An 'Antz' Size Epic By Jane Horwitz Special to The Washington Post Friday, October 2, 1998

Also Playing Okay for 6 and Up "The Parent Trap" (PG). Slick, likable update of Disney classic makes twins separated by divorce even spunkier. Graphic ear-piercing scene;reference to fatherhood as "the F-word"; drunk adult. More for 10 and Up "Simon Birch" (PG). Sentimentalized but well-acted tale of dwarf child with heavenly mission, and his friendship with another kid. Inspired by John Irving novel "A Prayer for Owen Meaney." Death of parent, child; harrowing school bus accident; comic sexual innuendo; rare profanity; smoking. PG-13s, Etc. "Rush Hour." Action star Jackie Chan, comic Chris Tucker as cross-cultural cops in good-humored action flick. Martial arts fighting, chases, explosions, bit graphic; child kidnapped, threatened; rare crude language, jokey ethnic slurs; mild sexual innuendo. "Ever After." Light, lavish take on "Cinderella" tale has 16th-century lass master her own fate and win prince with Leonardo da Vinci's help. Heart attack; subtle sexual innuendo; sword fights with a little blood; rare crude language. R's, Commercial or Artsy "A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries." Charming coming-of-age memoir about children of American novelist growing up in 1960s Paris and later in the United States, based on book by Kaylie Jones, daughter of writer James Jones. Discussion of adoption; death of parent; mild sexual situations; profanity; smoking, drinking; disquieting scene when preteen boy tries to seduce preteen girl. High-schoolers. "Urban Legend." Campus serial killer murders to match contemporary urban myths in hip horror flick; self-absorbed college characters just as scary. Knifings, shootings, a hanging; explicit sex; profanity; binge drinking. High-schoolers. "Ronin." Robert DeNiro among ex-Cold War spooks-for-hire in confusing spy caper. Great but repetitive car chases, explosive shootouts, occasionally bloody; icky, bullet-removing surgery; profanity. Teens. "Clay Pigeons." Naive guy framed for multiple murders in cleverly offbeat comedy noir. Graphic violence, sometimes toward women during explicit sex scenes; nudity; strong profanity; cigarettes, marijuana, liquor. Older high-schoolers. "Pecker." Kid shoots snaps of his colorful Baltimore neighborhood, becomes darling of New York art world in good-natured but lewd John Waters spoof. Nudity, suggestive dancing; sexual innuendo; Roman Catholicism spoofed; profanity. Oldest teens. – Jane Horwitz

"Antz" (PG)
Lots of the jokes will be lost on kids under 10, but the visual razzmatazz in this hugely clever epic of computer animation ought to keep them entertained along with older siblings and parents. "Antz" is rated PG because of rare mild profanity and a scene of battlefield carnage that may scare tots, especially when a soldier ant who's befriended our hero has his head detached.

A comic tale of individualism vs. authoritarianism in an ant colony, "Antz" is vaguely Orwellian, yet funny and with a smart screenplay and wonderful actors' voices. It follows the adventures of Z-4195 (Woody Allen), a worker ant who gripes about his dull job to his pal, a soldier ant (Sylvester Stallone). They switch places, and Z finds himself going to war against the termites. He comes home to discover that a general plans to overthrow the queen. To foil the plot, Z kidnaps Princess Bala (Sharon Stone), who decides she likes him. They discover Insectopia-a picnic ground-and then return to save the colony.

"A Night at the Roxbury" (PG-13)
The geeky Butabi brothers live for the club scene but never get past the sidewalk bouncers. They're oblivious to their own lack of cool, and this makes teens who laugh at them feel hip. Actor-comics Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan introduced Steve and Doug Butabi on "Saturday Night Live," and while this extended skit may be brainless, it's enough of a hoot to satisfy teen "SNL" fans. The rating covers comic sexual situations, one of which stretches the PG-13 rating, crude language and skimpy bikinis.

The Beverly Hills boys are sons of a rich silk-flower merchant (Dan Hedaya) and his trophy wife (Loni Anderson). Their dad, for all his yelling, can't instill a work ethic in them. Life changes when they meet a club owner who actually likes them, and when Steve is nearly bamboozled into marrying bossy, money-mad Emily (Molly Shannon).

"What Dreams May Come" (PG-13)
A clunky blend of gag-inducing sentimentality and astonishing special effects, this fable of love, loss, suicide and the afterlife may be a poor choice for teens who've recently experienced the death of a loved one. For the rest, it will coax tears from a few and groans from many more with its blatantly manipulative plot twists. Artistic teens may like the painterly quality of the computer-generated backgrounds. The rating reflects mature themes and rare profanity.

Robin Williams plays Chris, the doctor husband of Annie (Annabella Sciorra), an artist. Their children die in a car crash (not shown), and Chris and Annie are devastated. Then, just as they begin to rebuild their lives, Chris dies in another crash. The rest of the film shows him in the afterlife, trying to find a way to continue as his wife's soul mate.

"Impostors" (R)
"The Impostors" is a neo-screwball comedy, with hints of the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen and Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot" (1959). This low-tech gem could charm teens who like old-style humor and show-biz tales. It's a mildish R, with one semi-explicit sexual situation, occasional profanity and sexual innuendo. Stanley Tucci (who also wrote and directed) and Oliver Platt play unemployed actors in 1930s New York. After a bar fight in which they insult a no-talent British actor, they stow away on an ocean liner, only to find that the fellow is a passenger. After that, it's hilarious disguises, plots and passengers with secrets.