Family Filmgoer
Watching With Kids in Mind

By Jane Horwitz
Friday, November 21, 2008

Bolt (PG, 95 minutes)

"Bolt," about the canine star of a TV series who believes he has real superpowers, never quite gets off the ground. It's weighed down with tiresome jokes about venal Hollywood agents. Kids won't get it, and adults have heard it all before.

Bolt (voice of John Travolta) has a bond with his little girl co-star, Penny (Miley Cyrus), lives on the studio lot and is never told that his superpowers are just stunts. He's mistakenly shipped to New York in a crate. He meets a streetwise kitty named Mittens (Susie Essman) who accompanies him on the trek back to Los Angeles.

The movie doesn't get interesting until Bolt and Mittens encounter a hamster named Rhino (Mark Walton) who's a big fan of Bolt's. When fast-talking Rhino is burbling, "Bolt" is really funny and the kids in the audience stop fidgeting. There are nice moments, too, when Mittens shows Bolt how to be a real dog by sticking his head out of a moving vehicle to let his ears blow.

Kids may get scared during the contrived finale, when Bolt returns to L.A. and must rescue Penny from a fire at the studio.

Twilight (PG-13, 120 minutes)

Teenage desire smolders at the center of this much-anticipated adaptation of the first novel in Stephenie Meyer's series about a high-school girl who falls for a vampire. Teens who love the books should find much to swoon over in the film. Though the goth-inspired vampires sometimes appear to be posing for a fashion spread as much as acting, the story is still a vivid meditation on the war between desire and restraint.

Bella (Kristen Stewart) moves from Phoenix to Washington state to be with her dad. There, she meets pale, odd Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). She's attracted, but he recoils. Soon, she learns the truth: Edward is a vampire trying to control his attraction to her -- and to her neck. Rogue killer vampires stalk Bella, so Edward and his family must fight them to save her. Despite a built-in silliness quotient, "Twlight" has some real power.

There is understated sexual innuendo: lots of yearning gazes and lying in the grass, plus one "normal" kiss. The climactic fight involves blood and nongraphic kung-fu-style fighting.

Also Playing
6 and Older

"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (PG). This deliciously dizzy animated sequel is far superior to the original. It has the first film's humor aimed at older audiences, but it is also fine for kids because the jokes play alongside slapstick and character-driven wit. Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) wind up in Madagascar in the first film. Now they try to fly home. They crash in an African nature preserve, where Alex finds his father, Zuba (the late Bernie Mac). Gloria flirts with a hippo (will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas), which adds mild sexual innuendo.

PG-13

"Quantum of Solace." This new 007 adventure artfully boils the James Bond formula down to its essence: frenetic chases, bone-breaking fights, gunplay, stunts, sex appeal and globe-trotting from Italy to Bolivia. The villains and the femmes fatales aren't that compelling, but Bond is dangerous enough to fill the void. Daniel Craig's 007 kills without blinking and ignores his boss, M (Judi Dench), when she tells him to cool it. There is mild sexual innuendo, rare profanity, muted talk of violence against women, drinking and smoking. Okay for teens.

"I've Loved You So Long." Kristin Scott Thomas gives an extraordinary performance in this delicate French drama. She plays a damaged woman who comes to live with her sister's family after serving a long prison sentence. The characters and their interactions are fascinating and sketched with humanity. There is mild profanity and sexual innuendo, discussion of suicide and mercy killing, drinking and smoking. In French with English subtitles. A fine introduction to foreign films for mature teens.