MovieGuide" on Stranger Than Fiction and A Good Year
November 9, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Following are information and comments from Christian movie reviewer Dr. Ted Baehr on two movies opening on Friday, November 10. These comments are offered for information only and are not to be interpreted as endorsement of the films. More details about these and other movies are available at Dr. Baehr's website, MovieGuide.org.TITLE: STRANGER THAN FICTION
Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
Intended audience: Older teenagers and adults
Quality:* Good (3 stars)
Acceptability:** CAUTION: Discretion advised for older children
VIEWER WARNINGS:
Language: Several obscenities and profanities (10-25)
Violence: Brief or action violence
Sex: Implied adultery, promiscuity, sexual perversion or sexual immorality
Nudity: Naturalistic nudity (not in a sexual context)
Stranger Than Fiction stars Will Ferrell in his most appealing comic performance to date. Ferrell plays Harold Crick, a shy tax auditor for the Internal Revenue Service. Harold begins to hear a female voice narrating his every move and thought in an alarmingly accurate way. When the narrator mentions Harold's upcoming "imminent death," he goes on a desperate journey to find out what's happening and save his life. During the process, he learns some important lessons about life, death, true love, and taxes. Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, and Queen Latifah star in this morally uplifting fable.
The story, cast and characters shine in this movie, in spite of some worldview and pacing problems. Stranger Than Fiction is a delightful comic fantasy that leaves one guessing where it is going, but ends up providing viewers a morally uplifting ending that extols sacrifice for others and briefly, but strongly, suggests that we should be grateful to God for the positive things in our lives, like human kindness, parental love, and cookies. These positive qualities are mitigated by some Romantic pagan content, brief foul language and implied pre-marital sex, so caution is advised.
Rating: PG-13
Release: November 10, 2006
Time: 113 minutes
Starring: Will Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Tom Hulce
Director: Marc Forster
Distributor: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Entertainment
TITLE: A GOOD YEAR
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Intended audience: Older teenagers and adults
Quality:* Good (3 stars)
Acceptability:** EXTREME CAUTION: Discretion advised for adults
VIEWER WARNINGS:
Language: Numerous obscenities and profanities (more than 25)
Violence: Brief or action violence
Sex: Implied adultery, promiscuity, sexual perversion or sexual immorality
Nudity: Partial or brief nudity
A Good Year stars Russell Crowe as a hardened English businessman, Max Skinner. Max finds his heart being softened when he inherits his beloved late uncle's chateau and vineyard in the French countryside. A comical run-in with Fanny, a pretty café owner in the village, delays Max from getting back to London. He decides to spend a few more days fixing up the chateau. Max pursues Fanny and savors fond memories of the summers spent with his Uncle Henry. A wrinkle is put into his plans to sell the chateau when Uncle Henry's illegitimate daughter from America appears, wanting to know more about her long-lost father.
A Good Year is an appealing, lighthearted movie with an appealing cast. It will make viewers excited about visiting the French countryside. A subplot about boutique French wines is confusing, however. Although A Good Year has some positive moral elements where Max learns to be a better person, the dominant worldview is Romantic. Thus, Max realizes that he should follow his heart, not his pocketbook. The movie also includes some immoral elements, including a bedroom scene that cuts away before things get too racy.
Rating: PG-13
Release: November 10, 2006
Time: 111 minutes
Starring: Russell Crowe, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, Freddie Highmore, Didier Bourdon, Tom Hollander, Abbie Cornish, Isabelle Chandelier, and Archte Panjabi
Director: Ridley Scott
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
* "Quality Ratings" refer to the production values in the movie, the entertainment quality of the production, and whether the movie fulfills what it tries to do. A four-star rating does not guarantee that the movie will meet MovieGuide's criteria for what makes a truly fine, much less great, work of art. That kind of criteria depends a lot on one's moral and spiritual values, issues that Acceptability Ratings (explained below) are meant to address.
** "Acceptability Ratings" are based on a traditional view of the Bible and Christianity. Some movies receive positive ratings because they fit a biblical worldview of ethical monotheism, even though there is little specific Christian content in them. Acceptability Ratings take into account cognitive stages of development, moral issues and theological issues; and help parents with children and the media-wise adult viewer.
