New Flicka Family Flick Earns Mixed Reactions
by Rebecca Grace
September 21, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Twentieth Century Fox inches in the right direction but falls a little short with its upcoming family-friendly release of Flicka, based on the children's book titled My Friend Flicka and its 1943 film adaptation.Set to open October 20 in theaters nationwide, Flicka stars country music artist Tim McGraw as a strict father who misunderstands his daughter Katy (Alison Lohman) and the passions that drive her to tame a wild mustang against Dad's will. Disrespect and a bad attitude put a strain on Katy's relationship with her father. In the end, the importance of family, love and perseverance surface through a dramatic encounter with the mustang that puts life into perspective for the entire family.
The film's storyline is stirring, emotional and motivating. However, many viewers are likely to question the redeeming value of the film since Katy is never reprimanded for her disrespect.
"A minor issue of concern is that I felt the plot vindicated the young protagonist's dishonesty and disobedience (i.e., approved and rewarded) somewhat, all because she was passionate in her feelings for the family ranch and for 'her' horse," said Jenni Parker, associate editor of AgapePress. "A protagonist does not have to be perfect, by any means; but when one does wrong, I feel there should be some sense of judgment imposed on that character, either through plot or dialogue."
Although this does not happen in the film, a message of reconciliation is still clear, and the film can be commended for its family-friendly tone. However, the film is rated PG for language including several profanities, some of which were obviously dubbed out and replaced by less offensive words such as "heck" and "dang." There is a factor of sensuality in the film, as seen in the females' immodest dress and in multiple scenes of shirtless cowboys. Also, Katy's bare back is shown while in the bathtub.
"These appeals to prurience have no place in family-fare films, in my opinion," said Steve Crampton, an attorney and father of six.
Still, Flicka can be seen as a small, but positive, step for Hollywood when it comes to family-friendly fare. The wholesome intentions are good, but the actual content is still lacking -- although some would agree it's still worth seeing.
Rebecca Grace, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is staff writer for AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association. This article, printed with permission, appears in the October 2006 issue.
