Movie reviews
The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.
Amour (Sony Classics)
An elderly couple (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) in Paris deals with the effects of the wife's series of strokes, with escalating damage to the husband's sanity. Director Michael Haneke depicts both the enduring love and increasing desperation of a single caregiver. Late plot developments, however, make this French-language drama a film even adult viewers will need to approach with caution and prudence. Subtitles. Mature themes and objectively immoral actions, fleeting upper female nudity, a single use of profanity, an instance of rough language. (L, PG-13)
Broken City (Fox)
Scandal, intrigue, and a surfeit of bad language combine to form director Allen Hughes' dark thriller with political overtones. Laudably, Brian Tucker's screenplay shows the true costs and consequences of corruption. And, while it encourages viewers to understand the main character's morally dubious choices, his script doesn't prompt them to approve. Still, the evident desire to turn out a gritty movie makes this suitable only for the most tolerant adults. Occasional graphic violence, possible cohabitation, fleeting but strong sexual imagery, brief upper female nudity, mature themes, including adultery and homosexuality, about half-a-dozen uses of profanity, pervasive rough language, occasional crude and crass terms, a couple of anti-gay slurs. (L, R)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Focus)
This comedy-drama purports to chronicle — and blithely celebrates — the real-life sexual indiscretions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Bill Murray), in particular an affair with his fifth cousin, Margaret "Daisy" Suckley (Laura Linney). As their illicit relationship unfolds at the "Northern White House" in New York's Hudson Valley, FDR and his distant wife, Eleanor (Olivia Williams), prepare to welcome Britain's King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman). A clash of cultures ensues, and the young royals are taken aback by the informality and wild abandon of the colonials. A benign view of adultery, nongraphic adulterous sexual activity, occasional profane and rough language. (O, R)
The Last Stand (Lionsgate)
A souped-up Corvette gets more screen time than star Arnold Schwarzenegger in director Kim Jee-Woon's shoot-'em-up action flick. Schwarzenegger's return to leading-man roles finds him playing an Arizona sheriff who has the last chance to stop a violent Mexican drug-cartel leader (Eduardo Noriega) from crossing the border after the gangster's escape from federal custody. The result is meandering mayhem for the sturdy and mature only. Considerable violence, including much gunplay, occasional profanity, frequent rough language. (L, R)
Mama (Universal)
After their parents die in violent circumstances, two little girls spend five years stranded in an isolated cabin in the woods. They're eventually tracked down and rescued by their uncle who, together with his live-in girlfriend, becomes their guardian. As a court-appointed therapist works to overcome the children's feral ways, disturbing events suggest that the wraith-like figure of the title — who, so the sisters claim, looked after them in the wilderness — has followed them to civilization. Director and co-writer Andy Muschietti's thriller is no more than competent. But it can be commended for avoiding gore and for the conversion story of Chastain's character, who goes from reluctant parental stand-in to fiercely dedicated adoptive mother. Occasional bloodless violence, cohabitation, a brief nongraphic bedroom scene, a few uses of profanity, at least one rough and a handful of crude and crass terms. (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.
Amour (Sony Classics)
An elderly couple (Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva) in Paris deals with the effects of the wife's series of strokes, with escalating damage to the husband's sanity. Director Michael Haneke depicts both the enduring love and increasing desperation of a single caregiver. Late plot developments, however, make this French-language drama a film even adult viewers will need to approach with caution and prudence. Subtitles. Mature themes and objectively immoral actions, fleeting upper female nudity, a single use of profanity, an instance of rough language. (L, PG-13)
Broken City (Fox)
Scandal, intrigue, and a surfeit of bad language combine to form director Allen Hughes' dark thriller with political overtones. Laudably, Brian Tucker's screenplay shows the true costs and consequences of corruption. And, while it encourages viewers to understand the main character's morally dubious choices, his script doesn't prompt them to approve. Still, the evident desire to turn out a gritty movie makes this suitable only for the most tolerant adults. Occasional graphic violence, possible cohabitation, fleeting but strong sexual imagery, brief upper female nudity, mature themes, including adultery and homosexuality, about half-a-dozen uses of profanity, pervasive rough language, occasional crude and crass terms, a couple of anti-gay slurs. (L, R)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Focus)
This comedy-drama purports to chronicle — and blithely celebrates — the real-life sexual indiscretions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (Bill Murray), in particular an affair with his fifth cousin, Margaret "Daisy" Suckley (Laura Linney). As their illicit relationship unfolds at the "Northern White House" in New York's Hudson Valley, FDR and his distant wife, Eleanor (Olivia Williams), prepare to welcome Britain's King George VI (Samuel West) and Queen Elizabeth (Olivia Colman). A clash of cultures ensues, and the young royals are taken aback by the informality and wild abandon of the colonials. A benign view of adultery, nongraphic adulterous sexual activity, occasional profane and rough language. (O, R)
The Last Stand (Lionsgate)
A souped-up Corvette gets more screen time than star Arnold Schwarzenegger in director Kim Jee-Woon's shoot-'em-up action flick. Schwarzenegger's return to leading-man roles finds him playing an Arizona sheriff who has the last chance to stop a violent Mexican drug-cartel leader (Eduardo Noriega) from crossing the border after the gangster's escape from federal custody. The result is meandering mayhem for the sturdy and mature only. Considerable violence, including much gunplay, occasional profanity, frequent rough language. (L, R)
Mama (Universal)
After their parents die in violent circumstances, two little girls spend five years stranded in an isolated cabin in the woods. They're eventually tracked down and rescued by their uncle who, together with his live-in girlfriend, becomes their guardian. As a court-appointed therapist works to overcome the children's feral ways, disturbing events suggest that the wraith-like figure of the title — who, so the sisters claim, looked after them in the wilderness — has followed them to civilization. Director and co-writer Andy Muschietti's thriller is no more than competent. But it can be commended for avoiding gore and for the conversion story of Chastain's character, who goes from reluctant parental stand-in to fiercely dedicated adoptive mother. Occasional bloodless violence, cohabitation, a brief nongraphic bedroom scene, a few uses of profanity, at least one rough and a handful of crude and crass terms. (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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