Family Filmgoer

"Arctic Tale" (G, 86 min.) Beautifully shot, cloying "nature film" -- a simplified, sentimentalized global-warming documentary -- follows the parallel lives of a polar bear mother and her cubs and a walrus mother and her pups, giving them names and personalities in a sugary narration intoned by Queen Latifah. Attacks by predators or death from exposure or malnutrition are shown and could upset some, but they are softened and nongraphic.

"Ratatouille" (G, 110 min.) This groundbreakingly gorgeous computer-animated film by Brad Bird, the writer-director of "The Incredibles" (2004) spins a terrific yarn about a French rat named Remy (voice of Patton Oswalt) who follows his bliss and becomes a gourmet chef. When Remy nearly gets trampled on the street or in the kitchen, or when people with guns and meat cleavers chase him and his fellows (seen from the rat's point of view), it can be intense. A store selling rat poison has dead rats in its window.

"Mr. Bean's Holiday" (G, 90 min.) Kids may enjoy the physical comedy of British actor Rowan Atkinson's barely verbal, unwitting Mr. Bean, who always leaves chaos in his wake, but the film is uneven and problematic. Despite witty grace notes the film's central idea is bizarre: Bean accidentally causes a boy (Max Baldry) and his filmmaker dad (Karel Roden) to get separated on their way to France; Bean's efforts to get the boy back to his dad fuel the plot but feel off base and warrant a PG, since kids today learn not to talk to strangers almost from birth.

"The Simpsons Movie" (PG-13, 87 min.) Very funny animated feature-length episode of iconic TV series has parenting-challenged Homer dare son Bart to skateboard naked, offering a glimpse of Bart's sketchily drawn "doodle." Characters drink and smoke -- including, at times, kids. Evangelical Christianity is spoofed. There's mildly crude language, rare profanity, and start of a bedroom scene between Homer and Marge. Two gay policemen kiss, then disappear into a motel. The movie is often tasteless and politically incorrect, but never raunchy. Its more esoteric gags will be lost on kids 10 to 13.

"The Bourne Ultimatum" (PG-13, 111 min.) Matt Damon, as amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne, gets to the source of his secret training and who he used to be. Violence approaches R levels in bone-crushing fights, lethal gunplay, blood; mild profanity; no sexual content.

"Hairspray" (PG, 107 min.) Big hair, big music, big laughs and big fun mark this exuberant movie musical, a loving spoof of early 1960s Baltimore. The film contains some sexual innuendo, but either encoded in euphemisms or visually subtle enough so most preteens won't catch it. There are also suggestive dance moves and an implied teen pregnancy.

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (PG-13, 135 min.) Wizard-in-training Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) hits his mid-teen years at Hogwarts in a mood of alienation and foreboding in this darkly dramatic film based on J.K. Rowling's fifth book in the mega-selling series. Skeletal, smoky, evil spirits such as Dementors could spook younger kids, but Voldemort's awful face is the film's eeriest image; battle with wands and computer effects instead of swords and blood is quite chilling; words are etched on Harry's hand as if by an invisible knife -- a bit of torture; gross humor about boils caused by magic candy. Parents of 'tweens and younger may want to screen first.

"I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" (PG-13, 115 min.) Wildly inappropriate for kids of middle-school age or younger, "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" deals in surprisingly explicit sexual and homophobic slang, gags, and innuendo, including thinly veiled references to sexual arousal, suggestive dancing, a shower scene in a firehouse with an endless don't-drop-the-soap joke, and a man posing as gay and feeling a woman's breasts to see if they're real.

"The Invasion" (PG-13, 99 min.) Nicole Kidman stars in this remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," along with Daniel Craig. High-speed chases, crashes, people run over; infected people swarm over Carol's car; gunplay; Carol stalked in subway tunnel; infected people regurgitate on new victims -- high yuck factor; vicious dog runs after kids; a man dies covered in slime, having a seizure; people jump off a building; Kidman briefly in revealing sleepwear; mild profanity.

"The Nanny Diaries" (PG-13, 106 min.) Annie (Scarlett Johansson), a bright college grad, signs on as nanny with wealthyMr. and Mrs. X (Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney) to care for their spoiled, affection-starved preschooler in a witty, watchable adaptation of the novel. Film neatly blends anthropological observation, arch satire, emotion, and visual panache. Also includes a steamy kiss; implied overnight liaison; and hints of Mr. X's adultery. Rare strong profanity. Not for 'tweens.

"Resurrecting the Champ" (PG-13, 111 min.) Samuel L. Jackson's galvanizing performance as a homeless has-been boxer keeps the movie afloat for nearly two acts, though the dramatic mush at the movie's core sinks it. The boxing scenes include bloody noses and swollen eyes but are not graphic. The rating reflects two harsh moments, which could upset younger teens, when drunken bullies beat up Jackson's homeless Champ. Also includes some profanity, very mild sexual innuendo, drinking, smoking, and verbal references to an abusive childhood.

"Stardust" (PG-13, 130 min.) Breezy, richly adorned fairy tale based on Neil Gaiman's graphic novel. Violence, though non-gory, is intense, with stabbings and bone-snapping; mild sexual innuendo; subtly implied overnight trysts; implied nudity; rare profanity; a cross-dressing pirate; unwed pregnancy.

"Rocket Science" (R, 98 min.) A kid (Reece Thompson) with a painful stutter suffers through his parents' separation, his older brother's (Vincent Piazza) bullying and humiliations in a New Jersey high school, until a fast-talking girl (Anna Kendrick) gets him to join the debate team with hints of curing his stutter and, perhaps, romance. Comical references to sexual themes; sound of protagonist's mom and her new lover (Steve Park) having sex; teens make out, drink, smoke; profanity.

"Superbad" (R, 104 min.) Riotous, lewd teen comedy about lifelong best friends Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera), both smart but dorky, about to go to different colleges and desperate to lose their virginity. Stunningly explicit sexual language; drugs, drunkenness; squirm-inducing riff on menstrual blood; graphic drawings of male sex organs; semiexplicit sexual situations.

"2 Days in Paris" (R, 96 min.) Engaging relationship comedy -- profane, sexually explicit, very adult -- but wise and witty about human nature. A French photographer (Julie Delpy, who also directed) living in New York visits her Parisian parents with her non-French-speaking American boyfriend (Adam Goldberg). Not for under-17s.

By Jane Horwitz, Washington Post Writers Group.