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Entertaining 'Adventure'
By Jane Horwitz
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, April 3, 1998
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Also Playing
Okay for 6 and Up
"The Borrowers" (PG). Charming adaptation of Mary Norton's books about tiny folk living under floorboards. Fun-scary action. British accents require tots' full attention.
Doofus Flick for 8 and Up
"Meet the Deedles" (PG). Hawaiian sibling surfers wreak havoc at Yellowstone in dopey stunt-filled farce. Occasional crude language, mild profanity; toilet humor; mild sexual innuendo.
Okay for 10 and Up
"Wide Awake" (PG). Boy searches for religious answers after death of grandfather in well-intentioned but dreary drama. Themes of grief, loss; child has epileptic seizure, not shown graphically.
PG-13's or Oughta Be
"The Newton Boys" Snappy, fact-based tale of Texas bank-robbing brothers. Understated violence; one character has very bloody wound; occasional profanity; toilet humor; drinking, smoking; mild sexual innuendo; unwed couple lives together.
"Grease" 20th anniversary re-release of John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John musical set in 1950s, adapted from Braodway show. Teens might groove to its kitschy-kitschy-cool. Constant sex chatter, slang, innuendo might warrant PG-13 now. Heavy makeout scene with condom joke, hint of unwanted pregnancy; drinking, smoking.
"The Man in the Iron Mask." Middle-aged Musketeers in rollicking adaptation of Dumas novel, but Leonardo DiCaprio miscast as king. Semi-nudity, bawdy sexual innuendo; sword, gun play; suicide attempts – one tragic, one comic.
"U.S. Marshals." Tommy Lee Jones chases another escape in fun but mindless thriller. Bloody gunplay; car, plane mayhem; crude oaths, epithets; ethnic slur.
R's, Mainstream or Arty
"A Price Above Rubies." Young bride in Hasidic enclave in Brooklyn feels smothered, longs for sexual and career liberation in well-acted, but predictable, sometimes cloying adult drama. Unusually explicit sex scenes played as near-rapes. Mature high-schoolers.
"Primary Colors." Insightful, funny, poignant adaptation of pop novel about '92 primaries, Clintonesque couple. Sexual innuendo, martial infidelity theme; strong profanity; crudity; drinking, smoking; off-camera suicide, body shown. High-schoolers.
"Wild Things." Sex, deceit, suspicion among high school girls, teachers, cops in crass erotic thrille. Explicit sexual situations, nudity; steaming profanity; violent deaths occur off camera; smoking, drinking. Oldest high-schoolers.
"The Big Lebowski." Aging hippie chased by thugs in funny, funky tale. Marijuana, liquor, nudity; references to a child molester, LSD flashbacks; verbal, visual sexual innuendo; profanity, ethnic slur; muted violence. Mature high-schoolers.
– Jane Horwitz
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"Barney's Great Adventure" (G)
A warm celebration of family, friendship and imagination, "Barney's Great Adventure" would be a fine way to introduce little ones to the big screen. It will entertain tots as young as 2 and up to 6 or 7 without sending parents up the walls because it has a sophistication lacking in the sugary TV show. A snappy script, sparkly special effects, gorgeous gingerbread sets and spiffy songs and dances lend a classy gloss. It's short, the child actors are excellent, Barney's friends B.J. and Baby Bop are there, and kids get to sing along at least twice.
Cody (Trevor Morgan), a cynical 10-year-old, doesn't believe his sister (Diana Rice) and her best friend (Kyla Pratt) when they say that their stuffed dinosaur comes to life. Just as Cody expresses his disbelief, Barney turns into his live, six-foot self. Soon he and the kids are chasing a magic egg, from Mrs. Goldfinch's cuckoo-clock house to the circus. When the egg nearly breaks, tykes could get nervous.
"Lost in Space" (PG-13)
This "Lost in Space" takes itself very seriously, unlike the campier 1965-68 TV series. Full of special effects accentuated by a deafening soundtrack, it should hold kids 10 and up in its spell until the last act. That's when things screech to a halt with a sermon about family life, a fine sentiment that wrecks the movie. Until then, however, the adventures of a 21st-century family on its way to colonize a planet manages to intrigue and absorb with sprightly repartee, a fine cast and snazzy space stuff. The rating covers occasional profanity, mild sexual innuendo, marginally creepy creatures and fighting that draws little blood.
William Hurt and Mimi Rogers play Drs. John and Maureen Robinson, who head out with their three children to colonize Alpha Prime. The crazed and evil Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman) sabotages their mission and they're caught with their nemesis, off course and lost in space. Adventures involving spidery creatures and a too-cute alien baby don't amount to much, nor do climactic time-travel scenes. But that lack of scariness makes it okay for preteens.
"Ride" (R)
Broad comedy punctuated with crude gags, sex jokes and slapstick violence nearly sinks this rapper road farce, but it's rescued by a talented cast. "Ride" will attract a teenage audience, though (in an ideal world) it's appropriate only for older high-schoolers. Endless profanity, racial slurs and strong verbal sexual innuendo, including condom jokes, help earn the rating. There's a mild sex scene, but with a porno video heard in the background. Graphic toilet humor also plays way too big a role. Scenes of gunplay and fighting serve comic purposes when two outlaw rappers hold up stores and hijack cars-maybe too comic. A subplot about unwed pregnancy offers an admirable but preachy self-esteem message.
Leta (Melissa De Sousa), an ambitious would-be director of music videos, has her first job-babysitting a rowdy group of Harlem rappers headed to Miami on a broken-down bus to sign recording contracts. Among the passengers and folks they meet are well-known rap stars-Sticky Fingaz, Snoop Doggy Dogg, the Lady of Rage. Writer-director Millicent Shelton drew nuanced performances from them all.
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