WASHINGTON --The 1-800-311-4CCC movie line reviews Analyze This for the week of March 5-11. Also included on the toll-free line is a review of The King and I, this week's suggested home video for family viewing.

The 800 movie review line is a project of the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC).

The March 5-11 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.

• Analyze This -- Because of intermittent stylized violence, a brief sexual encounter and sexual references, occasional profanity and much rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-IV -- adults, with reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Analyze This is a sporadically funny comedy in which mob boss Robert De Niro, suffering from anxiety attacks, enlists exasperated shrink Billy Crystal to cure him before an imminent meeting of crime kingpins from around the country. The crude, underworld setting is tempered by adult humor, a sprinkling of sentimentality and the gangster's gradual reformation.

• Cruel Intentions -- Because of numerous sexual situations and explicit references, drug abuse and frequent rough language as well as profanity, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification, 0 -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Cruel Intentions is a pandering tale of lustful teenagers, one of whom bets his hypocritical step-sister that he can seduce the wholesome daughter of the school's new headmaster. The contemporary potboiler updates an 18th-century French novel about decadent aristocrats to the adolescent offspring of wealthy Manhattanites, but the result is little more than teen hothouse fantasy.

• 8 MM (8 Millimeter) -- Because of excessive brutality and deadly sexual violence, rationalization of vigilante justice, some nudity and much rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is 0 -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. 8 MM (8 Millimeter) is a nihilistic tale about righteous investigator Nicolas Cage who becomes a murderous avenger once he determines a teenage girl was butchered as the final scene of a porno film production. The violent thriller offers no insights and wallows in the beastly world of pornographers, blood-lusting killers and insatiable millionaires.

• The Other Sister -- Because of a discreetly suggested pre-marital affair, an implied lesbian relationship and brief alcohol abuse, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned that some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. The Other Sister is a sentimental romance about two mentally-challenged young adults (played by Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi) wanting to marry and live productive independent lives despite the objections of the woman's overprotective mother (played by Diane Keaton). While poignantly conveying the difficulties of mainstreaming, the story's often awkward humor makes the movie seem more manipulative than intended.

• 200 Cigarettes -- Because of its benign view of sexual promiscuity and substance abuse, recurring profanity and constant rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is 0 -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. 200 Cigarettes is a strained comedy set on New Year's Eve, 1981 in Greenwich Village as a dozen young adults and two teenage girls desperately try to sexually connect with members of the opposite sex. Mostly narcissistic characters and a threadbare storyline translate into a tiresomely drawn-out take on the battle of the sexes.

• Just the Ticket -- Because of stylized violence, a sexual encounter, tasteless treatment of Catholic matters, frequent rough language and occasional profanity, the U.S. Catholic conference classification is A-IV -- adults, with reservations. Motion Picture Association of America rating is R - restricted. Just the Ticket is a dreary romantic melodrama in which a New York ticket scalper Andy Garcia intends to win back his lost love Andie MacDowall by making a fortune selling outrageously priced tickets to see the visiting Pope at Yankee Stadium. There's little human interest in this tale of street-hustling scam artists and commercial greed surrounding the papal visit, and Garcia's shrill performance sours the romantic angle.

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 movie 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/movies and http://www.catholicdigest.org/stops/movies/index.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."

For media inquiries, e-mail us at commdept@usccb.org
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