If this movie was going to be sold in a grocery store, it would be in a plain white box with black letters that say, “GENERIC SUMMER EXPLOSION MOVIE.” It is as predictable as the rhymes in a limerick, but as predictably entertaining as well. There are no surprises in the story, but the action sequences deliver the goods that audiences for this film are there to receive.

The story follows Jim Street (Colin Farrell) and Brian Gamble (Jeremy Renner) — the character names taken from the TV show give you an idea of the level of creative inspiration here — Special Weapons and Tactics officers who get into trouble in a hostage situation when Gamble shoots without authorization. They are thrown off of the SWAT squad, and Gamble quits in disgust. Street stays on, willing to serve time in the gun cage and earn his way back onto SWAT. Gamble feels betrayed.

Hondo Harrison (Samuel L. Jackson), a former SWAT commander, is called back into action and assembles a new team, including Street, Deke (LL Cool J), and Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). We get to see them bond in a generic training montage and pass their big test just in time for the biggest SWAT challenge ever. An international dealer in drugs, weapons, and every sort of generic bad thing has offered a reward of $100 million to anyone who can break him out of jail. This attracts every kind of thug and the ones with no idea about what they are doing are just as big a threat as the ones who do.

It is a shame to assemble a high-powered cast of some of the most talented and charismatic people in Hollywood and then not give them any opportunities to let them show us what they can do. There is nothing distinctive about the characters (they are, yes, generic), despite brief attempts to sketch in some details by showing one with a child, another on a date, and some tender partings when the officers’ beepers go off. All these moments do is make stupifyingly obvious the supposed surprise plot twist half an hour before it occurs. Even more obvious is a “You’re Chris Sanchez?” surprise that the officer played by Rodriguez is a woman; this from someone who is supposed to have selected her by reading through her file.

Parents should know that the movie has extensive action peril and violence (not much blood, not too graphic). Characters are hurt and killed. There are some bad words. There are sexual references and situations, but nothing explicit. A character barfs onscreen. Suicide is portrayed as an honorable choice following disgrace. There is a politically incorrect Polish joke.

Families who see this movie should talk about the choice the captain presented to Street and how he responded. When do you decide not to follow rules or orders? They should also talk about the other alternatives the character who commits suicide might have chosen.

Families who enjoy this movie might like to take a look at the original television series, S.W.A.T. – The Complete First Season, now available on DVD. they will also enjoy The Dirty Dozen and The Magnificent Seven.

“Le Divorce” may look and sound like a glossy romantic comedy but it is instead an uneven take on the culture clash between America and France.

Kate Hudson plays Isabel, a California girl arriving in Paris to help her pregnant sister Roxy (Naomi Watts). But just as Isabel arrives, Roxy’s artist husband Charles-Henri (Melvil Poupaud) leaves. So Isabel and Roxy are set adrift in a culture and legal system that is, well, foreign to them.

Both are very drawn to France where, as American expatriate writer Olivia Pace (Glenn Close) says, you could write a book chapter just about the way French women wear their scarves. Isabel, who arrives in California pastels and shell jewelry, is soon exploring French culture just as Americans have done for centuries — she becomes romantically involved. And not with one Frenchman, but two — Olivia Pace’s young assistant and an elegant, distinguished, and wealthy older man who is Charles-Henri’s uncle Edgar (a very dapper Thierry Lhermitte). Edgar is very direct with Isabel, asking her to be his mistress and sending her an Hermes Kelly bag (a very expensive purse).

But Isabel and Roxy do not know how to deal with the subtlety and indirection of the rest of Charles-Henri’s family, led by his mother (Leslie Caron). They serve exquisite meals and make soothing comments, but do not provide any opportunities for Roxy to talk about her situation. Meanwhile, they appear to be plotting to have a painting hanging in Roxy’s apartment declared to be part of the marital assets to be divided in the divorce. Roxy says that the painting belonged to her family, who just loaned it to her for her apartment. But it now appears that the painting might be much more valuable than they had thought, and Charles-Henri’s brother brings in a curator from the Louvre to authenticate it as a Georges de la Tour.

The ambiguity of the painting’s provenance (three different experts come to see it and all have different opinions) and its status as a marital asset parallels the precariousness Roxy and Isabel experience in their relationships. Roxy wants Charles-Henri to stay with her and their daughter and new baby, but he is in love with a Russian woman whose American husband (Matthew Modine) is frantic with grief. Isabel has something of a French makeover through her relationship with Edgar, but it doesn’t quite take — Edgar has to keep reminding her that she is carrying the Kelly bag on the wrong occasions.

All of the performances sparkle and there are some witty and sharply observed moments. But the movie’s own perspective becomes too ambiguous, especially when it veers into a tragedy that throws everything out of balance.

Parents should know that the movie has mature themes, sexual references and situations, including adultery. There is some strong language. And there is an attempted suicide, a character who threatens other characters with a gun, and serious (off-screen) violence.

Families who see this movie should talk about the way the different characters see and react to the same things — for example, the painting, marital fidelity, discussion of sensitive topics. Is that due to differences in culture or to something else?

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Amelie.

Okay, I admit it — I laughed. A lot. Even more surprising, I smiled.

I was even a little sorry that this is the last of the American Pie trilogy.

For anyone who has not been to a movie in a few years, let me remind you that the humor of this movie as raunchy as it gets, and then some. There is not a bodily function or a sexual practice that is not made fun of in some excruciatingly humiliating way in these movies. But while that is part of their appeal to young audiences, for whom it is a reassuring release to laugh at these uncomfortable topics, that is not the reason for their success. Many, many other films made the mistake of thinking that gross-out humor was enough. What makes these movies different is that at their heart is, well, heart. Once again, as in the first two movies, there is a lot of talk about sex and a lot of attempts to have sex, but the sex that actually occurs is almost entirely respectful, monogamous, and really quite sweet. And once again the best part is Eugene Levy as the least hip (but most loving) father in the world.

In the original movie, Jim (Jason Biggs) and his friends make a commitment to have sex by graduation. He tries to get together with a beautiful exchange student named Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), he ends up with band camp nerd Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), who turns out to be surprisingly ardent and adventuresome. In the second, they take a beach house for the summer with plans to have a lot of sex in it. Jim again tries to get together with Nadia, but again ends up with Michelle, originally so that he can learn how to be a better lover, but ultimately because he realizes that he loves her.

In this installment, they have graduated from college and Jim, who continues to be a magnet for humiliation, proposes to Michelle. All of the preparations for the wedding, from finding the perfect dress to meeting the new in-laws, to the bachelor party to the big day, provide opportunities for wild adventures that include more conventional set-ups for humor like a dance-off in a gay bar and a personality switch as the irrepressible id Stifler pretends to be a sweet, polite, preppy and philosopher Finch pretends to be an obnoxious bad boy. But mostly it is just a series of humiliating escapades as the straight-laced in-laws walk in on what appears to be Jim having sex with another man and some dogs, a bachelor party that involves strippers, a guy in bondage, and some very revealing leather pants, a character unexpectedly ends up having sex with an elderly lady, and yet another dessert is destroyed by Jim. As in all classic sex farces, the outrageous situations are really a morality tale — the good are rewarded and the naughty are punished.

Parents should know that this is an exuberantly outrageous movie with humor that is good-hearted but extremely explicit. There are jokes about every body part and function and about every kind of sexual practice, heterosexual and homosexual, including oral sex, mild S&M, and the use of sex toys. The language is extremely strong, with non-stop swearwords and exceptionally explicit sexual references. A character moons the others. A character has sex with someone thinking it is someone else. Stifler once again ingests a substance for gross-out effect, this time not even human. There is social drinking. The issue of religious intermarriage is raised when one family member objects, but everyone else is completely supportive. As in the previous movies, the female characters are exceptionally honest, open, and in charge of their sexuality for movies directed at this age group (or any age group).

Families who see this movie should talk about which gender or generation in this movie understands the other one best. And they should talk about Jim’s supportive father, and possible ways he might improve the way he shows his support. Families might also want to talk about the importance of selecting sexual partners with whom they can share truly intimate moments.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy American Pie and American Pie 2.

Once upon a time there were two lonely princesses who had to save each other.

The first princess is Molly (Brittany Murphy), the daughter of a legendary rock star. Her parents died in a plane crash when she was nine years old. Now 22, she lives like a princess in a tower, numbing her pain and loneliness with non-stop parties. She does not feel close to anyone and has nothing to feel proud of. When the man who has been managing all of her money disappears, she has to support herself for the first time, but she has no skills or dreams and no idea of how to begin.

Molly gets a job as a nanny for Rae (I Am Sam’s Dakota Fanning). Rae’s father is in a persistant vegetative state following a stroke, and her mother (Heather Locklear) is always working.

Like Molly, Rae hides from her pain. But while Molly tries to remain a helpless little girl, Rae tries to become a premature adult.

And so we’re in odd couple land again, with Rae and Molly trooping along that well-traveled path from antagonism to understanding, with every single beat loudly telegraphed in advance, and every development indicated rather than shown. It’s a real shame that the studio decided to make this a PG-13 movie, because it would have been much more successful as a PG. Younger audiences would be more likely to appreciate the story, with the little girl teaching the big girl a lesson, and they would be more forgiving about the movie’s predictability because they have not seen dozens of movies just like it, only better.

And I’m beginning to worry about Murphy, who seems to get both skinnier and less talented in each movie she makes. I think it’s time for an intervention. The unaffected charm she showed in Clueless and Driving in Cars With Boys has disappeared. She looks stringy and strung out. She hasn’t adjusted her facial expressions to her newly emaciated appearance, which makes her attempts to be twinkly and adorable a little grotesque. It does not help that the plot has her taking pratfalls every time it runs out of ideas, which is about every 10 minutes. It also doesn’t help that her love interest is so bland he is almost invisible. There is something a little creepy about the way she uses her father’s artifacts to seduce him and something a lot creepy about a plot twist that has him having an affair with Rae’s mother.

Fanning, who out-acted Sean Penn in I Am Sam again shows great class and presence, giving far more to her character than the script does. She shows us the vulnerability and loneliness inside Rae’s bossy control freak and it is impossible not to be touched by her devastation over her father or her triumph when she allows herself to loosen up.

Parents should know that the movie has some strong language and Rae gives Molly the finger. Molly has casual sex with someone she does not know, and it is clear that this is typical for her. Characters drink and smoke. A character considers suicide. One positive note is the strong inter-racial friendship.

Families who see this movie should talk about how movies are “stories to help us deal with life” and about how both Molly and Rae have different ways of trying to hide from the pain they feel.

Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy The World of Henry Orient, about two young girls who stalk a concert pianist played by Peter Sellers.

There is a reason that good movies about sports, almost always about an underdog who overcomes obstacles to succeed, appeal to us in such a visceral fashion. Americans fiercely love athletic heroes because we want to believe that the difference really is in something beyond the physical, that it exists in a big heart and scrappy soul. “Seabiscuit” brings every evocative notion of the underdog out of the stable in turn but manages to make a movie with familiar themes seem as handsome as a thoroughbred, albeit one that has trouble in the homestretch.

Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling book of the same name, “Seabiscuit” depicts the equine celebrity who came to fame as the too-small, ill-tempered horse who never should have won yet somehow managed to defeat the greatest racehorses of his day. The film places his popularity squarely in the context of the times, tying each race that he won (and indeed those that he lost) to the ability of the working folks of the day to survive the Great Depression and to believe in second chances.

The first hour of the movie is spent painting the background and laying the course for its four main characters as they converge on their rightful roles as talented jockey, proud owner, wise trainer, and superstar racehorse respectively. “Red” Pollard (Tobey Maguire looking appropriately wan and underfed) is the too-tall jockey whose family -– made destitute during the early days of the Great Depression -— gives him to a horse racer who will give him his livelihood by putting him up on his horses. Pollard, full of rage and rapidly becoming too tall for a jockey, picks up any ride he can and prizefights to survive.

Charles Howard (a jowly Jeff Bridges) is the bicycle salesman turned successful car dealer realizing the American Dream in the great new markets of the West Coast. When his young son dies in an accident and his wife leaves in despair, he wanders over the border and meets the understanding Marcela (Elizabeth Banks, in a quiet role as supporter) who gets him riding again and re-engages him in life. With his new wife and desire to own racehorses, Howard seeks out a trainer with a good heart and an understanding of horses, whom he finds in the taciturn, itinerant cowhand, Tom Smith (the ever-mesmerizing Chris Cooper).

Smith tames and heals horses while introducing Howard to the movie’s leitmotif: “you don’t throw a life away just because it’s a little banged up.” Smith finds Howard his racehorse when he sees fifteen-hands of angry outcast, Seabiscuit, who has spent the last years losing schooling races to other horses to build up their confidence. On seeing the rearing and biting misfit, most jockeys flee from the scene. However, in a nice shot juxtaposing the antisocial Seabiscuit and the angry Pollard, Smith finds his jockey and the team of people who need — and believe in — second chances is complete.

The remaining hour and a half of the movie is pure action with Seabiscuit racing and winning over fans while Howard makes his horse into the four-legged hero of the working class. The captivating match race between Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, and the little horse from the West, Seabiscuit, is the apex of the action, painted in Rocky-like shades of good vs. evil. War Admiral’s owner, Samuel Riddle (an even more jowly Eddie Jones), provides the perfect foil as the East Coast plutocrat who believes that breeding is all that matters and who has contempt for the little-horse-that-could and everything he represents.

Even after the sound victory of the little Biscuit over the big Admiral, there are still obstacles to be overcome, especially the symbiotic recovery of both Pollard and Seabiscuit from disastrous leg injuries. The earnestness of the second half of the movie is broken by the sly wit of Smith and the delightfully funny diatribes by racing announcer “Tick Tock” McGoughlin (William H. Macy, as on point as ever). Real-life champion jockey Gary Stevens adds a great deal of class and heart as jockey George Woolf. The narration by historian David Mccullough may seem unnecssary to those over 30, but will provide context and background for those who are not sure what the Depression was.

Director Gary Ross does a yeoman’s job of trying to capture varied themes in one film. If anything, the themes are kept on such tight reins and are demonstrated to the audience so often that some will find their repetition heavy-handed. Some audiences might find the parts of the movie slow going and the solemn, documentary-styled narration of PBS’s own David McCullough a bit on the heavy side. Finally, it is a minor quibble but Maguire sits too heavy in the saddle to be mistaken for a real jockey.

“Seabiscuit” has all the tension, movement and excitement audiences expect from summer flicks, but it has the added bonus of strong acting, which in the summer is often replaced by computer animation or exploding cars. It is far from perfect, but it offers good, solid, heartwarming entertainment.

Parents should know that Red’s parents are forced by their reduced circumstances to give him to someone who owns a stable and who offers to put Red up as a jockey. His parents’ unexpected abandonment scars him and might frighten younger viewers who, like Red, do not understand why his parents would leave him. There is an off-screen car crash which takes the life of Charles’ young son, followed by shock and mourning. Minority characters appear only in small supporting roles.

Red tries to make some money by amateur boxing, which proves to be a bloody and dangerous pursuit. Parents of small children will not want them to see the fights as Red sustains significant injuries and the crowd watching the fight seems quite menacing. There is another sports related injury which features Red (whose recuperative abilities are put to the test in this movie) resulting in a mangled leg. While not bloody, it is unquestionably a horrible injury to contemplate.

There are references to drinking during the Prohibition, and the radio announcer drinks quite a bit. The jockeys frequent a brothel in Mexico, where there is a scene of implied sexuality between Red and one of the ladies there.

Families who see this movie should talk about the way each of the characters react to loss — Charles with isolation and reflection, Tom with pragmatism, and Red with anger — and how these reactions might be strengths or weaknesses or both. they should also talk about how each of the characters (including Seabiscuit) transforms the others. Each member of the family should ask, “Whose life can I change?” Families should also talk about what Charles means when he says that someone who does not know he is small can sometimes do something big.

Families who enjoy this film might enjoy The Black Stallion, a magical and lovely movie based on Walter Farley’s book, which is accessible by younger audiences. Those who enjoy Ross’s style, should see his earlier work Pleasantville, also starring noteworthy performances from William H. Macy and Tobey Maguire in much different roles. They also might enjoy movies Ross wrote, especially the political version of the old prince and the pauper switch in Dave and the charming Big (both with some mature material) from the days before Tom Hanks was crowned with Oscars. They might also like to try to find the old Shirley Temple movie The Story of Seabiscuit, starring the Seabiscuit’s own son in the title role.