8 and older
Puss in Boots (PG). Kids 8 and older are likely to get the jokes and handle the action sequences in “Puss in Boots” without getting scared. There’s much mild innuendo about Puss’s amorous exploits, which under-8s might not get. We learn in a long flashback how Puss was an abandoned kitten and how he and the young Humpty Dumpty became brothers. There was a falling-out, and Puss became a cat burglar. He’s unexpectedly reunited with Humpty and also meets Kitty Softpaws. They pull Puss into their plot to steal “magic beans” from a crass middle-aged couple, Jack and Jill. When they plant the beans and follow the stalk into the clouds, they encounter the goose that lays the golden eggs.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The action sequences could unsettle kids younger than 8. There are sword fights and precarious chases. A giant goose could scare them. There are jokes about catnip that allude to marijuana.
10 and older
Jack and Jill (PG). Fine for most kids 10 and older, “Jack and Jill” is rich in slapstick stunts and toilet humor, but it also has a bit of heart. Jack is a successful L.A. ad man with hopes of landing Al Pacino for a new commercial. It’s Thanksgiving, and Jack’s twin sister, Jill (Sandler in drag), comes to visit. Their mother has recently died, and Jill has no one in her life. She’s loud and culturally clueless, but she’s loving. Jack’s wife and kids adore her, but she embarrasses Jack. When Jill meets Pacino at a Lakers game she attends with Jack, Pacino falls for her and starts courting her obsessively.
THE BOTTOM LINE: There is some mildly naughty sexual innuendo that most kids will miss. Characters drink a bit, throw some punches and engage in crazy stunts. Intestinal distress bits are loud but thankfully off-camera.
PG-13
Like Crazy. All teens, but especially girls with a romantic bent, will delight in and perhaps shed a tear over this bittersweet love story. “Like Crazy” traces the link between Los Angeles-based Jacob and London-bred Anna, who meet in college in Los Angeles. Anna foolishly overstays her visa to be with Jacob and is forced to return to England. Jacob visits her, but gradually the distance between them is no longer just miles. They start lying to each other and fighting. Yet they struggle to keep the spark alive and wind up hurting themselves and others.
THE BOTTOM LINE: The passion between Jacob and Anna rarely involves bedroom scenes, and when it does they’re more about cuddling and talking. Only once or twice is real sexual intensity implied, one time with a bit of semi-explicitness. The script includes rare mild profanity. The characters drink a bit.
Tower Heist. This film will make high-schoolers laugh but also help them focus on the human aspect of the hard economic times we live in. Josh is the manager of a residential high-rise called the Tower, populated by the wealthy who are pampered by a staff of blue-collar workers. The penthouse dweller is Arthur Shaw, who is suddenly arrested. The lead agent tells Josh that Shaw has wiped out the pension fund for all the workers. Convinced that the Madoff-style crook has at least $20 million hidden in his apartment, Josh organizes a complicated heist.
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