Regretting You

Posted on October 23, 2025 at 5:29 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 sexual content, teen drug and alcohol use, and brief strong language
Profanity:	Brief strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, including teen drinking and drunkenness, and brief marijuana smoking
Violence/ Scariness:	Off-screen fatal car accident, characters killed including parents
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	October 24, 2025

“Regretting You” is not a good movie. It is soapy and insipid. But somehow, thanks to its actors, it is still mildly, wait-for-streaming, watchable.

It begins 17 years ago, with two teenage couples on their way to a beach party. Serious and thoughtful Morgan (Allison Williams) and her fun-loving sister, Jenny (Willa Fitzgerald) are dating fun-loving Chris (Scott Eastwood) and serious and thoughtful Jonah (Dave Franco). “How did we end up with our exact opposites?” Jonah asks Morgan as Jenny and Chris drink beer and party by the bonfire. Morgan tells Jonah that she is pregnant.

In present day, Morgan and Chris are married and living in Chris’ childhood home with a 16 year old daughter, Clara (McKenna Grace). The family is gathering for Morgan’s birthday. Jonah has returned to town after a 15 year absence and reunited with Jenny. They have a baby and have decided to get married. It is a warm and loving celebration but there are glimpses of some underlying strains. Chris says, “I’ll wash the dishes,” and Morgan says to herself, “I’ve already done them.” And Morgan is hesitant to express happiness over her sister’s engagement.

On the way to the birthday party, Clara stopped to give “the coolest boy in school” a ride home. He is Miller (Mason Thames, the highlight of the movie), and he lives on a farm with his ailing but peppery grandfather (Clancy Brown).

A terrible accident is followed by revelations of secrets that shatter the surviving characters’ sense of themselves and their history. The question of whether those secrets should be shared with someone they will hurt has no good answers. The characters must struggle with the loss of the people they loved most and with the loss of the sense of trust and purpose and connection they thought they had.

There are some odd choices in the storyline, and too many references to pizza and jolly ranchers (not together, though pineapple and pizza are together), odd or too-on-the-nose choices for what the characters watch on television (“Clueless?” “Our Town?”), and an unnecessarily convenient twist to help resolve things at the end.

Some books are hard to adapt because the lyricism of the prose does not translate to the screen. Others are hard to adapt because we do not realize how much imagination we bring to the spaces left by the writing. This one falls more into the second category. Details that can be glossed over on the page or unconsciously filled in by the reader play differently in a movie, and may come across as abrupt or distracting.

On the other hand, there is the romantic ideal of the boy who adored us before we knew, which may not make sense in terms of reality but plays very satisfyingly in a movie. And there is the charisma of the performers, especially Franco and Thames , which just edges this into the two-screen streamer category.

Parents should know that this movie includes a fatal off-screen car accident, with two sad deaths of parents. It also includes adultery, teen pregnancy, brief strong language and teen adult drinking and drunkenness and brief teen drug use.

Family discussion: Why did Morgan decide not to tell Clara the truth? Was that a good decision? Why didn’t Miller tell Clara how he felt earlier?

If you like this, try: The book by Colleen Hoover and Nicholas Sparks films like “Dear John” and “The Lucky One”

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Posted on October 23, 2025 at 5:00 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language, some drug use, and bloody images
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, drunkenness, drugs
Violence/ Scariness:	Disturbing medical-related graphic images, parental abandonment of an infant, mental illness
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	October 24, 2025

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is a terrifying movie about a woman who is overwhelmed by the needs of her sick daughter and the demands of her caregivers, her disintegrating apartment ceiling, and the patients in her practice as a therapist. Writer/director Mary Bronstein was inspired by her own experiences as the mother of a sick child and the movie is not so much heightened as subjective. We are not just watching this mother; we begin to feel the pressure she is under.

Rose Byrne gives one of the best performances of the year as Linda, whose husband (Christian Slater) is a cruise boat captain, away from home for months at a time. Their daughter (played by Delaney Quinn), whose face is not seen until the very end of the film, has some kind of eating disorder and gets much of her nutrition from a feeding tube connected to a finiky, beeping machine that Linda must supply and maintain. She is in a full-time non-residential treatment facility with a tyrannical parking lot attendant and a condescending presiding doctor (played by Bronstein) who reassures parents that their children’s problems are not their fault but always has judgey concerns about the “quality of care.”

And then the roof falls in. Literally. The ceiling of Linda’s apartment suddenly has a huge hole. She and her daughter (just named “Child” in the credits and never given a name in the film) have had to move into a seedy motel. Her husband keeps nagging her to get it repaired but the contractor says he has to go to his father’s funeral and she has too much to do to stay on top of it.

Linda is a therapist. Byrne’s performance is the heart of the film and she is especially good at shifting seamlessly from real life to “therapist face,” smoothing out her anxiety to show a calm, concerned but professional, appearance. She has one patient who is a new mother (the always outstanding Danielle Macdonald), so panicked about doing something wrong that she cannot be apart from the baby, even bringing him to her therapy sessions. Linda herself is in therapy (Conan O’Brien, yes, that Conan O’Brien) is excellent as her psychiatrist.

It has elements of a horror movie, especially when Linda goes back to her apartment and is either stoned or hallucinating at what she sees there, and as one person after another seems completely incapable of showing her any genuine sympathy or providing any support. ASAP Rocky, so good earlier this year in “Highest 2 Lowest,” gives a very different but equally strong performance as Linda’s neighbor in the motel who tries to befriend her.

It may be unfair to say that a movie about someone’s life getting to be too much itself gets to be too much. But Linda is so unsympathetic, most of those around her so superficially drawn, the narrative so subjective, that it becomes less effective, more therapeutic for the filmmakers than the audience.

Parents should know that this is a disturbing movie with a main character unraveling under intense pressure and making some bad choices. Characters drink, get drunk, and discuss and use drugs and there are brief graphic medical images. A pet is run over and we see the bloody remains.

Family discussion: What was the greatest source of pressure on Linda? Where should she have gone for support? Why is it hard for her to accept help? How much of what we see is in her head?

If you like this, try: “Tully” with Charlize Theron

Eleanor the Great

Posted on September 25, 2025 at 5:24 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some language and suggestive references
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	References to the Holocaust, sad death
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	September 26, 2025

Scarlett Johansson’s first film as a director shows the careful attention she has been paying as a performer, starting with the importance of casting. The irreplaceable June Squibb stars as the title character, an outspoken 94-year old who moves from her home in Florida to New York after the death of Bessie (Rita Zohar), her roommate and best friend.

The opening scenes show the ease, comfort, and support of that friendship, as they strap on their velcro-strap shoes, grab Eleanor’s cane, go for a walk and shop for groceries. Bessie collapses in the store, and we see them in the hospital, Eleanor making sure Bessie sees a doctor right away by telling the nurse Bessie is a member of the family who donated the money for a wing at the hospital, despite the fact that it is not true. She also lies to a nosy neighbor, just to annoy her. This comfort with deception appears at first to be harmless but it is an indication of the dangers ahead.

In New York, Eleanor reunites with her recently divorced daughter, Lisa (Jessica Hecht), and college student grandson, Max (Will Price). In contrast to her relationship with Bessie, her connection to her family is prickly, contrary, and sometimes judgmental. Lisa has signed Eleanor up for a singing group at the Jewish Community Center and encourages her to look at assisted living options. Eleanor is not interested. At the JCC, she wanders into a meeting, not realizing it is a support group for Holocaust survivors. When called upon to introduce herself, she uses one of Bessie’s stories. Sitting in on the meeting is a journalism student named Nina (a radiant Erin Kellyman), who is captivated by Eleanor’s story and wants to write about her.

Nina’s mother died six months earlier and her father, a television news reporter (Chiwetel Ejiofor as Roger) has been distant, dealing with his own grief. The dislocation and grief they share leads Nina and Eleanor to become close friends very quickly.

The chemistry between them is palpable, so we want that friendship to continue to be a source of connection and healing for them. But we know, as Eleanor realizes at some level, that the “stolen valor” lie at its foundation must detonate, causing great pain for both of them. What is unexpected is compassion and generosity of the way it is resolved, I suspect the reason Johansson and Squibb were drawn to the story.

Squibb is, as we saw in “Nebraska” and “Thelma,” a treasure and this role gives her a chance to play a character who is fully human, flawed, grieving, and still learning. The British Kellyman has an impeccable American accent and she is a gem, lighting up the screen with her vulnerability and the way she treasures and is reassured by her friendship with Eleanor. Johansson created a space for superb performances by everyone in the cast, including Jessica Hecht as Eleanor’s frustrated daughter and Zohar as Eleanor’s roommate and lifelong friend.

Sqiibb, Kellyman, Johansson, and first-time screenwriter Tory Kamen have made a film about loss, friendship, and compassion. Eleanor may not always be great, but this movie lets us see the parts of her that really are.

Parents should know that this movie includes some strong language, references to the Holocaust, and grief over the deaths of a wife and mother and a friend.

Family discussion: Why did Eleanor lie? Why was it hard for her to be as nice to her daughter as she was to Nina and Bessie? Were you surprised by Lisa’s response?

If you like this, try: “Thelma,” also starring June Squibb

Elio

Posted on June 19, 2025 at 2:35 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for thematic elements and some action/peril
Profanity:	Mild schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Some peril and references to violence and sad deaths of parents
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters and lessons about appreciating differences
Date Released to Theaters:	June 20, 2025
Date Released to DVD:	August 13, 2025

Pixar’s latest, “Elio,” has everything we love about Pixar, a heartwarming story with endless imagination, charm, and wisdom, about an endearing character and the fears and joys of being human. And yes, you will cry.

The title character is a young boy whose parents were killed in an accident, so he now lives with his Aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña). She once dreamed of being an astronaut, but because of her responsibilities as Elio’s guardian she stays in her job tracking space debris for the military.

Characters from the Pixar movie Elio — Copyright 2025 Disney Pixar

We first see Elio (Yonas Kibreab) hiding under the table in a restaurant, traumatized by the loss of his parents, with a worried Olga trying to adjust to a child she refers to as her “new roommate.” A few years later, he is in middle school, awkward and lonely. He does not pay much attention to his classmates because he feels unwanted by anyone. Elio is convinced that he can do better somewhere else, so he wants to get as far from Earth as possible. So, he offers himself up to be abducted by aliens, first “communicating” by writing a message on the beach, but then taking a classmate’s ham radio, which leads to a scuffle. Elio’s eye is damaged and he has to wear a patch for a few weeks while it heals.

Olga sends him to camp, where the kids he got into trouble try to scare him. Trying to escape them, he ends up getting transported to space, a sort of floating intergalactic UN, with the leaders of many galaxies meeting in a heavenly “Communi-verse,” with translation disks and temperature and gravity adjustments for every possible kind of living being, a liquid version of Alexa/Siri to provide support, and a computer containing all of the knowledge of the universe that looks like a constant Anaconda card shuffle.

Elio, who has always felt out of place, instantly feels at home, even though the group is not seeing him for who he really is; they think he is the leader of Earth.

This is where the fabulous imaginations of the Pixar artists really get to have fun, with a dazzling array of creatures from a sort of floating cross between an undersea ray and a butterfly and the elegant but warm-hearted voice of Jemeela Jalil, to something apparently made out of stone to a professorial-looking insect to an entity with a screen for a face and shifting blobs to express its feelings. They are a kind and loving group, committed to open-mindedness and tolerance. Tolerance does not mean tolerating the intolerant, however.

Keeping out the intolerant has its risks. The angry Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett, just scary enough) is a warlord who attacks other civilizations. He is so angry at not being made a member of the Communi-verse that he plans to attack them and their planets.

Elio befriends Lord Grigon’s larvae/tardigrade looking son, another young creature who feels different. His names is Glordon (Remy Edgerly, with one of the best kid voices ever, up there with Flower in “Bambi” and Linus in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”). They agree to pretend that Glordon has been taken hostage to get Lord Grigon to back down. And then they send clones of themselves back “home” so they can stay together with the Communi-verse.

The clone versions of the two friends (voiced by the same two actors) give the film a chance to show that it is not easy to fool the people who know us well, and that even those who get frustrated trying to understand us and may push us to be different prefer us to be ourselves.

Elio and Glordon, like, I suspect, many of Pixar’s fabulously creative people, do not fit into the world easily. While Elio devotes himself to getting abducted, he never considers making friends on Earth. He is thoughtless in grabbing the ham radio from the boy who wants to join a club that Elio just made up to get the equipment. He lies to the Communi-verse. He develops a conlang (constructed language) instead of trying to communicate with his aunt.

The film shows us that fitting in with and feeling appreciated by the Communi-verse helps Elio think about who and what he overlooked at home, including his own feelings. Unique can sometimes feel lonely until we understand that everyone, even those who seem to have boundless confidence and fit in easily, experiences moments of loneliness, imposter syndrome, and despair. But like Elio and Glordon, we can find those who appreciate us for who we are as we learn to appreciate the vast array of difference around us.

Parents should know that this film includes a child whose parents were killed and feels their loss very deeply. There is peril and there are references to violence and some mild schoolyard language.

Family discussion: How do Olga and Lord Grigon know that the clones are not Elio and Glordon? Why is it easier for Elio to make friends in space than on Earth? How is the ending of this film like the recent “Lilo & Stitch?” Maybe try communicating by ham radio.

If you like this, try: “Inside Out” and “Turning Red”

How to Train Your Dragon (2025)

Posted on June 15, 2025 at 9:32 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
Date Released to Theaters:	June 13, 2025
Date Released to DVD:	August 13, 2025

It may be completely unnecessary but this live action version of the terrific 2010 animated “How to Train Your Dragon” is still a great story. The story is heartwarming, the visuals are exciting, and the themes of courage used for a deeper understanding are still worthy.

I object to the idea that an animated film is just a lesser version until technology develops to create a “live action” remake (the dragons are CGI). Animation has its own artistry, vibrance, and expressiveness. This version is almost a shot-for-shot remake, emphasizing the original’s unsurpassability, yet somehow it is nearly half an hour longer. The original – and its sequels and spin-offs – are so memorable that this remake is like enjoying a cover band version of a classic song more for the memories it evokes of the original than for its own merits.

Our young hero is Hiccup (Mason Thames), the son of single dad and chief Stoick (Gerard Butler, who voiced the same character in the original). They live in Berk, a craggy, stark, unforgiving, and remote Scandinavian community beset by dragons who steal their food. Status is based on killing dragons and many people in the community proudly sport scars and prosthetics to demonstrate their courage in these battles. Stoick, disappointed by his son’s lack of warrior spirit, reminds Hiccup that his mother was killed by a dragon (though those of us who have seen the animated sequels know that she is still alive). Hiccup is apprenticed to Stoick’s best friend Gobber (Nick Frost), whose prosthetic hand and foot are the result of fighting dragons, and who now provides weapons and teaches those teenagers who, unlike Hiccup, are going to be trained to be dragonslayers.

As in the original, the dragons here are wonderfully imagined, with many fascinating species. Each looks different and poses different kinds of threats. While Stoick has taken all of the warriors in search of the dragons’ nest, Hiccup finds and befriends a wounded Night Fury he names Toothless, hiding their relationship from everyone else until they are discovered by Astrid (Nico Parker), the best young warrior trainee. He takes her for a ride on Toothless and she is convinced that dragons are worthy of respect and affection.

Very little has changed in the storyline, as noted. But perhaps 15 years distance has brought some changes in our atmosphere and understanding. For me at least, Stoick’s harsh judgment of Hiccup as weak and fearful because he does not want to cut the heads off of dragons felt like a slightly broader statement about masculinity, hierarchies based on community standards, and fear of the unknown than a father’s distorted but genuine wish to protect his son from creatures that were responsible for so much loss. Perhaps that was just because I know the story so well and thought the padding dragged a little.

Thames portrayal of Hiccup is sincere and he allows us to see the teenager sort through his feelings as he allows curiosity to triumph over tradition. Parker, the daughter of Thandiwe Newton and Ol Parker, is excellent, showing us Astrid’s fierceness and, like Hiccup, the curiosity that leads her to question her community’s assumptions, even though by the standards she was raised with, she is at the top.

Production designer Dominic Watkins skillfully translates the animated world with intricate, textured, settings filled with intriguing details. The ships, the landscape, the workshop, even the doors in the arena that open up to allow dragons to enter for the training sessions area are all gorgeously imagined to bring us into the world. Lindsay Pugh’s costumes and the hair designs by a talented group of artists help define the characters, who dress for battle but show a lot of personality and intention in the way they present themselves. The flying scenes are dynamic, fun to watch, and I’m sure a glimpse at what the new ride at Universal Studios will be like.

Parents should know that this movie has extended peril and violence, though human and dragon deaths are off-screen. We hear about injuries and deaths, including the death of Hiccup’s mother. It also includes a very positive portrayal of people (and a dragon) with disabilities.

Family discussion: Why was Hiccup the first to see that the dragons could be friendly? Why was it hard for his father to accept that?

If you like this try: the animated movies, the books, and the television series