Plot: Cedric (Freddie Bartholomew), who lives in New York with his widowed mother, finds out that he is the grandson of a British earl, and is to go to England to live in his castle. After marrying an American, Cedric’s father was estranged from the Earl, but now that both of the Earl’s sons have died, Cedric is the only heir. He says goodbye to his best friends, Mr. Hobbs (Guy Kibbee) and Dick (Mickey Rooney), and leaves for England, not knowing that the Earl has forbidden his mother to set foot in the castle.

The Earl is a rigid and somewhat pompous man, but, encouraged by his mother, Cedric sees everything the Earl does as wonderfully generous and kind. The old man is utterly charmed by Cedric, as are all who meet him, and he tries to live up to Cedric’s image of him. They grow to love each other. There is a crisis when they are told that the Earl’s older son was married and had a son of his own before he died, and that boy is the rightful heir. With the help of Dick, they prove the new heir a fraud, the Earl realizes that Cedric’s mother is a fine woman, and they all live happily ever after.

Discussion: This is basically a male version of “Pollyanna.” Like Pollyanna, Cedric goes to live with a wealthy but crusty and snobbish relative, insists on seeing the best in everyone (even when it isn’t there), and wins the hearts of all who know him. Not quite as sugary as its reputation, it may still put off kids who think Cedric is too perfect. But his colorful friends, his maturity under stress, and the fun of the idea of his being brought from poverty to an Earldom make it hold up surprisingly well.

Questions for Kids:

It’s trickier than you might think to translate a Saturday morning cartoon program into a live-action movie. The first challenge is figuring out who your audience is going to be. Is it the little kids who watch the cartoon now and want to see every detail replicated on the big screen (like the live-action “101 Dalmatians”)? Or is it the former little kids who want to see their memories of the show through a filter that is part retro, part camp, part irony (like the Brady bunch movies) and be able to recognize Scrappy-Doo, Pamela Anderson, and Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath on sight? There is not a lot of overlap, and yet this movie tries to reach both. It ends up somewhere between a live action cartoon that is much too scary for most children and Saturday Night Live sketch that goes on too long for most teens.

The Mystery Machine crew has just discovered the secret of the ghost who captured Daphne (it’s a man in a mask!), when their egos collide and they decide to go their separate ways. Two years later, they find out that each of them has been hired by Mr. Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson), whose Spooky Island theme park is a little spookier than he had in mind. Fred, Velma, and Daphne try to solve the mystery on their own, but find that they have to work together to find…well, this time it’s not a man in a mask, exactly.

The young stars have the voices down perfectly and do the best they can to bring the characters to life, but that only emphasizes how sketchy and shallow the cartoon characterization really is. Like the Smurfs, the Scooby-Doo characters each have only one basic attribute: Fred (Freddie Prinze, Jr.) is self-centered, Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wants to be more than the girl who has to be rescued all the time, Velma (Linda Cardellini) is the brainy girl, and Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) is the always-hungry slacker. Prinze, who will someday find a movie that will show off his considerable talent, has his best moments when Fred becomes something like a hip-hop zombie. Lillard has his best moments anytime he is not challenging Scooby to a flatulence and burping contest.

Parents should know that the movie has a lot of intense and scary special effects. The characters are in frequent peril, though no one gets hurt. There are a couple of mild swear words and some mild drug humor (as “Pass the Dutchie” plays on the soundtrack, what appears to be marijuana smoke turns out to be something else) and some vulgar jokes and graphic bathroom humor. The girls wear very skimpy clothes.

Families who see this movie should talk about why the friends broke up and why they got back together. They might also want to talk about what has made Scooby and his pals so enduringly popular over the years.

Families who enjoy this movie will enjoy the original Scooby cartoons like Scooby Classics (including the very first episode) and Scooby-Doo’s Spookiest Tales. If they want something a little spookier, they should try The Nightmare Before Christmas.

“The Bourne Identity” does not have much in the way of plot or characters, but it is a better-than-average guns, gadgets, and chases in interesting locations movie.

The film starts off with a theme that is much more common in films than in real life: amnesia. A shipping vessel just happens to pick up an unconscious man (Matt Damon) out of the sea. The Italian crew also just happen to speak English and just happen to have a medic who removes bullets and a strange information capsule from the man’s back. When he awakes, he is angry, desperate, and doesn’t know who he is. He is dropped off in Europe and tries to work his way to finding his identity, only to be suddenly attacked by people from his past life. He successfully fights them off and pays a woman (“Run Lola Run’s” Franka Potente) to drive him to safety, but at every angle there’s another danger, and the film picks up as the plot unravels, with Damon eventually discovering his name (or one of his names) is be Jason Bourne and researching his past to find out why people are trying to kill him. It’s formulaic but stylish, clever, and fun.

Franka Potente is always fun to watch, and bad guy Chris Cooper (American Beauty) remains one of Hollywood’s finest character actors, but as credible an actor as Matt Damon is, he makes a rather unconvincing action hero. His boyish looks don’t help him when he’s beating people up or jumping off buildings, and his ability to stay clean and perfectly shaven after days without having any chance to wash himself is pretty questionable. One can’t help but think that Hugh Jackman or Pierce Brosnan would have flawlessly executed the role, and seeing the terrific Clive Owen shine in a small role only makes you see how perfect he’d be in the title role. But I guess they needed an American hero.

Parents should know that the movie has lots of cartoonish but sometimes graphic violence and some bad language in English and German. There is a mild and non-explicit sexual situation.

Families who see this movie should talk about how we can ensure accountability for covert operations and how Jason and Marie decided to trust each other.

People who enjoy this film will also like the 007 and Mission: Impossible series.

Pure popcorn pleasure, this is a heady combination that is half testosterone, half attitude, and all action. “The Transporter” really delivers.

Don’t pay much attention to the plot – no one connected to the movie does. Just pay attention to the chases and explosions, staged with style by Corey Yuen, a veteran Hong Kong actor/director and co-written by Luc Besson, whose wildly imaginative visuals ignited “The Fifth Element” and other films.

Together, they have produced a straight shot of movie adrenaline. Jason Statham (best known for his appearances in tough-guy movies “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”), plays Frank, a former military man who now serves as a “transporter.” He will deliver anything from one place to another, as long as his price and conditions are met. The price is high. The conditions are these: no names on either side, no changes to the deal once it’s set, and no looking into the package. The movie kicks off with a heart-thumping chase scene as Frank transports three bank robbers and their swag (though he won’t budge until they get rid of a fourth robber who wasn’t part of the deal). We see that Frank is both a meticulous planner and fearless under pressure, whether he is being chased by dozens of cops or penetratingly questioned by just one smart one.

Then Frank takes on another job and for once he breaks one of the rules. He looks in the package he is transporting and finds a young woman named Lai (Shu Qi). If he hesitates about delivering her to her destination, it is only briefly, because he takes her to the drop-off and accepts another job from the man who receives her. It is only when that package turns out to be a bomb intended to kill Frank that he returns to retrieve Li and extract some revenge.

Frank starts to care which side he’s on and he starts to care about Li, then thinks he can’t trust her, then learns he really can. No surprises with the story – this is straight out of screenwriting 101. But there are some very cool surprises in the chases and explosions as Frank and Li take on the bad guys and the bad guys chase after them.

Statham is a fine action hero, handling kick-boxing and dialogue with wit, grace, and style. Qi, who learned English (or some English, anyway) to take on the role, has a fresh, appealing presence, and François Berléand is superb as the policeman caught between suspecting Frank and admiring him. The bad guys played by Matt Schulze and Ric Young are not as interesting as they could be, but the movie moves so fast you won’t have much time to think about it.

Parents should know that the movie features intense, non-stop peril and action violence, with massive destruction of property. Many people are killed. Characters drink and smoke and use very strong language. In the coming attraction and commercial, Lai tells Frank he is in “deep trouble.” The word in the movie is not “trouble.”

Families who see this movie should talk about how Frank appears once to have been an idealist; what made him decide not to try to work to make things better any more? Why did the policeman let Frank go after the bad guys instead of sending the cops? What do you think Frank and Lai will do next? What makes this chase and explosion movie better than so many others?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Snatch” and “The Fifth Element” as well as Hong Kong kick-boxing classics like “A Better Tomorrow” and “Once Upon a Time in China” (all very violent).

The dialogue in “8 Mile” has a vocabulary of fewer words than the 223 in The Cat in the Hat, and that’s counting giving someone the finger as a word. Other than the usual four-letter words, with one in particular used almost non-stop, the most frequently used words are “dawg,” “all right” (pronounced “i-ite”), and “man.”

It is a little odd, then, that this is a movie about a world in which status and self-worth are achieved by wordplay. Loosely based on the real-life story of white rap superstar Eminem, this movie is very much in the tradition of other “poor kid with a dream” stories like “Saturday Night Fever” and “Rocky.” The structure of these stories is simple: a talented character has to learn to take risks and believe in himself. He has some setbacks, but ultimately triumphs.

There’s nothing wrong with that story – it is a classic because of its enduring appeal, and many movies, including the two I just mentioned, have told it well. But despite “8 Mile’s” top behind the scenes talent like director Curtis Hansen (of “L.A. Confidential” and “Wonder Boys”) and producer Brian Grazer (of “A Beautiful Mind”), this version’s primary appeal will be to the fans Eminem already has.

For those who accept the premise that rap – a series of sometimes complicated, sometimes sloppy rhymes spoken contrapuntally to music or rhythmically scratched records – is an art form, this movie will be easier to believe. This is not the genre-transcending triumph that it was intended to be, but it is far ahead of instantly outdated bombs like “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” Eminem has the ability to hold the screen, and if he is not exactly an actor, he is able to muster the few expressions required: tender when he looks at his sister, hopeful when he looks at Alex, and sullen most of the rest of the time. Years from now, they will need subtitles – maybe even footnotes — under the dialogue to translate the early 2002 argot to future audiences. (“313” equals “Detroit,” a reference to the area code.)

There is a sweet little sort of almost-hugging thing the guys do when they see each other and there is a charming, even witty scene as Rabbit makes up new lyrics to the song “Sweet Home Alabama,” showing the way that even music that is not his genre gives him an avenue for expression and release. Brittany Murphy and Mekhi Phifer are fine as the girl who catches Rabbit’s eye and the friend who believes he can make it.

Parents should know that the movie is rated R for nonstop profanity, violence, drug references, and very explicit sexual references and situations. Characters vandalize and burn down an abandoned house and a character accidentally shoots himself. There is a reference to child rape. Rabbit’s mother is living with a boyfriend who is Rabbit’s age, and she speaks to Rabbit in very inappropriate ways about their sexual relationship. Some viewers will be upset by the neglect of Rabbit’s sister, a little girl who witnesses violence, family fights, a mother who drinks and has sex with a young man, and other abusive situations. Most likely in response to criticism of the gay-bashing lyrics of his earlier songs, there is a scene that seems to exist for no other purpose than to give Eminem a chance to defend a gay man. The defense is somewhat weak, however, as he attempts to explain that “faggot” as a derogatory term does not mean the same thing as “gay.”

Families who see this movie should talk about what changed in Rabbit’s life to make him ready to perform. Why was his willingness to insult himself before anyone else could a show of strength that was more devastating to his opponent than an attack could be? How is Eminem in the tradition of white musicians of the past who became successful by appropriating the music developed by black performers? Why did Future support Rabbit? Why did Rabbit support Bob? Families should also talk about the way the movie makes clear that having sex with someone should not be confused with thinking that you know the person or that you have a relationship. What were the signs that Alex was more interested in her career than in getting to know Rabbit? Note that in one scene, a character watches a short excerpt from a movie called “Imitation of Life” in which a black woman discovers that her daughter has been passing for white at school. Why would the director chose that scene to include? Families should also talk about how they feel about Eminem’s lyrics and why they have been so popular with both teenagers and critics.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy “Rocky,” “Saturday Night Fever,” and a take on the way music can affect the lives and relationships of accomplished professionals in “Brown Sugar.”