KANGAROO JACK RATING: PG for language, crude humor, sensuality, and violence STARRING: Jerry O’Connell, Anthony Anderson, Christopher Walken, Dyan Cannon, and Estella Warren DIRECTOR: David McNally PRODUCER: Jerry Bruckheimer EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Andrew Mason, Chad Oman and Pat Sandston WRITERS: Steve Bing and Barry O’Brien DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. GENRE: Comedy INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older children and teenagers SUMMARY: In Kangaroo Jack, two childhood friends, a New York hairstylist and a would-be-entrepreneur, are forced by the mob to deliver a package to Australia, but things go haywire when the money is lost to a wild kangaroo. In the movie, Charlie’s stepfather is a mobster who takes 80% of the earnings from Charlie’s hair salon and accuses him of being homosexual. Charlie’s friend, Louis, nags him for favors because Louis once saved Charlie’s life. Although Kangaroo Jack is aimed at older children and teenagers, caution should be exercised because of mob violence, slight homosexual humor and portrayals of drunkenness, along with some scatological humor. Charlie’s masculinity is stripped when his father abandons him, but the movie shows the glorious gift of the ability to choose whether or not to stand up for yourself and become a man. CONTENT: Generally moral worldview about standing up for good, fighting evil, taking one’s rightful place, and choosing to do right, despite one’s background and circumstances with light homosexual innuendoes although mostly anti-homosexual humor; some light foul language with about eight mild obscenities and some scatological humor, including flatulence jokes; light slapstick violence including mob threats, car chases, etc., but no guts or gore; no sex nor nudity; some drunkenness shown in humorous light; smoking; and, miscellaneous content includes the portrayal of the grief of children with abandoning fathers. LOVE LIZA RATING: R STARRING: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Jack Kehler, Sarah Koskoff, and Stephen Tobolowsky DIRECTOR: Todd Louiso PRODUCERS: Ruth Charny, Chris Hanley, Corky O’Hara, and Jeffrey Roda EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Clark McCutchen, Vincent Maraval, Daniel Guckau, Jim, Czarnecki, Rainer Kolmel, and Alain de la Mata WRITER: Gordy Hoffman DISTRIBUTOR: Sony Pictures Classics GENRE: Drama INTENDED AUDIENCE: Adults SUMMARY: Love Liza stars Philip Seymour Hoffman in another terrific performance as a successful website designer who becomes utterly despondent when his wife suddenly commits suicide. A captivating character study with a light moral worldview, Love Liza nevertheless contains plenty of scenes with strong drug use and strong foul language, plus brief nudity. Hoffman turns in another terrific performance as the despondent husband. The end of the story is moral, up to a point, in that viewers may learn that hanging onto grief, anger, self-pity, and self-loathing can lead to dangerous addictions that may destroy not only you, but also the things you love. Regrettably, however, Love Liza offers no positive spiritual answers and contains scenes of strong drug use, strong foul language and brief nudity. CONTENT: Mildly moral character study of a humanist man lost in grief, anger and addiction; about 38 obscenities, four strong profanities and 11 light profanities; mild violence such as man accidentally sets clothes on fire, man breaks into mother-in-law’s house and gets violently angry for brief moment; no sex; brief rear and upper male and female nudity in naturalistic contexts; alcohol use; smoking, scenes of sniffing gasoline and protagonist gives gas to teenagers who want to sniff it; and, stealing, self-pity and refusal to acknowledge one’s drug addiction and psychological, spiritual disturbance and emptiness.
