Family Film Reviews

NEW THIS WEEK

-- A NEW TAKE ON A CREEPY OLD PLOT, MORE FOR HIGH-SCHOOLERS:

"THE LAST EXORCISM" PG-13 -- Shot in documentary verite style, this rather fresh variation-on-a-theme thriller relies more on giving you the creeps than on actual blood and guts horror, though there is a bit of that, too. "The Last Exorcism" runs primarily on foreboding and fear. A Southern preacher, Rev. Marcus (Patrick Fabian), allows a documentary crew to follow him to a farm where a widowed father (Louis Herthum) -- a religious fanatic -- believes his teenage daughter is possessed. The preacher, as a confessional act, wants to show the film crew that everything he does when he preaches or "performs" exorcisms is just fakery. Then, of course, the young woman (Ashley Bell) on whom he's been asked to do an exorcism starts behaving in ways Marcus can't explain. He and the crew wonder whether she really is possessed.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Not for the nightmare prone of any age, "The Last Exorcism" is better aimed at high-schoolers, despite the relative lack of gore. The language includes occasional profanity and sexual innuendo, including a brief incest theme. It's implied that a cat is murdered, as well as other livestock, and we see hints of animal guts and blood. The climax of the film gets briefly very violent, but most of it revolves around foreboding, screams, and the teen girl's body twisting in impossible ways.

-- AN INTERMITTENLY CLEVER SPOOF OF THE "TWILIGHT SAGA" VAMPIRE FLICKS, MORE FOR HIGH-SCHOOLERS:

"VAMPIRES SUCK" PG-13 -- This broad sendup of the "Twilight Saga" films (all PG-13s) and books makes its point and runs out of steam long before it ends. Even so, teens who are into those films and books will likely appreciate the spoofery and get even the subtlest jabs, though subtlety is not what "Vampires Suck" is mostly about. Moody 18-year-old Becca Crane (Jenn Proske) moves back to the Pacific Northwest to live with her sheriff dad (Diedrich Bader). She falls for the oddly pale and sparkly Edward Sullen (Matt Lanter) and his clan of high-class vampires, while the furry, werewolf-ish Jacob (Chris Riggi) falls for her. There are bad vampires eager for Becca's blood, and it all plays out at the prom.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The PG-13 rating is pushed to the limit with phoney-looking violence that features heads knocked off, limbs severed and necks bitten, along with lots of sexual innuendo, near-frontal nudity, full total backview nudity and nonexplicit, comically played sexual situations. The dialogue has midrange profanity and crude sexual slang. The innuendo and language are far stronger than in the films being spoofed, making "Vampires Suck" more for high-schoolers.

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ALSO PLAYING

-- OK FOR MOST KIDS 7 AND OLDER:

"NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS" PG -- This genial if at times too special-effects laden sequel to "Nanny McPhee" (PG, 2005) offers many pleasures, from pigs doing synchronized swimming to a cast of great British actors, even in small roles. Isabel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a harried World War II-era British mom, is trying to keep the family farm afloat, work a day job and care for three unruly offspring. Her husband (Ewan McGregor) is a soldier and hasn't been heard from in months. Her brother-in-law Phil (Rhys Ifans) has gambling debts, with hit women threatening to take his kidneys. He wants Isabel to sell the farm for cash. Then two spoiled London cousins Cyril (Eros Vlahos) and Celia (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) come to stay, and the five kids declare war on one another. That's when the magically homely Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) appears. Her five lessons -- stop fighting, share, help one another, be brave and have faith -- are whimsically taught.

THE BOTTOM LINE: With her facial warts, bad teeth, black garb, thudding cane and burping pet crow, Nanny McPhee could briefly unsettle kids 6 and under. The fear of one's father being killed or missing in action is a central theme, which the film develops in a strongly emotional way (Nanny and two of the boys visit the War Department in London). However, real war is never portrayed -- no bombed-out buildings or injured people. An unexploded bomb does land in the wheat field, but it's played for comedy and the bomb looks like a big toy. Tension mounts until the kids (and that crow) defuse it. There are many barnyard poo jokes.

-- PG-13s:

"THE SWITCH" -- "The Switch" has much to recommend it -- choice comic turns by Jason Bateman, Jeff Goldblum and a child actor named Thomas Robinson, who's priceless in his repartee with Bateman. However, the central premise is a mature one, dealing with sperm donation and single parenthood. So the movie, however heartwarming, is not for middle-schoolers. Jennifer Aniston plays Manhattan career woman Kassie, who tells her best pal Wally (Bateman) she's decided to have a child using sperm donation. Her friend (Juliette Lewis) holds a party for the event, featuring the handsome donor, Roland (Patrick Wilson). Wally, who's been in love with Kassie for years, but can't even admit it to his friend (Goldblum), who's known it for years, gets very drunk at the party and, in the bathroom, tips over Roland's sperm sample, then refills it with his own (strongly implied, not explicitly shown). Seven years later, Kassie, who moved away, returns to New York with Sebastian (Robinson). The plot thickens when Wally sees how many quirks he and the 6-year-old share -- hypochondria, pessimism, humming as they eat -- easily the most inspired part of an otherwise standard-issue romantic comedy.

THE BOTTOM LINE: In addition to the sperm donation and masturbation themes, there are strands in the story about depression and hypochondria, though all treated lightheartedly. Finally, the act of deception that Wally commits, while played for comedy, is really quite serious and high-schoolers are more likely to get that. The script features midrange profanity and, not surprisingly, turkey baster and semen jokes.

"LOTTERY TICKET" -- Bow Wow stars as a likable young Everyman in this raucous comedy. Kevin (Bow Wow) lives with his grandmother (Loretta Devine) in the projects and dreams of starting his own athletic shoe design firm. Meanwhile, he works at Foot Locker. Then he wins a $370-million lottery jackpot. When his neighbors, and worse yet, the local thugs, get wind of this, Kevin is cajoled, seduced, mugged, harassed and even courted by a crime boss (Keith David) who wants a piece of the action. Only the childhood friend (Naturi Naughton) who loves Kevin for himself has her feet on the ground. The poverty and desperation in "Lottery Ticket" may be played for laughs, but it's quite a commentary. Ice Cube has a fun cameo as a tough old shut-in.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The action features lots of nonlethal mayhem (fist fights, beatings, occasional gunfire) and threats of violence. However, the sense of potential danger in Kevin's neighborhood feels real. The script includes profanity and other raw language, brief use of the N-word, much use of the word that rhymes with witch, and verbal references to prison rape. The one steamy sexual situation never gets explicit, and characters talk about condoms and having babies out of wedlock. There is some drinking. This comedy is clearly more for high-schoolers.

"GET LOW" (LIMITED RELEASE) -- Teens really into good acting, with all its subtleties and grace notes, will like "Get Low," if they also have the patience to watch a rather slow-moving, atmospheric, drama with a less than plausible finale. Robert Duval is wonderful, though, as Felix Bush, a 1930s-era Tennessee hermit who emerges from the backwoods after 40 years. (The film is fiction, but based on folk tales about a real-life person.) Felix presents a wad of bills to a slick undertaker (Bill Murray) and his earnest assistant (Lucas Black) and demands that a "funeral party" be held for him while he's alive. He wants everyone who's been spreading rumors about him to tell the stories to his face. Later, we learn it's Felix who wants to confess his sins. Sissy Spacek and Bill Cobbs add depth as people with long-ago connections to Felix.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The film includes instances of brief, nonlethal violence, gunfire, flashback images of a fatal fire, smoking, drinking and mild profanity.

"SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD" -- Teens who already love Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels about the romantic, rock 'n' roll and video-game adventures of Scott Pilgrim will likely flock to this movie. And whether it's fully loyal to the books or not, it stands on its own as a uniquely fun, fizzy experience, incorporating elements of video-game fantasy into the live-action tale of Scott Pilgrim's (Michael Cera) wacky life. The premise gets a little tired by the third act, but not enough to spoil things. Scott is a directionless 20-something guy who's out of work, dates a high-school girl (Ellen Wong), and plays in a garage band called Sex Bob-Omb. The offbeat tale suddenly flies off the screen into the video-game stratosphere (without being in 3-D!) after Scott falls for Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and learns he must fight all of her exes in surreal (perhaps he's dreaming), video-game-inspired combat.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The film is edgy, yet with hardly any profanity (except for a song lyric) and bloodless special-effects fights. There are many references to homosexuality, though no sexual situations. (Multiple guys crash in the apartment occupied by Scott and his gay roommate, played by Kieran Culkin, and often share the bed.) The dialogue contains some drug references and characters do some drinking. The film may be too sophisticated for most middle-schoolers.

"EAT PRAY LOVE" -- It's a little tough to imagine most teens sticking with this rambling, artificial-feeling tale of self-discovery (based on Liz Gilbert's popular memoir) about a 40-ish travel writer's round-the-world quest to find herself after a messy divorce. The film has nice moments, but is also repetitive and busy offering preachy conclusions straight out of self-help books. Also, Julia Roberts plays Liz with so much self-control she's nearly a cipher. Liz decides she wants a nonconformist life, gets divorced, feels guilty about it, has an affair with a young actor (James Franco), goes first to Italy to eat and make new friends, then to India to study with a guru, then to Bali to seek the wisdom of a medicine man. There she meets handsome Felipe (Javier Bardem), who challenges her fear of love and commitment.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The film includes much sexual innuendo, but it is never crude or graphic, despite numerous implied overnight trysts and brief backview nudity. Characters drink a lot and use occasional profanity, including one very strong epithet.

"STEP UP 3-D" -- There's some terrific dancing in this cliched but watchable sequel to teen dance films "Step Up" (PG-13, 2006) and "Step Up 2: The Streets" (PG-13, 2008), and it's offered in Digital 3-D in some theaters. A mix of break-dancing, acrobatics, mime, ballet and even a dash of Fred Astaire panache, the dance energy alone (plus the good-looking cast) will carry many teens along for the ride -- certainly more than the corny "follow your dreams" script. The dancers are past high-school age this time. Luke (Rick Malambri) is trying to keep his Manhattan dance club alive and run a rehearsal space for street dancers. He needs their dance team to win a big contest. A mysterious new dancer (Sharni Vinson) joins them, along with a dance-crazed college freshman (Adam G. Sevani, who was in "Step Up 2: The Streets").

THE BOTTOM LINE: The choreography includes a few crotch-grabbing dance moves and other less graphic sexual innuendo. There is rare profanity.

"THE OTHER GUYS" -- Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg play ill-matched NYPD detective partners in this outrageous, often inspired, cop-movie spoof that celebrates the oddities of human nature in ways high-schoolers may find delicious. It is not for middle-schoolers, because of the profanity and sexual content in the dialogue, which push the PG-13 envelope. Allen Gamble (Ferrell), an unhip, violence-averse police detective whose strong suit is accounting, is paired with hot-tempered Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg). When the mayhem-addicted hotdogs in their unit (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson) are sidelined, Hoitz and Gamble enter the fray, going after a sleazy financier (Steve Coogan) and his thugs. Real information about financial scandals is woven into the script and even the closing credits.

THE BOTTOM LINE: There are ridiculously destructive car chases, shoot-outs, explosions, and tasteless jokes on every possible subject, including homosexuality and sex in prison. Hoitz cannot believe that Gamble is married to the gorgeous Sheila (Eva Mendes), leading to much sexual innuendo. Not for middle-schoolers.

"INCEPTION" -- Teens who love sci-fi and ultra-complicated video and computer games will take to Christopher Nolan's epic right away. The story line gets tangled and there are stretches of tedium, but that's less important than the film's genius concept and surreal visuals. Teen film buffs will love how dream-induced cityscapes upend and slugfests go weightless. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, an "extractor" who enables thieves to steal secrets locked in people's brains. He and his team lure victims into synthesized, drug-induced group dreams to make their minds accessible. This time, though, Cobb is hired to do an inception -- to plant an idea into someone's brain, but his own emotional issues add a new element of danger to the dream.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The action features considerable gunplay, and we see life-threatening injuries and some blood. Other sequences are mostly pure, balletic mayhem. There are ongoing themes dealing with grief and suicide, occasional mild profanity, brief wine-drinking, and mild sexual innuendo. Intellectually, this film is more for high-schoolers.

-- AN R:

"THE EXPENDABLES" -- A passel of long-in-the-tooth action stars raise Cain in this ultraviolent saga directed and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars. Teens 17 and older who love action flicks may get a kick out of seeing the slightly grizzled, botoxed cast (not counting relative youngster Jason Statham) tear things up. The movie is bad, but fun -- a guilty pleasure -- and awfully bloody. Stallone plays Barney Ross, leader of a team of former Special Forces guys who do off-the-books mercenary work for various governments. Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke play some of his compadres. Barney's latest gig comes from a CIA man (Bruce Willis in a cameo, joined by Arnold Schwarzenegger as Barney's old rival) to assassinate an island dictator. Mayhem ensues.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Graphically violent -- throat stabbings and beheadings between the gunplay -- with strong profanity and sexually crude language, "The Expendables" is for 17-and-older. Waterboarding and other torture are depicted, as is an implied threat of rape. Some characters drink and smoke.