Movie reviews
The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.
Magic Mike (Warner Bros.)
Sordid drama in which a veteran male stripper (Channing Tatum) convinces his boss (Matthew McConaughey) to hire a novice (Alex Pettyfer) he has befriended. But the experienced burlesque boy's romantic interest in his new pal's sister (Cody Horn) runs up against her well-founded disapproval of his immature, hedonistic lifestyle. Though it follows a morally acceptable thematic path, director Steven Soderbergh's somewhat random-feeling journey into the subculture of ladies-only clubs includes too many sleazy detours and too much flaunted flesh. Strong sexual content, including adultery, full nudity, semi-graphic nonmarital sexual activity and off-screen group sex, drug use, a couple of instances of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. (O, R)
People Like Us (Disney)
A basically good-hearted but less-than-scrupulous businessman (Chris Pine) faces a moral dilemma when he discovers, in the wake of his long-estranged father's death, that he has a half-sister (Elizabeth Banks) and that Dad left secret instructions for him to convey a large cash bequest to her. Up against significant financial reversals, he sorely needs the money himself. But as he gets to know his struggling sibling — he contrives to cross her path as though he were a chance acquaintance — and bonds with her troubled preteen son (Michael Hall D'Addario), less selfish considerations come to the fore. Director and co-writer Alex Kurtzman's low-key blend of comedy and drama, based on real events and aimed at intelligent, mature audiences, showcases some fine acting and delivers a thoughtful — if not always entirely plausible — examination of its main characters' struggle to overcome a legacy of dysfunction. Cohabitation, brief semi-graphic sexual activity, drug use, addiction theme, a few instances of profanity, at least one rough term and considerable crude and crass language. (A-III, PG-13)
Ted (Universal)
Sporadically funny, but excessively vulgar comedy charting the long-standing friendship between a slacker car rental agent (Mark Wahlberg) and the teddy bear (voice of Seth MacFarlane) his childhood wish miraculously brought to life. When their bond is tested by tensions surrounding the wastrel's romance with his live-in girlfriend (Mila Kunis), the party-loving plush toy proves a negative influence, despite good intentions. MacFarlane, who also directed and co-wrote this mix of live action and computer-generated animation, endows the titular character with a foul mouth, a taste for the company of prostitutes and a love of illegal substances. Occasional irreverence, a benign view of drug use, cohabitation, brief upper female and rear nudity, a same-sex kiss, much sexual and scatological humor, numerous uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. (O, R)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection (Lionsgate)
Writer-director Tyler Perry reprises the role of Madea, the familiar, frequently mixed-up, but mostly moral force of nature in a muumuu. In one of her weaker outings, her district attorney nephew (also Perry) convinces Madea to shelter a white family (headed by Eugene Levy) after a massive corporate Ponzi scheme gone awry, leaving Levy's falsely suspected character not only facing fraud charges but threatened by mobsters as well. Perry plays on the well-worn theme of the cultural shock that ensues when stuffy Caucasians mingle with earthy black folks. Still, his trademark themes of respect for parents, adherence to one's religious beliefs and self-confidence are not to be quarreled with, any more than is his feisty heroine herself. Occasional slapstick violence as well as fleeting crass language and drug references. (A-III, PG-13)
—CNS
Catholic News Service 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. Full-length reviews: www.catholicnews.com/movies.htm.
Magic Mike (Warner Bros.)
Sordid drama in which a veteran male stripper (Channing Tatum) convinces his boss (Matthew McConaughey) to hire a novice (Alex Pettyfer) he has befriended. But the experienced burlesque boy's romantic interest in his new pal's sister (Cody Horn) runs up against her well-founded disapproval of his immature, hedonistic lifestyle. Though it follows a morally acceptable thematic path, director Steven Soderbergh's somewhat random-feeling journey into the subculture of ladies-only clubs includes too many sleazy detours and too much flaunted flesh. Strong sexual content, including adultery, full nudity, semi-graphic nonmarital sexual activity and off-screen group sex, drug use, a couple of instances of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. (O, R)
People Like Us (Disney)
A basically good-hearted but less-than-scrupulous businessman (Chris Pine) faces a moral dilemma when he discovers, in the wake of his long-estranged father's death, that he has a half-sister (Elizabeth Banks) and that Dad left secret instructions for him to convey a large cash bequest to her. Up against significant financial reversals, he sorely needs the money himself. But as he gets to know his struggling sibling — he contrives to cross her path as though he were a chance acquaintance — and bonds with her troubled preteen son (Michael Hall D'Addario), less selfish considerations come to the fore. Director and co-writer Alex Kurtzman's low-key blend of comedy and drama, based on real events and aimed at intelligent, mature audiences, showcases some fine acting and delivers a thoughtful — if not always entirely plausible — examination of its main characters' struggle to overcome a legacy of dysfunction. Cohabitation, brief semi-graphic sexual activity, drug use, addiction theme, a few instances of profanity, at least one rough term and considerable crude and crass language. (A-III, PG-13)
Ted (Universal)
Sporadically funny, but excessively vulgar comedy charting the long-standing friendship between a slacker car rental agent (Mark Wahlberg) and the teddy bear (voice of Seth MacFarlane) his childhood wish miraculously brought to life. When their bond is tested by tensions surrounding the wastrel's romance with his live-in girlfriend (Mila Kunis), the party-loving plush toy proves a negative influence, despite good intentions. MacFarlane, who also directed and co-wrote this mix of live action and computer-generated animation, endows the titular character with a foul mouth, a taste for the company of prostitutes and a love of illegal substances. Occasional irreverence, a benign view of drug use, cohabitation, brief upper female and rear nudity, a same-sex kiss, much sexual and scatological humor, numerous uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. (O, R)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection (Lionsgate)
Writer-director Tyler Perry reprises the role of Madea, the familiar, frequently mixed-up, but mostly moral force of nature in a muumuu. In one of her weaker outings, her district attorney nephew (also Perry) convinces Madea to shelter a white family (headed by Eugene Levy) after a massive corporate Ponzi scheme gone awry, leaving Levy's falsely suspected character not only facing fraud charges but threatened by mobsters as well. Perry plays on the well-worn theme of the cultural shock that ensues when stuffy Caucasians mingle with earthy black folks. Still, his trademark themes of respect for parents, adherence to one's religious beliefs and self-confidence are not to be quarreled with, any more than is his feisty heroine herself. Occasional slapstick violence as well as fleeting crass language and drug references. (A-III, PG-13)
—CNS
Catholic News Service 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. Full-length reviews: www.catholicnews.com/movies.htm.
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