The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Fred Claus (Warner Bros.)
Generally funny yet bittersweet tale of a sad-sack Chicago repo man (Vince Vaughn) who travels to the North Pole to help his younger, more popular brother, St. Nicholas (Paul Giamatti), at Christmas, while a devious efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) threatens to shut down the elves' toy factory. Underneath the laughs, Dan Fogelman's script is a surprisingly resonant take on sibling rivalry, with lots of heart-tugging sentiment, and solid messages about family, self-esteem, forgiveness and ultimately redemption. Under David Dobkin's deft direction, there's sharp work by the leads and the classy supporting cast (Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates and John Michael Higgins). Mild innuendo, an implied premarital living arrangement, a suggestive costume, and some crass humor and expressions. (A-II, PG)

Lions for Lambs (UA)
Well-intentioned but static plea for noncomplacency as a slick senator (Tom Cruise) plants an exclusive story about a new U.S. initiative in Afghanistan with a critical TV reporter (Meryl Streep); the idealistic students (Derek Luke and Michael Pena) of a university political science professor (Robert Redford) decide to join the struggle in that country; and the professor tries to convince a disillusioned student (Andrew Garfield) to abandon his cynicism and try to make a difference in the world. Redford's usually solid directorial gifts fail to give life to an exceedingly talky, heavy-handed and artificial script, while even the action scenes in Afghanistan are murky and bland. Pervasive conversational expletives, crude expressions, some profanity and wartime battle violence. (L, R)

No Country for Old Men (Miramax/Paramount Vantage)
Spellbinding, richly detailed thriller based on Cormac McCarthy's 2003 novel set in the Texas borderlands as a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer (Javier Bardem) ruthlessly pursues a welder (Josh Brolin) who's taken a suitcase of loot after stumbling across a brutal drug slaying, while a philosophical small-town sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) pursues them both hoping to avert tragedy. Co-directors and writers Joel and Ethan Coen create an atmosphere of almost unbearably quiet tension, with powerful performances by a masterful cast (including Woody Harrelson and Kelly MacDonald), underscored by themes of the struggle between good and evil, the changing ethos of the West, temptation, honor and sacrifice. Strong violence and multiple killings with blood, occasional rough language and profanity, and brief partial nudity. (A-III, R)

---CNS

Office for Film & Broadcasting classifications: A-I -- general patronage; A-II -- adults and adolescents; A-III -- adults; L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling; O -- morally offensive.