July 3, 2008

Get Smart (Warner Bros.)

Good-natured update of 1960s TV series with secret agent Maxwell Smart (a perfectly cast Steve Carell), alternately bungling and clever, and his partner, Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), dispatched to Russia by their chief (Alan Arkin) to battle the evil KAOS crime syndicate boss (Terence Stamp). Director Peter Segal deftly balances action, comedy and sentiment, with quite a few pearly moments, but though the action sequences are never gory or the comedy gross or mean-spirited, the elements listed below are arguably still strong enough to preclude the youngest viewers. Much comic action violence including killings, light sexual references and innuendo, some crude language and crass expressions, a vulgar gesture and brief rear-male nudity; acceptable for older teens. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Hancock (Columbia/Relativity)

Ultimately muddled action film in which a dyspeptic, alcoholic Los Angeles superhero (Will Smith), whose good deeds often lead to mayhem, finds the road to reform laid out for him by an idealistic PR executive (Jason Bateman) made bumpy by his deep attraction to his new friend's wife (Charlize Theron). With its clever premise and dizzying special effects, the first part of director Peter Berg's film works well enough, but after one snappy plot twist bogs down in the murky mythology of its back story. Moderately intense fantasy action, partial rear nudity, some vulgar humor, occasional rough and much crude language, a profanity and an obscene gesture. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (Picturehouse/New Line)

Charming chronicle of a 10-year-old aspiring reporter's (Abigail Breslin) experiences during the Great Depression, as her father (Chris O'Donnell) leaves home to seek work, her mother (Julia Ormond) takes in a collection of colorful boarders (Joan Cusack, Glenne Headly, Zach Mills and Colin Mochrie, among others) and she endeavors to sell articles to the local editor (Wallace Shawn) and to clear a homeless teen (Max Thieriot) accused of theft. Director Patricia Rozema's warm, pleasingly innocent adaptation of the titular children's stories presents a somewhat sanitized Waltons-style view of the era, but it fosters persistence, opposes stereotyping and will likely hit a bull's-eye with targeted tweens. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted.

The Love Guru (Paramount/Spyglass)

Flat comedy, only fitfully enlivened by some clever gags, about a guru (Mike Myers) enlisted by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team (Jessica Alba) to reunite their star player (Romany Malco) with his wife (Meagan Good) who has left him for his rival (an unrecognizably hirsute Justin Timberlake), the French-Canadian goalie for the opposing team, thereby restoring the former player's prowess on the ice. Unabashedly vulgar and tasteless despite its saccharine ending and some moderately redemptive elements, the film, directed at an often tentative pace by Marco Schnabel, feels too long by half and the jibes at celebrity and bogus Indian mysticism wear thin. Much sexual and scatological humor and innuendo, some crude language, adultery and an implied premarital relationship, drug references and comic violence. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

WALL-E (Disney/Pixar)

Beautiful and deeply touching futuristic fable about a soulful-eyed waste removal robot (voice of Ben Burtt), the last on an abandoned, garbage-strewn earth, who falls in love with a visiting search robot (Elissa Knight) and follows her onto a spaceship manned by an ineffectual Captain (Jeff Garlin) and populated by earth's passively sedentary obese refugees. Using Pixar's breathtaking animation techniques, director and co-writer Andrew Stanton has concocted a canny mix of sharp humor, honest sentiment and surprisingly potent romance with (for those adults looking deeper) an underlying indictment of our consumer-oriented society and a timely environmental warning. An instant classic. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted.

Wanted (Universal/Spyglass)

Overheated action rampage in which a downtrodden, panic-prone accountant (James McAvoy) is recruited by the leader (Morgan Freeman) of a secret fraternity of assassins and trained by its members (Angelina Jolie, Marc Warren, Konstantin Khabensky and Dato Bakhtadze) to avenge the murder of his estranged father (David O'Hara), who was also their colleague. Spectacular special effects fail to camouflage the random violence and glamorization of killing that underpin Kazak director Timur Bekmambetov's slick comic-book adaptation. Bloody violence, graphic sexual activity, rear nudity, beatings, nonmarital cohabitation, pervasive rough and crude language, a few profanities and birth-control references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.