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MOVIE TITLE/RATING

BEHIND ENEMY LINES/PG-13

IN A NUTSHELL

A Navy aviator (Owen Wilson) gets shot down while conducting recon over the Balkans and must evade brutal Serbs while his commander (Gene Hackman) tries to engineer a rescue.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

Yes. The battle scenes are timely, and young audiences like Wilson (Meet the Parents).

SEX/NUDITY

None

DRUGS/ALCOHOL

None

VIOLENCE/SCARINESS

Graphic battlefield violence, including an execution by shooting and many corpses.

OBJECTIONABLE WORDS/PHRASES/STEREOTYPES

Characters cuss like the sailors they are.

THE VERDICT

Rousing action will attract kids, but the movie may be too gritty and intense for younger children.

APPROPRIATE AGES

13 and up

[MOVIE TITLE/RATING]

BLACK KNIGHT/PG

[IN A NUTSHELL]

A theme park employee (Martin Lawrence) falls into a moat and is mysteriously transported back to 14th-century England, where he finds himself in the midst of a medieval rebellion.

[WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?]

The comic star of Blue Streak and Big Momma's House is a draw.

[SEX/NUDITY]

A few suggestive exchanges and multiple references to thongs.

[DRUGS/ALCOHOL]

Tom Wilkinson plays an alcoholic knight who sobers up to help save the day.

[VIOLENCE/SCARINESS]

One execution, a grisly decapitation by axe; heads on stakes; soldiers shot by arrows.

[OBJECTIONABLE WORDS/PHRASES/STEREOTYPES]

A lot of bigass's and badass's, and frequent use of the S-word.

[THE VERDICT]

Fairly innocuous by today's standards. A dumbed-down, hip-hop update of Mark Twain's classic romp.

[APPROPRIATE AGES]

12 and up

[MOVIE TITLE/RATING]

HARRY POTTER.../PG

[IN A NUTSHELL]

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), an 11-year-old orphan, discovers he's the son of famous wizards and goes off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to learn the family business.

[WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?]

The question is how many times.

[SEX/NUDITY]

None

[DRUGS/ALCOHOL]

Magic potions are brewed, but no hard stuff.

[VIOLENCE/SCARINESS]

The hero and his friends outwit evil ghouls, trolls, a three-headed dog, and various bullies.

[OBJECTIONABLE WORDS/PHRASES/STEREOTYPES]

None

[THE VERDICT]

The most anticipated children's movie in town -- based on the most popular children's books in years -- is long but faithful.

[APPROPRIATE AGES]

7 and up

[MOVIE TITLE/RATING]

AMELIE/R

[IN A NUTSHELL]

Sprightly Amelie (Audrey Tautou) influences the fates of her Parisian neighbors but doesn't recognize romantic destiny when she meets the eligible Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz).

[WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?]

High school French students and couples will enjoy the stylized charm of Paris.

[SEX/NUDITY]

A humorous montage of copulating couples; some scenes are set in a sex shop.

[DRUGS/ALCOHOL]

A bit of alcohol is sipped.

[VIOLENCE/SCARINESS]

A woman plunges to her death from the top of a church.

[OBJECTIONABLE WORDS/PHRASES/STEREOTYPES]

Some cursing, but merde, it's in French.

[THE VERDICT]

Sweet and flaky as a chocolate croissant. Plus, teenage girls will copy Amelie's chic haircut.

[APPROPRIATE AGES]

15 and up

[MOVIE TITLE/RATING]

SPY GAME/R

[IN A NUTSHELL]

Renegade CIA cowboy (Brad Pitt) is in a Chinese prison; back at Langley HQ, his longtime mentor (Robert Redford) has 24 hours to bust him out -- without his bosses finding out.

[WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?]

Swooning fans of Pitt might, but they'll wonder why he's hanging out with that old guy.

[SEX/NUDITY]

Pitt's character twice seen briefly in bed with a woman.

[DRUGS/ALCOHOL]

Redford's character drinks Scotch and smokes (although we never see him light up).

[VIOLENCE/SCARINESS]

Flashbacks to Beirut, Vietnam, etc., with gunplay, bombings, gore. Pitt is tortured.

[OBJECTIONABLE WORDS/PHRASES/STEREOTYPES]

The F-word is used with much manly abandon.

[THE VERDICT]

The espionage thriller is fine for any kids who might have a grasp of the geopolitical complexities of the past 25 years.

[APPROPRIATE AGES]

15 and up


Posted Nov 30, 2001 | Published in issue #628 Nov 30, 2001 | Order Article Reprints