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WASHINGTON (October 3, 1997) -- The Edge is on the 1-800-311-4CCC movie review line for October 3-9. Also included on the toll-free line is a review of An American Tail, this week's suggested home video for family viewing.
The 800 movie review line is funded by the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC).
The October 3-9 list includes the following theater releases and their classifications according to moral suitability. Movies are evaluated according to artistic merit and moral suitability by the U.S. Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting.
- The Edge -- Because of some intense violence, threatening situations, intermittent profanity and recurring rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. The Edge is a harrowing adventure in which billionaire Anthony Hopkins is stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with fashion photographer Alec Baldwin whom the rich man suspects is having an affair with his much younger wife. Their struggle to survive the elements as well as their mutual mistrust provides plenty of suspenseful action, despite a few lapses in the story's logic.
- Soul Food -- Because of fleeting violence, brief bedroom scenes, occasional profanity and recurring rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Soul Food follows the near dissolution of the ties that bind three married sisters (played by Vanessa Williams, Vivica Fox and NEE-ah Long) in an extended African-American family after their peacekeeping matriarch goes into a diabetic coma. The spirited ensemble drama, while contrived and shamelessly sentimental, ends up as a testament to preserving the loving relationships that families are all about.
- The Peacemaker -- Because of frequent violence, intermittent rough language and a few instances of profanity, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. The Peacemaker is a frantic thriller teaming intelligence agent George Clooney with nuclear physicist Nicole Kidman on the trail of stolen nuclear weapons which leads to a madman intent on setting off a doomsday bomb in midtown Manhattan. The hectic narrative is packed with car chases and shoot-em-ups, resulting in an emotionally sterile story of bogus thrills.
- The Matchmaker -- Because of an implied sexual encounter, fleeting violence as well as recurring profanity and rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. The Matchmaker is a weak romantic comedy set in Ireland where a U.S. Senator's aide (played by Juh-NEEN Guh-RAH-ful-low) researching the politician's Irish roots finds herself beset by a professional matchmaker hoping to interest her in a local bartender. The flimsy story is overly contrived but the Irish settings and crafty characters provide some entertaining compensations.
- Kiss the Girls -- Because of some vicious violence, frequent rough language and a few instances of profanity, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-IV -- adults, with reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. In the lurid thriller, Kiss the Girls, a serial killer abducts a number of women, one of whom escapes to aid police psychologist Morgan Freeman in hunting down the psycho and freeing his captives. The formula police story is moderately suspenseful but quite brutal in its depiction of life-and-death confrontations.
- U-Turn -- Because of excessive violence, numerous explicit sexual encounters with nudity, continuous profanity and incessant rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. U-Turn follows grungy gambler Sean Penn after his car breaks down in an Arizona desert town where some of its brutish inhabitants rob and beat him, then try to lure him into committing murder. The result is a repellant tale of gleeful killings, sordid lust and murderous greed without any redeeming features.
- An American Tail -- The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-I -- general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G -- general audiences. An American Tail is an animated story about a 19th-century family of Jewish mice who emigrate from Russia to America seeking a new life free from Cossack cats. The 1986 movie centers on a young mouse who gets separated from the others and follows his adventures while searching for them in 1885 New York City which is brought to life in colorful, Disney-style animation.
The classifications are A-I - general patronage; A-II - adults and adolescents; A-III - adults; A-IV - adults, with reservations (an A-IV classification designates problematic films that, while not morally offensive in themselves, require caution and some analysis and explanation as a safeguard against wrong interpretations and false conclusions); O - morally offensive.
The movie reviews are produced by the U.S. Catholic Conference (USCC) Office for Film and Broadcasting, which each week provides full length movies reviews, brief capsules and film classifications of new theater releases.
Reviewers include Henry Herx, Director, and Gerri Pare, Associate Director, of the Film and Broadcasting Office, which is funded by the CCC.
The capsule reviews are available on the World Wide Web. They can be found on two sites: http://www.nccbuscc.org and http://www.CatholicDigest.org/stops/movies/movies1.html.
Full-length reviews of the above and other movies are available through America Online at the Catholic News Service site on AOL, and can be accessed by AOL members using the keyword, "CNS."