Family Filmgoer

Watching With Kids in Mind

The Secret Life of Bees (PG-13, 110 minutes)

This sweet and evocative celebration of friendship across social chasms, in which we learn that "every little thing wants to be loved," is based on Sue Monk Kidd's 2002 novel. It ought to transport thoughtful teens, especially girls.

Set in the South in the mid-1960s, when working for civil rights was still dangerous, "The Secret Life of Bees" opens with Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning), a motherless white girl whose sad, angry father T. Ray (Paul Bettany) is sometimes abusive. Lily's African American housekeeper, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson), is beaten by thugs and arrested when she tries to vote. Lily helps her escape, and the two hit the road.

They find a rambling pink house belonging to the Boatwright sisters: August (Queen Latifah), the beekeeper who supports the family by selling honey; June, the activist and cellist (Alicia Keys); and May (Sophie Okonedo), the emotionally fragile sister. The Boatwrights give Lily and Rosaleen shelter and jobs. Lily makes friends with Zach (Tristan Wilds), a brainy teen who works for the sisters and aims to be a lawyer.

Eventually, a truth emerges about Lily's mother, for whom she still pines. Memories of her mother's violent death haunt her. What could be sickly sweet instead has enough tartness to stay interesting. The film is fine for teens, but it does include some violence, death, racial epithets, profanity, sexual innuendo, drinking and a depression theme.

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8 and Older

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (PG). Stereotypical ethnic humor and trite doggie-poop jokes intermingle with genuinely funny bits in this uneven live-action (well, mostly) family comedy. Real dogs "talk" to one another, thanks to computer animation. A spoiled Chihuahua named Chloe (Drew Barrymore) is left in the care of her owner's (Jamie Lee Curtis) flighty niece, Rachel (Piper Perabo). The pooch is snatched by a dogfighting ring in Mexico and stalked by Diablo (Edward James Olmos), a Doberman. German shepherd Delgado (Andy Garcia) rescues Chloe. Rachel joins her aunt's gardener (Manolo Cardona) and his Chihuahua, Papi (George Lopez), to hunt for her. There are scary villains.

10 and Older

"City of Ember" (PG). A teenage boy and girl save what's left of humanity in this eccentric, occasionally scary futuristic fable based on the novels of Jeanne DuPrau. People have created an underground city because the surface of Earth is uninhabitable. Ember is now falling apart, although Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) and Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) uncover secrets that could save them all. But the mayor (Bill Murray) seems disinterested and sinister. Kids younger than 10 may be spooked by the blackouts and a giant mole. There is some violence and mild sexual innuendo.

12 and Older

"The Express" (PG). Ernie Davis, the first African American football star to win the Heisman Trophy, is the subject of this rich, well-acted sports saga. It deals with the racial attitudes of the late 1950s and early 1960s. This movie is not really for kids younger than 12. The PG rating doesn't quite reflect the racial hostility or frightening moments. At Syracuse, the grown-up Davis (Rob Brown) opts to fight racism by proving himself on the field, not as an activist. Dennis Quaid plays stoic Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder, who learns a lot from Davis's courage.

PG-13

"W." In this bio of President Bush, director Oliver Stone walks a paper-thin line between docudrama and satire. While gripping, the movie is inconsistent, and the dialogue sometimes bogs things down. But Stone is rather sympathetic in psychoanalyzing the president's (Josh Brolin) need to please his disapproving dad, George H.W. Bush (James Cromwell). There is drinking, smoking, cussing and violent war footage. News-savvy high-schoolers may really get into this film.

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." The ti tle characters in this offbeat comedy are good students who reject booze and drugs yet remain the hippest kids in the story. How cool is that? Based on a novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, it is not for middle schoolers. There is midrange profanity, underage drinking, sexual innuendo and gross toilet humor. Nick (Michael Cera) is a sweet-natured senior who plays in a band. He meets Nora (Kat Dennin gs) at a club soon after his girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena) has dumped him.

R

"Rachel Getting Married." Anne Hathaway earns her grown-up actor's wings with a raging perform ance in this stunning dramatic comedy. She plays Kym, fresh out of drug rehab, who comes home for her sister's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding. Kym's presence is a bomb tossed into the celebration. How her sweet dad (Bill Irwin), her emotionally distant mom (Debra Winger) and her brother-in-law-to-be (Tunde Adebimpe) deal with Kym is poignant and riveting. There is profanity, a sexual situation, drinking, drug jokes and an upsetting description of the death of a child. Okay for teens 16 and older who lik e character-rich stories.