who reveals a secret. There are nightmare images of human embryos, people and dogs turned into demons, swarming bugs and worms, a needle aimed at a child's eye, lethal stabbings and fights, and a suicide theme. It is gently implied that the heroine and her boyfriend (Cam Gigandet) sleep together. There is midrange profanity and rare crude sexual slang. Too intense for some middle-schoolers.

"Valkyrie" -- An impossible-to-follow narrative and a miscast Tom Cruise sink "Valkyrie." Too bad, because high-schoolers might have found the suspense thriller compelling. It dramatizes a failed 1944 plot by high-ranking members of the German military to assassinate Adolf Hitler, but the film piles confusion upon confusion in telling its story. Cruise plays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a key conspirator. Alas, when Cruise's ramrod-straight, eye-patch-wearing colonel barks, "Hitler is the archenemy of Germany!" the whole thing slips into parody. There are a couple of intense battle scenes, but few graphic injuries. We learn after the fact that Von Stauffenberg has lost a hand and an eye in battle. (He keeps his glass eye in a silver case.) There are executions by firing squad, a hanging, suicides, rare profanity, brief mild sexual innuendo and smoking.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" -- Though nearly three hours long, this magically spun saga never loses its wonder. In a New Orleans hospital a dying old woman asks her daughter (Julia Ormond) to read aloud from an old diary -- that of Benjamin Button (played mostly by Brad Pitt). The film flashes back to his birth in 1918 as an infant who looks like an old man. Abandoned by his horrified father at an old folks' home, Benjamin is raised by the housekeeper (Taraji P. Henson) and gets younger-looking as he grows up. He goes to sea, discovers sex (in a brothel), and realizes how fleeting happiness is. He falls in love with Daisy when they are children, though he looks old. Years later, their lives (Daisy now played by Cate Blanchett) coincide for a bit. There are strongly implied nonexplicit sexual situations, partial nudity, a bad car accident, war deaths, rare profanity, drinking and smoking. OK for all teens.

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-- AN R:

"Gran Torino" -- Clint Eastwood, who also directed, lets himself ham it up in "Gran Torino" as Walt Kowalski, a growling Korean War vet and retired autoworker who's just lost his wife. He vents anger, sadness and racist grudges at everyone, especially his new Asian neighbors, who are Hmong, from Southeast Asia. Yet Walt becomes his neighbors' vigilante protector after a local gang tries to force their son (Bee Vang) to steal Walt's vintage car. A formulaic plot, unpolished acting and tired racial stereotypes damage the film, yet it still has punch. High-schoolers with patience for character studies may enjoy it. There are brief bursts of violence, grim threats, and the sight of a bruised and bloodied young woman who has been raped. There is a graphic description of killing in war, profanity, racial slurs, sexual innuendo, drinking and smoking.

(c) 2009, Washington Post Writers Group.

This news arrived on: 01/15/2009

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