CAPSULES

By Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

Eat Pray Love (Columbia)
Off-kilter values underlie this fact-based narrative of a travel writer's (Julia Roberts) self-initiated divorce (from Billy Crudup), brief affair with a much younger actor (James Franco) and yearlong quest for enlightenment and self-understanding via Italian cuisine, Hindu spirituality (under the guidance of Richard Jenkins) and romance with a Brazilian expatriate (Javier Bardem) living in Bali. Director and co-writer Ryan Murphy's overlong, ultimately exhausting screen version of Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling 2006 memoir displays an ambivalent attitude toward marriage, ignores Christianity as a source of insight and revolves around an interminably navel-gazing central figure. That figure, along the path of her pampered pilgrimage, confuses psychobabble for wisdom. Complex religious themes, acceptability of divorce, non-marital and premarital situations, rear nudity, some sexual humour, an obscene gesture, a few uses of profanity, at least one rough and a half-dozen crude terms. The Catholic News Service classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

The Expendables (Lionsgate/Millennium)
Brutally violent action vehicle, directed and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, in which a veritable Who's Who of Hollywood tough guys and professional sports stars form a ragtag brotherhood of mercenaries who travel the world freeing hostages and toppling dictators. On the advice of the group's soulful guru (Mickey Rourke), its leader (Stallone) and the gang's knife specialist (Jason Statham) head to a fictional South American nation where a rogue CIA agent (Eric Roberts) is running a corrupt regime. Though the pair barely escape after this initial mission, the chief, smitten with a resistance agent (Giselle Itie), vows to return with his whole crew (rounded out by Jet Li, mixed martial artist Randy Couture and ex-NFL star Terry Crews) to overthrow the terrorists and restore freedom. Relentless bloody and graphic violence, including shootings, knifings, explosions, decapitations, torture, and implied rape, some rough language. The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Lottery Ticket (Warner Bros.)
Broad comedy centres on a hardworking, good-natured 18-year-old (rapper Bow Wow) from an Atlanta housing project who wins the lottery but must survive a long holiday weekend before he can collect. He must evade the wiles of a menacing thug (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and a natty crime boss (Mike Epps) with the help of a retired boxer (Ice Cube) for whom he runs errands. Director Erik White's efforts to bridge materialism and spiritual growth are awkward, and viewers seeking an entertaining and perceptive social satire will be disappointed. Non-graphic non-marital sexual activity, much profanity, at least one use of the F-word, frequent crude and crass language, numerous sexual and contraception references and some violence. The Catholic News Service classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Nanny McPhee Returns (Universal)
The eerie but magically effective matron of the title (Emma Thompson) transports herself to wartime Britain, where she comes to the rescue of a frazzled rural mother (Maggie Gyllenhaal). With her husband (Ewan McGregor) away at the front, she is failing spectacularly to cope with the raucous squabbling among her three children (Asa Butterfield, Lil Woods and Oscar Steer) and a duo of snobbish London cousins (Rosie Taylor-Ritson and Eros Vlahos). The cousins are freshly arrived evacuees whose parents have sent them to the countryside for safety. Further straining mom's nerves are the efforts of her scheming brother-in-law (Rhys Ifans) to pressure her, for reasons of his own, into signing away the family farm in dad's absence. As written by Thompson and directed by Susanna White, this second screen adventure based on Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda series of children's books tells a sweetly nostalgic tale underpinned by lessons about co-operation, sharing, courage and the need to believe in happy endings, with only some mildly gross barnyard humour and slapstick violence to give parents pause. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

The Switch (Miramax)
Seven years after his unmarried best friend (Jennifer Aniston) conceived a son (Thomas Robinson) by artificial insemination, and left town to raise the boy, a successful but neurotic New York stock trader (Jason Bateman) reconnects with her. Struck by the parallels between his personality and the lad's, he gradually recollects that, while drunk, he accidentally spilled the intended donor's (Patrick Wilson) "contribution" down a bathroom sink. Then, in a panic, he substituted his own. The film showcases some of the tangled emotional complications brought about by severing conception from its divinely intended source and setting, the bond of marital love. But co-directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon's frequently distasteful comedy of modern manners, adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides' 1996 short story Baster, takes as a given of contemporary life its heroine's right to engineer such a rupture. Lost in the moral confusion are touching scenes of paternal love and a fine comic turn by Jeff Goldblum as Bateman's perpetually flustered business partner. Benign view of artificial insemination, off-screen masturbation, rear and blurred frontal nudity, much sexual humour, at least one use of the S-word, some crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O - morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Vampires Suck (Fox)
In this pale, stale and mirthless spoof of the Twilight films, Matt Lanter is a tortured vampire and Jenn Proske is the mortal high schooler he loves. Completing the triangle is her friend with werewolf issues played by Chris Riggi. Co-directors and writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer find the bottom of the comedy barrel and scrape it mightily with a collection of sight gags strung together to approximate the story arc of the famed teen-vampire franchise. Fleeting profane, crude and crass language, some sexual innuendo. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (Warner Bros.)
Entertaining and inventive 3-D spy adventure -- seamless blending live action, puppetry, and computer animation -- in which rogue feline agent Kitty Galore (voice of Bette Midler) threatens to make the world her "personal scratching post" by unleashing the "Call of the Wild," a screech that serves as a weapon of mass destruction. Led by Diggs (voice of James Marsden), a police K-9 German shepherd who hates cats, and Catherine (voice of Christina Applegate), a feline agent who puts her nine lives on the line, the covert pet intelligence agencies DOG and MEOWS must put differences aside and work together to bring Kitty down. Plenty of excitement, gizmos and cute-as-a-button moments will charm and enthrall the youngsters, while their parents will enjoy the inside jokes referencing James Bond films. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested.

Charlie St. Cloud (Universal)
After losing his younger brother (Charlie Tahan) in a car accident for which he was indirectly responsible, a gifted sailboat racer (Zac Efron), racked by guilt and grief, becomes the caretaker of the cemetery where his sibling rests, on the edge of which, briefly each evening, he is mysteriously able to see and communicate with the lad. But his reclusiveness is challenged when a high school classmate and fellow sailor (Amanda Crew) returns to town and captures his heart. Though unusually spiritual and even explicitly religious, director Burr Steers' melancholy parable, adapted from Ben Sherwood's best-selling 2004 novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, never quite jells, despite Efron's sensitive portrayal of his isolated, ethereal character, while the script romanticizes the premature consummation of the scarred youth's potentially life-altering love. Non-graphic premarital sexual activity, a few instances of sexual humour, at least one use of profanity, a couple of crude terms and six crass remarks. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Salt (Columbia/Relativity)
Well-acted but thoroughly violent action thriller in which, after being accused by a Russian intelligence officer (Daniel Olbrychski) of being a double agent, a highly skilled CIA operative (Angelina Jolie) goes on the run, leaving her colleagues (principally Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejiofor) scrambling to uncover whether she is friend or foe, even as they try to track her down. As directed by Phillip Noyce, Jolie makes a weak script reasonably compelling, and her character displays strong marital loyalty; yet, as an all-but-superhuman killing machine, her path is littered with corpses. Frequent violence, some of it bloody, at least 10 uses of profanity, one instance of the F-word, six crude terms. The Catholic News Service classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Dinner for Schmucks (Paramount)
To score a promotion, a financial analyst (Paul Rudd) must bring a suitable guest to the titular meal organized by his boss (Bruce Greenwood) as a competition to see which corporate hotshot can produce the most amusing idiot as a target for secret ridicule, so his accidental meeting with a bizarrely naive and nerdy IRS agent (Steve Carell) seems like a godsend until his victim's well-intentioned bumbling begins to ruin both his career and his relationship with his live-in girlfriend (Stephanie Szostak). Though its underlying message is one of sensitivity and respect, director Jay Roach's comedy, adapted from Francis Veber's 1998 French feature Le Diner de Cons, showcases numerous wayward riffs on topics such as adultery, casual sex and venereal disease. Shadowy rear and partial nudity, cohabitation, much sexual and brief irreverent humor, a couple of uses of profanity, at least one use of the F-word, six crude terms. The Catholic News Service classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

The Other Guys (Columbia)
This occasionally amusing but excessively vulgar action comedy follows the odd-couple antics of an eccentric, paperwork-loving police accountant (Will Ferrell) and his frustrated perforce partner (Mark Wahlberg) -- a former street cop unwillingly desk-bound after making a high-profile mistake -- as they investigate the financial shenanigans of a British-born banker (Steve Coogan). Director and co-writer Adam McKay's parody of genre conventions handcuffs its talented cast with relentlessly foul-mouthed dialogue and tiresome bedroom jokes. Considerable, though bloodless, action violence; much sexual humour; a couple of uses of profanity; and pervasive crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Universal)
Wildly violent, sexually freewheeling action comedy in which an angst-ridden Toronto twentysomething (Michael Cera) dumps a 17-year-old high schooler (Ellen Wong) to romance the aloof girl of his dreams (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). He must then battle a succession of her "evil exes" (including Satya Bhabha, Chris Evans and Brandon Routh) in bone-crunching, video-game-style combat. In adapting Bryan Lee O'Malley's series of graphic novels, director and co-writer Edgar Wright cleverly contrasts the title character's mundane real-life existence with the hyperbole of his pop culture-inspired imagination. But, in addition to the relentless throwdowns, the script also features subplots portraying gay relationships and group sex as perfectly acceptable. Pervasive harsh, though bloodless violence, frivolous treatment of aberrant sexuality, brief non-graphic non-marital sexual activity, a same-sex kiss, several bleeped and one audible use of the F-word, some crude and much crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Tales From Earthsea (Walt Disney/Studio Ghibli)
Something is amiss in the mythical land of the title, and it's up to a mighty wizard (voice of Timothy Dalton) and his princely apprentice (voice of Matt Levin) to set things right, despite the opposition of a wicked sorcerer (voice of Willem Dafoe) with a mania for immortality at any cost. Though unusually dark for a Disney offering, and technically less than top-flight, director Goro Miyazaki's Japanese anime adaptation of the popular book series by Ursula K. Le Guin features an epic battle between good and evil tinged with Christian symbolism. Stylized cartoon violence, including stabbings and strangulations, instances of drug use and fantasy witchcraft. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops