The following are capsule reviews of "Around the Bend," "Bad Education," "Head in the Clouds," and "Wicker Park." These movies recently were reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Around the Bend (Warner Independent)
Offbeat but appealing story of intergenerational bonding as ex-con grandfather (Christopher Walken), single dad (Josh Lucas), and young son (Jonah Bobo) travel to Albuquerque spreading the ashes of great-grandfather Henry (Michael Caine). Though writer-director Jordan Roberts's film --- which, at its core, is all about reconciliation and forgiveness --- is not without its flaws, he has fashioned a winning film with excellent performances, touching sentiment, considerable humor, an eclectic soundtrack, and pretty scenery to counterbalance what could otherwise have been a downbeat story. Some rough and crude language, brief bloody images, and an irreligious dispersal of ashes. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III --- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R --- restricted.

Bad Education (Sony Classics)
Triangular drama set in Spain about a young, gay filmmaker (Fele Martinez) who, after encountering a former classmate (Gael Garcia Bernal) -- now a struggling actor -- whom he had once been enamored with, decides to make a movie about their youthful experiences as students at a strict, all-boys Catholic boarding school, in particular the pederast predations by their headmaster, a priest (Daniel Gimenez-Cacho). Stylishly directed by Pedro Almodovar, the movie's plot takes classic film-noir conventions and gives them a homoerotic twist. In touching on the hot-button issue of sexual abuse by the clergy, Almodovar paints an unflattering -- and unbalanced -- picture of Catholic priests; however, his primary motive seems to have been to use the crimes as a catalyst for the story rather than as a weapon to target the church in general for condemnation. Subtitles. Several intense homosexual encounters, implied pedophilia, murder without consequence, recurring drug content, transvestism, a scene of two boys masturbating, brief nudity, fleeting violence, instances of irreverent humor and frequent rough and crude language. (O, no MPAA rating)

Head in the Clouds (Sony Classics)
Glossy but unwieldy over-the-years romance between free-spirited photographer Gilda (Charlize Theron) and Cambridge graduate Guy (Stuart Townsend) set in England, France and Spain during the 1930s and '40s. Writer-director John Duigan's story also involves their unorthodox relationship with a Spanish-born model named Mia (Penelope Cruz) with whom they form a cohabitating threesome, until the Spanish Civil War and the Nazi occupation of France rip their lives asunder. Overall freewheeling attitude toward sex, a fleeting orgy tableau, intense sexual encounters, some rough and crude language, nudity, sadomasochism, torture, a gory shooting and a crude episode of urination. (O, R)

Wicker Park (MGM)
Uneven drama set in Chicago about a lovelorn advertising executive (Josh Hartnett) who, after sighting someone he thinks is his former girlfriend (Diane Kruger), becomes obsessed with tracking her down and finding out the truth as to why she suddenly walked out of his life two years earlier. Director Doug McGuigan's remake of the French film "L'Appartement" awkwardly shifts gears between romantic melodrama and suspense, neither providing enough emotional torque to power the story beyond the overall lackluster material. Several sexual encounters, as well as sporadic crude language and humor. (A-III, PG-13)

---CNS