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WASHINGTON (April 23, 1999) --The 1-800-311-4CCC movie line reviews Pushing Tin for the week of April 23-29. Also, included on the toll-free line is a review of Aaron's Magic Village, this week's suggested home video for family viewing.
The 800 movie review line is a project of the Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC).
The April 23-29 line 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.
- Pushing Tin Because of brief violence, its theme of infidelity,
fleeting nudity and some profanity and rough language, the U.S. Catholic
Conference classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association
of America rating is R -- restricted.
Pushing Tin is a quirky comedy in which the intense professional rivalry
between air traffic controllers John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton spills over
to threaten their respective marriages (to Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie).
The characters' finely tuned performances poke fun at the macho world of
controllers whose split-second decisions mean life or death in the skies.
- Life -- Because of some violence, mild sexual innuendo, 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. In Life, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence spend six cantankerous decades stuck together on a Mississippi prison farm after being wrongly convicted of murder. The foul-mouthed comedians display some chemistry together but the bittersweet tale is often shapeless in its scattershot focus on racism and injustice.
- Goodbye Lover -- Because of its jokey treatment of murder and promiscuity, kinky sexual situations with nudity, some violence, recurring profanity and constant rough language, the U.S. Catholic Conference classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Goodbye Lover is a tawdry comic thriller in which a faithless husband and wife (played by Dermot Mulroney and Patricia Arquette) conspire to murder his brother (played by Don Johnson) then turn on each other as a cynical police detective (played by Ellen DeGeneres) watches the body count mount. The humor is forced in this attempt to blend comedy with film noir and the smug ending is predictable.
- The Matrix -- Because of excessive violence and recurring profanity,
the U.S. Catholic Conference classification, O -- morally offensive. The
Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.
The Matrix is a convoluted sci-fi tale in which a tiny band of cyber rebels
led by Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne do battle with virtually
indestructible humanoid killers from the future. The action movie's violence
is glorified, glamorized and made to look exciting with a dazzling array of
eyepopping special effects.
- Lost & Found -- Because of a few crude sexual references, fleeting
nudity, much toilet humor and an instance of profanity, 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.
Lost & Found is a feeble comedy in which complications arise after restaurant
owner David Spade, infatuated with a French neighbor (played by Sophie
Marceau), secretly steals her dog in order to be the hero when he returns it.
The thin premise with its lame comic antics resembles a stretched-out sitcom.
- Cookie's Fortune -- Because of a suicide, an implied affair and some profanity, 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. Cookie's Fortune is a droll Southern comedy of manners in which bossy spinster Glenn Close attempts to cover up the suicide of her aunt, resulting in the arrest of the aunt's devoted caretaker (played by Charles S. Dutton). The human dimension of the movie's quirky characters and their gently comic interactions provide steady charms.
The family video of the week is Aaron's Magic Village -- The U.S. Catholic Conference classification is A-I -- general patronage. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. Aaron's Magic Village is an animated version of Isaac Bashevis Singer's stories about a Jewish village in Poland which becomes threatened by a wicked sorcerer's golem until an orphaned lad helps save the hamlet and its foolish residents. The humorous tale conveys the distinctive flavor of Jewish culture and tradition, although the story occasionally drags in between lively musical numbers.
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.usccb.org 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."