Disney has made a lovely film version of the book that is a perennial middle-school favorite.

Angus Tuck (William Hurt) tells rich, overprotected Winnie Foster (“Gilmore Girls’” Alexis Bledel) that he feels like a rock by the side of a stream, life rushing past him. She feels that way, too. Her proud and proper mother (Amy Irving) laces her into a tight corset, fences her inside manicured lawns, and pins her inside dozens of rules intended to demonstrate refinement and superiority.

Winnie’s days stretch bleakly and endlessly until her mother tells her that she is going to be sent away to an even more restrictive environment, a very strict finishing school. Winnie goes outside the fence and the perfectly landscaped grounds of the house to run into the untamed woods, not knowing if she is running away from something or to something.

She gets lost. And then she sees a boy (Jonathan Jackson as Jesse), drinking from a secret spring. And he and his brother kidnap her and take her to their family’s hidden cabin. They treat her with an odd mixture of hospitality and intimidation, making it clear that she is not free to go. Her prim lessons in manners have given her no way to respond but acquiescence. And she is drawn to Jesse and comes to love her life with the Tucks and with their sense of timelessness.

In the Tuck home, there is no time. Or, there is too much time, which turns out to be pretty much the same thing. They drank from the secret spring not realizing that its water had special power. Then they slowly began to realize that they can never be hurt or killed. They will never grow older. They will stay as they are forever.

More unsettling, though, is another growing realization, that this one difference moves them so far from the core reality of human existence that they can no longer have anything in common with other people. Indeed, they present such a challenge to the most fundamental assumptions that people are either terrified or overcome with greed. The Tucks must do anything necessary to make sure no one knows their secret.

Parents should know that the movie includes tense scenes, peril, and a murder. There are some mild teen romantic encounters, including a swim in underwear. The themes of the movie may be too melancholy for younger children.

Families who see this movie should talk about what they would do if they had the choice presented to Winnie. They should also compare it to the book. Why make Winnie a teenager in the movie when she is only 10 in the book? How does that change the story?

Families who enjoy this movie will enjoy the book and other books by the same author, Bub or the Very Best Thing or my favorite, The Search for Delicious. They might like to compare this movie to the earlier version. Parents and teachers may also want to look at this guide for teachers or this discussion guide.

“Undercover Brother” combines broad comedy with clever satire to happily skewer blacks, whites, men, women, the “blaxploitation” movies of the 1970’s, O.J. Simpson, and just about everything else that comes within range. Selected by the Washington Film Critics as the guilty pleasure of 2002, it is worth a look.

Comedian Eddie Griffin plays Undercover Brother, a guy with the tallest Afro, the highest platform shoes, and the coolest attitude on earth. He drives a gold-colored Cadillac with an 8-track tape player and a license plate that says, “Solid.”

Undercover Brother works on his own to fight injustice (he’s the “Robin Hood of the ‘hood”), but he is not aware of the seriousness of the threat. It seems that a mysterious bad guy known only as “The Man,” operating out of a remote island command center, is responsible for discrediting black public figures. Come to think of it, that explanation for Urkel and Dennis Rodman makes more sense than the real one.

A popular black general (Billy Dee Williams) is about to declare his candidacy for President. The Man is furious at the prospect of a possible black President (“Let’s keep the White House white!”). So, he directs his henchman (“Saturday Night Live’s” Chris Kattan) to stop him. Somehow, the general’s announcement turns out to be the opening of a chain of fried chiicken restaurants featuring the “nappy meal.”

An organization called The Brotherhood” asks Undercover Brother to join them in fighting The Man. With their top agent, Sistah Girl (Anjnue Ellis), Undercover Brother infiltrates The Man’s world, disguised as a Rastafarian caddy, a preppy office worker and someone I will just describe as a performing artist.

But the Man fights back with “black man’s Kryptonite” in the form of Denise Richards. For a moment, it seems that Undercover Brother will even eat tuna with extra mayonnaise. But Sistah Girl comes to his rescue, and they are soon off for the final confrontation.

The movie is filled with such high spirits and good humor that the jokes are pointed but not barbed. Director Malcolm Lee (a cousin of Spike Lee) has a marvelous eye for telling details (the re-creation of a 1970’s-style credit sequence is hilarious) and Eddie Griffin gives the title character some heart along with a lot of attitude.

Parents should know that the movie has very strong material for a PG-13 — as usual, the MPAA is much more lax with a comedy than they would be if the same material appeared in a drama. The movie has sexual references and situations, smoking, drinking, and drug humor, and comic violence.

Families who see this movie should talk about the stereotypes that the movie uses for humor and to make its points. How can some issues be addressed more effectively through comedy than through drama? Parents might find that they have to explain some of the humor to teenagers who are too young to remember some of the outfits and expressions satirized in the movie.

Families who enjoy this movie should take a look at some of the movies that inspired it, the “blaxploitation” movies of the 1970’s. Some of the best are included in the Pam Grier Collection and Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song. Note: both have very mature material.

There is more plot and character development in Michael Jackson’s music video for “Beat It” than in “Undisputed,” a forgettable prison boxing movie.

“Iceman” (Ving Rhames), the world heavyweight champion, is convicted of rape and sent to a maximum security prison. Monroe (Wesley Snipes), a former heavyweight contender, is the undefeated champion in the inter-prison division. They fight each other. That isn’t a summary of the movie – that is the movie. There is some flash and attitude, but it is all on the surface.

The boxers fight in a cage rimmed with barbed wire. That makes for some cool shots through the swirls, but it doesn’t make any sense. There’s an escape risk in the middle of a boxing match with all the guards standing there watching? The movie avoids having to show us anything about the characters by just telling us everything we need to know about them with words superimposed on the screen. When the prisoners start banging their cups in the mess hall, the oldest of prison movie clichés, one guard says to another, “These dumb ****s have been watching too many prison movies.” If only they had been paying attention, they could have learned how to make this one better.

Sports movies (and prison movies, and, come to think of it, most movies) work well when they show us a metaphorical journey involving risk, learning, sacrifice and growth. There’s none of that here. Iceman and Monroe are unchanged from beginning to end. We hear that Iceman is a strong offensive boxer, so we expect to see Monroe develop a strategy to put him on the defense. Nope. Iceman says he is not guilty of the rape, so we figure he’s going to have to accept responsibility. Nope. Monroe says that he has learned to live entirely inside himself, rely only on himself, and stay in control at all times, so we expect to see him have to rely on someone else. Nope. Some big deal is made about having the big fight according to the old rules from the bare-knuckle days, but then the guy organizing the fight changes his mind and decides they will use gloves. Except for one guy who dies, everyone ends up pretty much where they started.

All that’s left, then, is the boxing. There are some powerful moments, but they, too, are flash without substance, and show no real understanding of the sport.

Parents should know that the movie has extremely strong language (including the n-word in the soundtrack), violent confrontations, references to rape and prison sex, and corrupt officials. Some viewers will be concerned about implications that a rape survivor may be lying about what happened.

Families who see this movie should talk about what it meant to Monroe and Iceman to be the champion. How were their ways of coping similar and how were they different?

Families who enjoy this movie will enjoy some of the classic boxing movies, like “Body and Soul,” “Golden Boy,” “Requiem for a Heavyweight,” “Rocky” and “Raging Bull.”

This is a story of obsession, betrayal, and jealousy, based on Claude Chabrol’s “La Femme Infidel.” It is about a happily married couple who seem to have everything until the wife is drawn into an affair. It is not for kids, but some adults will consider it a worthwhile portrayal of emotional suspense, told with director Adrian Lyne’s characteristic visual flair. It’s a shocker, so read no further if you don’t want hints of what is to come.

Richard Gere and Diane Lane play Edward and Connie, a couple thoroughly enmeshed in married life. He manages a fleet of armored cars (metaphor alert!), and she stays at home, looking after their precocious son (Erik Per Sullivan, “Dewie” on TV’s “Malcom in the Middle”) and doing charity work. One day, in the city to hunt down some items for the school auction, Connie is literally thrown into the arms of seductive Frenchman Paul (Oliver Martinez). He’s young and charming, and while their first meeting comes to nothing, she can’t stay away.

None of the plot elements are novel, but the seduction is handled very smoothly, without a lot of the emotional short-hand that would leave the story hollow. In fact, the strength of this film is its very down to earth emotional perceptiveness. Paul may be a polished Lothario, but even he can’t help but champ at the bit while preparing coffee for the lovely Connie, scalding himself and leaping around coltishly. When Connie shows up at the office unexpectedly (after an assignation), Edward is just as jumpy, mugging around in an inside-out sweater while his wife suspects every word he says. The movie makes us constantly aware of the currents of affection that run between the characters.

Back at home, Edward knows something is wrong. As his wife primps in private and shies away from his advances, his suspicions mount. Finally, after Connie is spotted in a restaurant with Paul, he cannot avoid the truth. A private detective produces all the details, and Edward goes, broken- hearted, to the apartment of his rival.

The best scene in the film is this confrontation. Neither knows exactly what to do, and it’s in this strange emotional limbo that a tragic choice is made.

Parents should know that this film contains a number of elements which may be upsetting to children. The theme of infidelity runs through the movie, and it creates some tense scenes of home-life. Connie’s seduction is quite overwhelming, and the sex scenes are intense and graphic. There is also a violent scene that results in murder.

Families who see this movie will want to discuss the title. The film is symmetrical–the wife is unfaithful in the first half, the husband in the second. To whom is the husband unfaithful? What “happens” in their final conversation? What is forgivable?

Families who enjoyed this movie will also enjoy the movie that inspired it, “La Femme Infidel,” the recent hide-the body thriller “The Deep End,” and the same director’s “Fatal Attraction.”

Every summer needs an esplosion movie, and for the summer of 2002 it is “XXX,” with Vin Diesel as an extreme sports enthusiast recruited by the CIA. Yep, this is a movie about extreme spying.

That means that this is not a movie about plot or character. It is a movie about gadgets, girls, and “golly, did you see that?” They have taken the essence of 14-year-old boy fantasy and put it up on the screen. This is “The Dirty Dozen” with one guy playing all twelve parts.

Vin Diesel plays Triple X, an underground superstar for stunts like stealing a fancy car from a right-wing politician and filming himself driving it off a bridge, riding it down like a surfboard. The problem with filming yourself doing something illegal is that it makes it pretty easy for the cops to make a case against you, though. So when spy chief Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) offers him the chance to work for the good guys instead of going to jail, X takes it. But never fear, he doesn’t take it because he is afraid or because he feels any kind of soft emotion like patrotism. He takes it because he gets a taste of some of the terrifying tasks involved, and, as he puts it, “I live for this .”

In the first scene, a James Bond-type takes off his wet suit to reveal impeccable black tie and ends up getting killed at a rave instead of retrieving the crucial computer chip. The big shots at CIA central conclude that it is time to “stop sending a mouse into a snakepit and send in our own snake.” So they seek out a man who is trainable and “expendable.”

In training exercises, X reveals that he is not just fearless but smart and loyal — at least, loyal to anyone he thinks of as being like him. He says, “If you’re going to send someone to save the world, make sure they like it the way it is.”

The CIA needs information about a group in Prague that seems to be involved in more than the usual nastiness of drugs, stolen cars, and very loud music. Of course, after an exchange of a few lines of very tough dialogue (“If you’re going to shoot anyone, shoot whoever sold you that suit.”), they immediately take to X and invite them into their little group and into their headquarters, a sort of Playboy mansion if Hugh Hefner was the editor of Vibe, where the bad guys convieniently speak English to each other.

X likes “anything fast enough to do something stupid in,” which is a good thing, because he gets to work down a checklist of fast and stupid things as he incorporates every extreme sport into his efforts to stop the bad guys from sending out a lethal biological agent (with oddly 1970’s control boxes) to random cities. It is clear who this movie is aimed at — X shouts to an accomplice, “Start thinking Playstation – blow up!”

There are some great stunts, especially a snowboard race with an avalanche that would be scarier if it didn’t recall the similar scene with Scrat at the beginning of “Ice Age.” It is too bad that the bad guy is not as interesting as X — he’s just a generic post-communist era guy with an evil plan, a big mouth, a remote control, a girlfriend who is too smart and pretty for him, and a getaway speedboat. But this movie is clearly designed as the first of a series, and it is all about X. Diesel is just the guy for the part, delivering the lines, the kisses, and the action scenes with attitude to spare.

Parents should know that the movie has a lot of intense action sequences and strong language for a PG-13. Characters use drugs, drink, and smoke. In one scene, a number of people are killed in a particularly heartless fashion, while others watch and make fun of them. There are implied sexual situations, including a character telling his girlfriend to have sex with someone else and a woman given to X as a sexual favor, but nothing explicit is shown. A character explains his plans for world anarchy in a manner that is worth discussing with teenagers who see the film.

Families who see the movie should talk about the different definitions of “freedom” that bad guy Yorgi, X, and Gibbons mean when they use the term. What is your own definition? Why? How does X decide who deserves his loyalty? How does Yorgi? How does Gibbons?

Families who enjoy this movie wll also enjoy a brilliant documentary about the origins of the very first extreme sport, Dogtown and Z-Boys and Vin Diesel’s breakthrough performance in The Fast and the Furious. They might like to see Diesel do some fine acting in a very different role in Boiler Room.