"Bella" (2007)
Sweetly sentimental story
about an unmarried New York
waitress (an especially fine
Tammy Blanchard) who loses
her job after becoming
pregnant, and her
restaurant's empathetic chef
(Mexican soap favorite
Eduardo Verastegui) -- an
ex-soccer star whose career
ended after his car fatally
struck a child -- who gives
the young woman emotional
support, takes her to visit
his loving family and gently
tries to persuade her to
keep the baby. Director and
co-writer Alejandro
Monteverde's impressive
feature film debut is
sometimes dramatically slack
and implausible, but the
sensitive performances,
positive depiction of the
chef's warm Latino family
and, most of all, its
affirmative pro-life message
-- along with themes of
self-forgiveness,
reconciliation and
redemption -- should
resonate with Catholic
viewers. Partially
subtitled. A couple of crass
words, a child's death, a
drug reference, and the
out-of-wedlock theme aside,
the film is admirably free
of objectionable elements.
The USCCB Office for Film &
Broadcasting 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. (Lionsgate)
"Delirious"
(2007)
The unlikely friendship
between a lowlife
"paparazzo" (Steve Buscemi)
and a sympathetic street kid
(Michael Pitt) is put to the
test when an even more
unlikely romance develops
between the photographer's
recently homeless protege
and a world-famous pop-music
star (Alison Lohman). The
tone of writer-director Tom
DiCillo's film veers
disconcertingly from bleak
cynicism to sophomoric
fantasy, so that in the end
neither the often-witty
script nor some genuinely
impressive performances
among the lead actors can
save this story from
degenerating into an
unconvincing muddle.
Relentless rough and crude
language and some profanity,
much crude humor, rear and
partial nudity, some skimpy
costuming, innuendo and
implied unmarried sexual
liaisons. The USCCB Office
for Film & Broadcasting
classification is L --
limited adult audience,
films whose problematic
content many adults would
find troubling. Not rated by
the Motion Picture
Association of America.
(Genius Productions)
"First Sunday"
(2008)
Lively ensemble comic drama
in which two friends, one
(Ice Cube) desperate for
money to keep his
ex-girlfriend (Regina Hall)
from leaving town with his
son (C.J. Sanders) and the
other (Tracy Morgan) in debt
to Jamaican gangsters, break
into a church and end up
holding hostage the pastor
(Chi McBride), his daughter
(Malinda Williams), a deacon
(Michael Beach), the church
secretary (Loretta Devine),
the choir director (Katt
Williams) and various
prominent members of the
congregation.
Writer-director David E.
Talbert's film serves up a
serious message about bad
decisions and second chances
with more than a dollop of
enjoyable humor.
Occasional crude and profane
language, pervasive crass
language, some irreverent
and sexual humor, implied
nonmarital sex and an
obscene gesture. The USCCB
Office for Film &
Broadcasting 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. (Sony
Pictures Home Entertainment)
"Over Her Dead Body"
(2008)
Bland romantic comedy about
a psychic (Lake Bell) who
falls in love with her
reluctant client (Paul
Rudd), grieving for his
fiancee who died on their
wedding day a year earlier,
and how the ghost of the
intended bride (Eva Longoria
Parker) jealously tries to
sabotage the budding
romance. Writer and
first-time director Jeff
Lowell's formulaic script is
amiably pleasant at best,
but never as funny or
touching as it aspires to
be, though, refreshingly,
graphic sexual material
typical of this genre is
minimal, and there's even a
reasonably positive priest
character. Some instances
of profanity and crass
language, passing sexual and
gay references, a nongraphic
nonmarital sexual encounter,
some crude humor and brief
partial female nudity.
Spanish title option. The
USCCB Office for Film &
Broadcasting 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. (New Line
Home Entertainment)
"P.S. I Love You"
(2007)
Uneven but ultimately
touching and well acted love
story about a woman (Hilary
Swank) who loses her Irish
husband (Gerard Butler) to a
brain tumor, but is guided
through the stages of grief
by letters he wrote for her
before he died, and arranged
to have periodically
delivered. Writer-director
Richard LaGravenese's film
seems contrived at first,
but slowly builds in
interest as its heroine goes
through her healing journey,
helped by her girlfriends
(Lisa Kudrow and Gina
Gershon) and two men who
take a romantic interest in
her (Harry Connick Jr. and
Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
Moderate conversational
expletives and crass
expressions, one nonmarital
and a couple of marital
nongraphic bedroom scenes
and casual acceptance of the
former, some sexual banter
and passing homosexual
references, and brief
rear-male nudity. The
two-sided DVD features both
the full-screen and
widescreen versions, some
mostly mediocre additional
scenes (with some of the
same flags as above), an
engaging interview with
novelist Cecelia Ahern, and
more. Spanish language and
titles options. The USCCB
Office for Film &
Broadcasting 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. (Warner
Home Video; also available
on Blu-ray) |
