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Young love finds itself tested by current events in the frequently sentimental drama "Dear John" (Screen Gems).
While the outside strains on the central relationship in director Lasse Hallstrom's adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' best-selling 2006 novel may be all too realistic—including as they do the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—the characters' reactions to them, at least in a few crucial cases, come across as emotionally off-key.
Home on leave to visit his mildly autistic father (Richard Jenkins), South Carolina-bred Special Forces Sgt. John Tyree (Channing Tatum) falls for affluent college student Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried). As shown in the opening scenes, the two meet when surfing enthusiast John, acting with characteristic gallantry, dives into the drink to retrieve the purse Savannah, acting with not-uncharacteristic vagueness, accidentally dropped off a beachside pier.
As John's return to duty looms, the two resolve to maintain their newfound bond by an exchange of detailed—and always honest—letters.
But then John's plans to leave the Army at the end of his enlistment—less than a year away—are suddenly scuttled by 9/11. He uses a brief furlough to visit Savannah, who fumes over the situation ("How dare that Osama bin Laden do this to me!" her face seems to say), and quarrels with him.
They make it up by consummating their attraction in an encounter the film handles discreetly, but also unmistakably endorses.
The crisis that follows once John departs again—revealing its precise nature would constitute a spoiler, though those old enough to remember the slang of earlier conflicts may take a hint from the title—sees Savannah behaving in a way that seems unlikely and inauthentic.
By contrast, the portrayal of John's conflicted filial feelings for his dad—an isolated figure who devotes all his time and attention to his extensive coin collection, and who eventually suffers a crisis of his own—is moving.
Despite John and Savannah's premature physicality, Jamie Linden's script does have its moral strong points, perhaps reflecting Spark's religious values as a practicing Catholic. Thus Savannah devotes her vacation days during spring break to rebuilding a neighbor's home, and dreams of opening a summer camp for autistic children. And John, who clearly appreciates Savannah's sensitivity, is shown to have a violent temper that he struggles to control.
The film contains nongraphic premarital sexual activity with partial nudity, a few uses of profanity and at least four instances of the S-word. 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.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Though it features scenes of former pro wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sporting a pair of more-or-less gossamer wings, "Tooth Fairy" (Fox), a feeble fable about the importance of childhood imagination and the pursuit of dreams, never really takes flight.
Additionally, this mostly family-friendly comedy from director Michael Lembeck includes elements of violent sports action and mature dialogue that preclude endorsement for all.
Johnson plays Derek Thompson, a once-gifted professional hockey player now reduced to body-checking opponents for the enjoyment of sadistic minor league fans. Thanks to the dental damage that often results, Derek has earned the ironic nickname "The Tooth Fairy."
Derek's comedown in the world has left him disillusioned, leading him to discourage a youthful hockey enthusiast from dreaming of glory on the ice and to all but deny—in the presence of girlfriend Carly's (Ashley Judd) impressionable 5-year-old daughter, Tess (Destiny Grace Whitlock)—the very existence of the "real" tooth fairy.
For these offenses, Derek is supernaturally summoned to appear before Lily (Julie Andrews), the matriarch of Fairyland, and sentenced to two weeks of service as a collector of baby teeth. Though an initial mix-up sees him clothed in a tutu, Derek is eventually given a marginally more masculine outfit and assigned to the care of an officious but good-hearted pixie mentor named Tracy (Stephen Merchant).
His new secret mission not only complicates Derek's relationship with Carly, but endangers his macho standing among his teammates, including newcomer and rival Mick Donnelly, played by skateboarding star Ryan Sheckler.
Along with the scenes of bruising rink-top mayhem, the script—penned by no fewer than five screenwriters (Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel, Joshua Sternin, Jeffrey Ventimilia and Randi Mayem Singer)—incongruously mixes in an exchange between Derek and Carly's 14-year-old son, Randy (Chase Ellison), about the physical effects of puberty.
Though brief, vaguely worded and played for laughs—Derek's impression that Randy is looking for guidance is quickly disproved by the teen's evident discomfort with the topic—the discussion seems especially out of place in a tale supposedly dedicated to celebrating the innocence and wonder of little ones like Tess, and presumably aimed, in part at least, at an audience of her peers.
The film contains moderate hockey violence, some mild sexual references and brief scatological humor. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II—adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG—parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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More contemplative and lyrical than advertised, the first big action movie of 2010 incorporates religious faith and Judeo-Christian principles to a surprising degree.
Directed by twin brothers Albert and Allen Hughes, "The Book of Eli" (Warner Bros.) prompts the question whether, assuming a minimum level of respect, the attempt to integrate religion and Scripture into a mass-appeal film is by itself laudable.
"The Book of Eli" exhibits sufficient reverence for the Bible, and yet its coarse language and violence—though not excessive when compared to many films of this ilk—could fuel the opinion that Hollywood should avoid all sacred texts. It does not endorse aggression as a means to redemption, however.
While dabbing them with morbid humor, the Hughes brothers don't prolong the fight sequences, nor are the proceedings saturated in blood. The mayhem is balanced by frequent meditative passages. Moreover, next to the bleak depictions of humankind's future that abound at the multiplex (last year's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel "The Road" springs to mind) their vision is decidedly optimistic. Centering on a prophetic hero driven by faith and hope, "The Book of Eli" has more in common with the 2007 Will Smith vehicle "I Am Legend."
The character of Eli, portrayed by the always-convincing Denzel Washington, descends from the strong, mysterious strangers Clint Eastwood played in the so-called spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, as well as from the spiritually potent protagonists in numerous Asian martial-arts films. In the near future, following a climactic disaster that precipitated "the last war," Eli has spent 30 years traversing the blighted landscape of the western United States carrying the only extant copy of The King James Bible.
Books were burned and libraries pillaged in the aftermath of the vaguely described apocalypse. Now, with survival a Herculean challenge, he skillfully defends himself and his precious cargo using a machete, bow-and-arrow, and gun. His belief that he's shielded by God appears to be well-founded after he arrives at a dusty town run by Carnegie (Gary Oldman), whose marauding minions are charged with bringing him every book they can find.
Carnegie's power derives from controlling the water supply, but he's convinced his dominion over the surviving population will grow if he wields the words of the Bible. His blind, common-law wife, Claudia (Jennifer Beals), has a daughter, Solara (Mila Kunis), who eventually hits the road with Eli, becoming a disciple of sorts.
How authentically Christian is Eli's religiosity? Not only does he safeguard and transport the Bible, he reads it daily and quotes from it often. He also prays—most notably at the end of the film, when he gives thanks to God and confesses the sins he committed as the Good Book's chosen courier. The most explicit expression of Christian doctrine comes when Eli tells Solara what he's learned from his in-depth study of Scripture, namely, "Do more for others than you do for yourself."
The film contains intermittent strong violence including gun- and swordplay and a killing intended to be merciful, much rough language, some crude language, and brief sexual innuendo. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L—limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R—restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
*****
John P. McCarthy is a guest reviewer for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film & Broadcasting.
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A scrupulous vampire who eschews human blood for the less satisfying animal alternative? No, it's not Edward Cullen of the "Twilight" franchise; it's undead hematology researcher Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke), hero of the potentially intriguing, but excessively violent, "Daybreakers" (Lionsgate).
Set in a futuristic world where a mysterious plague has transformed the vast majority of the population into blood-suckers, this latest addition to the hoary horror genre revolves around the global emergency provoked when the few remaining mortals can no longer supply the necessary nutriment to sustain their innumerable predators.
Sponsored by a conglomerate that harvests blood from comatose human captives—a sort of macabre version of Archer Daniels Midland—Edward is searching frantically for a viable alternative.
But, as food riots break out and starving "normal" vampires become maddened mutants undermining public safety, people-friendly Edward—already troubled by the ends-justify-the-means nature of his work—discovers that his corporation's CEO, Charles Bromley (Sam Neill), is more concerned about maintaining market share than preserving an endangered species, even one to which he himself once belonged.
An accidental encounter with a group of human fugitives led by Audrey Bennettt (Claudia Karvan) introduces Edward to an underground world of resistance fighters and to the mysterious figure of Lionel "Elvis" Cormac (Willem Dafoe), a unique being who may have unwittingly discovered an alternative—and far more sweeping—solution to the crisis.
Co-writers and directors Peter and Michael Spierig effectively conjure a society where everyday Draculas are the norm—subway stations are packed with nocturnal, fanged commuters, cafes dispense coffee flavored with blood and, being immortal, everyone smokes—and they use this environment to make satiric points about the dangers of corporate excess and environmental irresponsibility.
But the intermittently gory proceedings, which feature needlessly realistic splatter throughout, move toward a climactic scene of orgiastic bloodletting.
The film contains graphic gruesome violence, including decapitation, dismemberment and exploding bodies; upper female nudity; at least three uses of profanity; and some rough and crude language. 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.
******
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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In 1985, BBC television aired director Martin Campbell's miniseries "Edge of Darkness," a thriller about intrigue in the nuclear energy industry.
With Cold War tensions mounting at the time, the program achieved both popularity and critical acclaim, receiving six British Academy of Film and Television awards and being ranked 15th on the British Film Institute's Top 100 Television list.
Now Campbell brings an Americanized version of his stark tale of loss and corruption to the big screen as the feature-length drama "Edge of Darkness" (Warner Bros.) starring Mel Gibson.
In his first leading role in seven years, Gibson plays Boston police detective Thomas Craven. A widower given to old-fashioned ways, Craven is an isolated figure whose only real emotional bond is with his adult daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic).
So when Emma is brutally shot dead shortly after arriving at her father's house for a visit—and before she can explain the nature of the illness that was causing her bouts of severe nausea—Craven is both emotionally devastated and reluctant to accept the theory that the bullets were meant for him.
Though Craven—whose Irish-American, and presumably Catholic, extraction is strongly signaled by Gibson's credible shot at a "Southie" accent—utters a fervent but ultimately stifled prayer as he cradles Emma's body moments after the attack, we later see him scattering her ashes in the ocean, a practice discouraged by the church as discordant with Gospel teaching on the resurrection of the body.
Launching a personal investigation, Craven gradually discovers some unsettling details about Emma's secretive work for Northmoor, a government contractor engaged in clandestine atomic research.
Predictably, Northmoor CEO Jack Bennett (Danny Huston) proves dissatisfyingly taciturn, while Emma's boyfriend and co-worker Daniel Burnham (Shawn Roberts) is too terrified to give Craven more than a few clues.
Some of Craven's best leads come from Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone), a shadowy, elegantly jaded fixer whose loyalties are thoroughly ambiguous.
William Monahan and Andrew Bovell's script—the miniseries was penned by Troy Kennedy Martin—provides a reasonably absorbing but gritty narrative that includes incidents of shocking violence. Thus, in addition to the gore that attends Emma's killing, one of Craven's informants is assaulted in a sudden, graphic, and thoroughly jarring manner.
As Craven closes in on those responsible for Emma's death, the film also skirts the dark edges of vigilantism, though the extreme circumstances and the far reach of the conspiracy Craven uncovers at least partly justify his go-it-alone approach to exacting redress.
The film contains complex moral issues, considerable and sometimes bloody violence, an implied premarital relationship, a few uses of profanity and much rough and some crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L—limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R—restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Though at times it tries to pass itself off as a cautionary tale with serious moral overtones, the espionage thriller "From Paris With Love" (Lionsgate) for the most part registers instead as a straightforward buddy movie, and a gleefully violent one at that.
The initially ill-matched partners at the center of the story are Paris-based American diplomat and low-level CIA agent James Reese (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and Charlie Wax (John Travolta), a trigger-happy visiting operative Reese has been instructed to escort and assist.
Despite his aspirations to be a real spy, Reese's previous intelligence work has been confined to activities like changing the license plates on agency autos to prevent their being traced. So at first he looks forward to this latest assignment as a chance to break into the big leagues.
But Wax proves far more of a loose cannon than the buttoned-up Reece had bargained for, and Wax's wild pursuit of drug dealers and terrorists sees the pair cutting a bloody swath through the French capital's criminal underworld.
Bewildered as the bullets—and the bodies—fly, Reese pauses briefly to wash telltale gore off his face and stare glumly into the mirror, wondering about it all. But the next moment he's off again, one step behind Wax on their renewed rampage.
Reese's prolonged absence from home leads to friction with his live-in Gallic girlfriend Caroline (Kasia Smutniak). Her somewhat surprising depth of devotion has been signaled earlier by a scene in which she proposed to Reese, presenting him with a wedding-bandlike ring that, so she explained, had once belonged to her father.
Domestic tranquility suffers a further setback when Caroline, shopping for dress material in a depressed neighborhood she wouldn't normally frequent, spots Reese and Wax getting into an elevator with a streetwalker in tow.
Though Reese ultimately has nothing to do with this shady lady the newly minted pals have picked up in their travels, Wax and she share an encounter in a bathroom raucous enough to be audible both to Reese and to the audience.
While, as directed by Pierre Morel, the dialogue in Adi Hasak's F-word-heavy script is occasionally amusing, this hardly compensates for the fact that the film—based on a story by Luc Besson—glamorizes Wax's utter disregard for the lives of those on either side of the law, unmistakably relishes the mayhem that results and presents that tawdry restroom coupling as just another of Wax's endearing madcap adventures.
The film contains constant, sometimes bloody action violence, off-screen sexual activity with a prostitute, cohabitation, drug use, a couple of profanities and pervasive rough and much crude language. 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.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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"Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord."
This verse from the King James Version's translation of Psalm 34 opens—and is intended to set the tone for—the theologically skewed apocalyptic horror outing "Legion" (Screen Gems). But, as the next hour-and-a-half of screen time makes abundantly clear, director and co-writer (with Peter Schink) Scott Stewart's feature debut portrays the fear of the Lord in a very different manner than either the psalmist or the writers of Scripture in general.
Rather than the reverential submission due to a mighty but benevolent God, the emotion aimed at here seems to be the kind of frenzy which an all-powerful heaven-dwelling terrorist might produce. Thus the script takes for its premise that God has despaired of humanity's future and has unleashed hordes of demonic angels—not to mention pestilential swarms of insects—to destroy civilization and wipe out Earth's entire population.
But the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) rebels against this petulant plan.
Knowing that Charlie (Adrianne Palicki), the lone waitress at a remote roadside cafe in the Mojave Desert, is pregnant (though unmarried) with a child who alone can save humanity, Michael sets out to defend the place against the repeated attacks of his fellow angels—who have, by now, taken possession of crowds of human beings, transforming them into zombielike killing machines—long enough for her to give birth.
And just when is Charlie's due date? Dec. 25, naturally.
Michael enlists the help of the eatery's owners, religious skeptic Bob (Dennis Quaid) and Bible believer Percy (Charles S. Dutton), Bob's gentle son Jeep (Lucas Black)—who humbly nurses a forlorn, all-accepting love for Charlie—and just-passing-through customer Kyle (Tyrese Gibson).
What follows is a long, grim slog that intersperses relentless, though only occasionally gory, violence with metaphysical mush. Despite a brief passage of dialogue about Charlie's experience in an abortion mill that can be read as conveying a pro-life message, the wearisome proceedings overall leave viewers feeling as besieged as the characters in that lonesome greasy spoon.
The film contains convoluted religious themes; constant, though mostly nongraphic, violence; an out-of-wedlock pregnancy; a couple of uses of profanity; much rough language (including at least 25 uses of the F-word); and some crude and crass terms. 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.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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Though generally good-hearted, and clearly aimed at family audiences, "The Spy Next Door" (Lionsgate/Relativity) -- a thin martial-arts comedy showcasing genre veteran Jackie Chan—includes scenes of hand-to-hand combat that make it unsuitable for the smallest viewers, while brief interludes of mildly risque humor further restrict its appropriate audience.
Chan plays Bob Ho, an international spy posing as a mild-mannered pen salesman. Bob is intent on retiring and living a normal life, but his plans to marry his girlfriend—and next-door neighbor—Gillian (Amber Valletta) are on hold because of the hostility of the divorcee's three kids: 14-year-old Farren (Madeline Carroll), preteen Ian (Will Shadley) and 5-year-old Nora (an endearing Alina Foley).
Taken in by Bob's cover story, the siblings have decided he's a crashing bore.
So when Gillian is called out of town by a family emergency, Bob volunteers to baby-sit, seeing this as the perfect opportunity to get to know the youngsters and win them over.
But Bob's domestic talents don't come close to his adroit secret-agent skills, leading to scenes of housekeeping mayhem reminiscent of an old "I Love Lucy" episode. And things go further awry when Bob's new charges unwittingly become entangled in his pursuit of Poldark (Magnus Scheving), a Russian master criminal bent on cornering the international petroleum market.
Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and comedian George Lopez turn up as Bob's CIA colleagues.
As directed by Brian Levant, the sketchy material is mostly free of worrisome content, and charts its central character's self-sacrificing efforts to protect his temporary wards, both physically and emotionally.
But Ian, although only 12, is portrayed as an aspiring ladies' man who at one point approaches a girl many years his senior with the supposedly humorous pickup line, "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?" Similarly, Farren is shown to have a fondness for short skirts and a bare midriff, fashion choices resolutely vetoed by both Gillian and Bob.
An exchange between Bob and Farren leads him to assure her that families are made up of emotional bonds, not ties of blood, a favorite Hollywood sentiment that's legitimate enough in many situations, but potentially subject to misinterpretation within the context of contemporary cultural debates.
The film contains considerable, though nongraphic, martial-arts violence, acceptability of divorce, some vaguely sexual humor and at least one crude term. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II—adults and adolescents. Motion Picture Association of America rating, PG—parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
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While the familiar proverb that supplies its title ultimately derives from the advice of one church father (St. Ambrose of Milan) quoted in the writings of another (St. Augustine of Hippo), the perky romantic comedy "When in Rome" (Touchstone) draws on the Eternal City's religious heritage only incidentally.
The graceful 17th-century church of St. Mary Magdalene—known colloquially as La Maddalena—does, however, provide the setting for the marriage ceremony at which its two main characters first meet and begin to fall in love.
Beth (Kristen Bell) is a work-obsessed curator at New York's Guggenheim Museum who has reluctantly taken 48 hours of personal time to serve as her sister Joan's (Alexis Dziena) maid of honor. The gent catching Beth's eye is best man Nick (Josh Duhamel), once Italian groom Umberto's (Luca Calvani) college roommate, and now a Gotham sportswriter.
Despite Beth's unhappy track record in previous relationships, the pair quickly bond during the lavish reception. But just as Beth's hopes begin to rise, she witnesses an incident that convinces her that Nick is a frivolous cad.
Wading despondently through the waters of the nearby "Fountain of Love," Beth shows her renewed cynicism by removing several of the coins that passers-by customarily toss into the basin for good luck in matters of the heart. According to the film's fanciful mythology, this ill-advised gesture immediately causes the quartet of eccentric strangers who deposited the change to become hopelessly infatuated with her.
So, once back in the Big Apple, Beth finds herself being relentlessly pursued and incongruously wooed by sausage magnate Al (Danny DeVito), street magician Lance (John Heder), aspiring artist Antonio (Will Arnett) and Gale (Dax Shepard), a would-be model enthralled by his own physique.
Though Nick eventually regains Beth's trust, successfully explaining away his apparent misbehavior, another obstacle arises when Beth suspects a poker chip she also retrieved from the fountain is his, meaning that he is merely under a spell and not freely— and therefore truly—in love.
Father Dino (Keir O'Donnell), the youthful, slightly pixilated priest who performs Joan and Umberto's nuptials, and who reappears in a couple of last-reel scenes, comes in for some gentle ribbing. But he's essentially an appealing character, and the closest the humor comes to anything remotely troublesome is the sight of him break dancing in his chasuble over the closing credits.
Otherwise, director Mark Steven Johnson's pleasantly diverting ensemble piece is mostly worry-free, with only a fleeting scene of newlywed friskiness that sees Joan in the kitchen wearing only an apron and Umberto, embracing her from behind, wearing apparently nothing at all, to bar endorsement for teens.
The film contains brief nongraphic marital lovemaking with implied nudity, mildly irreverent portrayal of a clergyman and a few crass expressions. 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.
*****
John Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.
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