You’ve Got Mail

Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:16 am

The classic story of two enemies who discover that they are really the “dear friends” who share a loving penpal relationship is deliciously updated for the era of email. Tom Hanks plays Joe Fox, scion of a family that owns a chain of enormous bookstores (think Barnes & Noble). Meg Ryan plays Katherine Kelly, owner of a beloved independent children’s book store called The Shop Around the Corner. When the new Fox store moves in around her corner, they take each other on, though it is clear from the first that they are strongly attracted to each other and would much rather be friends.

At first, both are in other relationships, she with a newspaper columnist who decries technology (Greg Kinnear), and he with a high-strung overly caffeinated book editor (Parker Posey). But as their online friendship becomes more important to them, they both realize that they cannot settle for the convenience of a relationship that should work. Knowing each other only as “Shopgirl” and “NY152,” and keeping to their resolve not to disclose personal details, they exchange emails about how they see the world around them. He is warmly supportive of her, advising her to fight her adversary, not knowing that he is the one she is writing about. The witty dialogue gets high gloss from two of the finest light romantic leads in Hollywood, whose chemistry was already proven in “Sleepless in Seattle.” It is clear to us from the beginning where it is all going, but it is also clear that they will make it a pleasure along the way, and they do.

Parents should know that the movie contains brief bad language, and that Joe’s father and grandfather become involved with a series of younger women, which is portrayed as humorous — including a comment by Joe’s father (Dabney Coleman) that he may marry the mother of his son. Sexual overtures to Joe by that woman seem inappropriate for a movie of this kind. A later reference to a woman who leaves a man for a woman is also intended as humor. Parents should also make sure that children know that they should not talk to strangers online, and should never accept an invitation to meet in person anyone they have corresponded with online.

Other good topics for discussion include how it can be easier to be yourself in email than in person and how you balance the need to stand up for yourself with the importance of not hurting others. Children who enjoy this movie may also like to see the original, like Katherine’s store called “The Shop Around the Corner” starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, and the musical remake called “In the Good Old Summertime” with Judy Garland and Van Johnson. The story was also produced and as a different musical play called “She Loves Me.”

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Blue Streak

Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:16 am

Martin Lawrence stars in a made-to-order story of a jewel thief who returns to the scene of the crime to retrieve his loot, only to find that the construction site where he stashed the stolen diamond is now a police station. When he is told that the only way to get inside is by being under arrest or by wearing a badge, he decides to impersonate a detective.

So, what we have here is a cross betweeen “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Sister Act,” your basic street-smart- guy-who-keeps-it-real-showing-the-desk- jockeys-a-thing or-two type plot. There are two version of this plot, with or without hugging. Anyone who expects that Lawrence’s character will come out of the experience a better person is more gullible than the cops who decide that he’s so good he must be from Internal Affairs or the FBI.

But believability is not the real point of this film. The real point of this film is watching Lawrence mug his way out of various situations, which he does very, very well. It is a pleasant diversion with a lot of silly fun.

Parents should know that there is some strong language and some raw humor. Furthermore, the movie departs from Hollywood tradition in leaving the hero unrepentant and in possession of the stolen jewel. Families will want to discuss the real consequences of such a robbery, and the situation Lawrence faces in working with at least one colleague who has no compunctions about betrayal and murder.

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Comedy Crime

Rushmore

Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:16 am

This story about the misery that comes from the grandiosity and humiliation during adolescence is probably of more interest to adults than to the teens who are already only too aware of those experiences. Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) is a 10th grader on scholarship at the tony private school Rushmore Academy. His passionate devotion to the school is demonstrated by his frenetic participation in every possible extra-curricular activity, including the staging of his elaborate (if derivative) plays. His grades, however, are close to disastrous, and the headmaster tells him that if they do not improve, he will be expelled.

Max develops a crush on one of the teachers at the school, a beautiful young widow. And he forms a close alliance with Blume, a wealthy alumnus of the school (Bill Murray), a man who is drawn to Max’s passions, and even acts as a go-between for Max’s absurd attempt at courtship, until he himself becomes attracted to the teacher.

All three main characters are feeling a sense of loss. Blume and the teacher seem stuck. Max, with his collision of adult and childish emotions, comes up with one hopeless scheme after another to attract attention and respect, ignoring the genuine opportunities for real friendship that are presented to him. He lies about receiving sexual favors from another student’s mother. He tells people his father is a brain surgeon instead of a barber. He decides that what will solve his problems is getting Blume to spend $8 million on an acquarium for the school, located on the school’s playing field. He gets drunk and insults the teacher’s date. He even risks killing Blume. Yet somehow, he manages to keep working toward his dreams, and even to make a few of them come true.

This is not a movie in which people learn great lessons and are drawn closer together. This is a movie in which a lot of hurt people grope toward something that even they cannot quite visualize. Its appeal is in its quirky characters and in its moments of humor and perception.

Parental concerns include very strong language and sexual references as well as extremely reckless and destructive behavior.

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Comedy High School

The Iron Giant

Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:16 am

It draws a lot from E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial, The Indian in the Cupboard, and, for that matter, from Lassie, but this story of a boy who befriends an enormous robot from outer space is told with so much humor and heart that it becomes utterly winning in its own right, and the best family movie of the summer.

The story is set in rural Maine, during the late 1950’s. Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (voice of Eli Marienthal) lives with his waitress mother, Annie(voice of Jennifer Aniston). One night, he discovers a huge robot in the woods, munching on whatever metal he can find, including the town’s electric substation. Hogarth is frightened, but takes pity when the robot is enmeshed in wires, and turns off the power so that the robot can escape.

The next day, Hogarth and the robot begin to get acquainted. The robot turns out to be the world’s best playmate, whether cannonballing into the swimming hole or acting as a sort of amusement park ride. His origins remain mysterious — the robot himself seems to have some memory loss — but his reaction to Hogarth’s toy ray gun suggests that he may have served as a weapon of some kind.

With the help of local beatnick/junk dealer/sculptor Dean McCoppin (voice of Harry Connick, Jr.), Hogarth hides the robot in Dean’s junkyard, where he can eat the scrap metal without attracting attention. But government investigator Kent Mansley (voice of Christopher McDonald) thinks that the giant is part of a communist plot, and presses Hogarth to turn him in. Mansley calls in the army, led by General Rogard (voiced by “Frasier’s” John Mahoney), and suddenly the robot and the surrounding community are in real danger. The resolution is genuinely poignant and satisfying.

The script, based on a book by England’s poet laureate, Ted Hughes, is exceptionally good. The plot has some clever twists, and some sly references to the 1950’s to tickle the memories of boomer parents. Setting the story in the 1950’s puts the government’s reaction to the robot in the context of the red scare and Sputnik (Hogarth and his classmates watch a “duck and cover” instructional movie at school).

It may not have the breathtaking vistas of some of the best Disney animated films, but it is lively and heartwarming and the characters, both human and robot, are so engaging that you might forget they are not real. The robot, created with computer graphics, is seamlessly included with the hand-drawn actors, making the illusion even more complete.

Parents should know that there are some tense moments that may be frightening to young children. There are also some swear words and some potty humor in the film, and parents should caution children that it is not funny to feed someone a laxative disguised as chocolate.

This movie provides a lot of good topics for discussion, including the role of violence and guns (the robot is very upset when a deer is killed by hunters and it automatically shoots back when it sees Hogarth’s toy gun) and how society can find a way to protect itself without creating unnecessary harm. Other good topics include how we make friends with those who are different and Hogarth’s advice to the robot that he can decide what he will be, no matter how he was created.

Video tips: Kids who enjoy this movie will like perennial favorite “E.T” and may also enjoy another movie about an outer-space robot who tries to teach humans about peace, The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Detroit Rock City

Posted on December 13, 2002 at 5:16 am

This movie follows four high school boys who are die-hard KISS fans in spite of the overwhelming popularity of disco and the objections of the adults (“KISS stands for Knights In Satan’s Service!”) as they do everything they can think of to get seats to the concert in Detroit. There is little originality, wit, or credibility in the script, but in its own way it is genial and unpretentious and ultimately more winning than some recent overly focus-grouped big studio releases.

One of the mothers burns their tickets and carts her son Jam (Sam Huntington) off to a Catholic boarding school that looks like it was dreamed up by Charles Addams. The other three have to figure out a way to spring him and to find four new tickets so they can see the show. This involves taking another mother’s Volvo, feeding hallucinogenic mushroom pizza to a priest, entering a male stripper contest, foiling two separate robberies, stopping to have sex (one couple loses their virginity in a confessional), sneaking backstage, beating up some disco fans, getting beat up by various other people and by each other, and eventually making it into the sanctum sanctorum of the KISS live performance.

Much of the humor in the film will be lost on people who don’t know every KISS lyric and remember the KISS comic with the band’s blood mixed into the red ink. And it is something of a valentine to sex, drugs, and rock and roll, to say nothing of lying, cheating, stealing, destroying property, and cutting school. Furthermore, it is very much a male fantasy movie, with four teen-age boys triumphing over huge bad guys and winning over beautiful women. It also includes one of the key cliches of the teen movie — the character who has sex for the first time becomes suddenly more mature, braver, wiser, and more powerful. Parents of kids who see this movie may want to discuss these issues.

Most kids will not be interested, however. To the extent that the movie has appeal beyond hardcore KISS fans and those who appreciate the 1970’s references, it is due to its young stars (including Edward Furlong, Natasha Lyonne, and Melanie Lynskey) and the loyalty they show to each other, to their idols, and to their dreams. This lends the movie a welcome sweetness that leaves the audience almost as happy that they make it into the theater as they are.

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Comedy High School