Ride Along

By John Mulderig, Catholic News Service

If the bad-tempered comedy “Ride Along” is anything to go by, some of Atlanta’s finest need anger management classes. A case in point: Detective James Payton (Ice Cube) who’s as irritable as he is tough.

Bearing the brunt of James’ fuming, for no very apparent reason, is Ben Barber (Kevin Hart), the immature aspiring cop who lives with, and wants to marry, James’ sister, Angela (Tika Sumpter). To prove to Ben that he lacks the mettle to keep order on the streets – and, presumably, to shame him in Angela’s eyes at the same time – James takes the nervous neophyte along on his daily rounds.

A series of farfetched and less-than-amusing encounters follow during which Ben is bested by various disturbers of the peace. His fortunes reach their nadir when he fails to convince a smart-alecky little boy (Benjamin “Lil P-Nut” Flores Jr.) to divulge the whereabouts of his older brother, a low-level hoodlum James wants to pump for information.

Ben jabbers, James scowls, rinse and repeat.

As the largely pointless proceedings unfurl, an excess of gutter language pushes the PG-13 envelope, making the appropriate audience for director Tim Story’s feature a small one. By the time Laurence Fishburne turns up in the role of a smooth uber-baddie, viewers will be impatient for this ride to end.

The film contains considerable action violence, including gun-play, cohabitation, a couple of uses of profanity, at least one rough term, pervasive crude and much crass language and some sexual humour. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Saving Mr. Banks

By Joseph McAleer, Catholic News Service

Fifty years after the premier of the Walt Disney musical “Mary Poppins” comes “Saving Mr. Banks”, a film about the making of that 1964 classic.

Who would have guessed that behind the scenes of such a widely beloved movie lay a battle of wills worthy of a grand Shakespearean drama, with swords crossed over details as simple as … “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”?

Director John Lee Hancock (“The Blind Side”) serves up a delightful mix of nostalgia and sentimentality as he recreates the Hollywood dream factory of the early 1960s.

The witty script by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith is based on a true story. Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) promised his daughters he would make a movie from the children’s books they loved – tales of the magical nanny Mary Poppins, written by Pamela Travers (Emma Thompson) under the pen name P.L. Travers.

For two decades, Disney lobbied for the film rights, to no avail. But when Travers’ fortune eventually dried up, she was forced to reconsider.

Against her better judgment, she packs her bags and heads to California, determined to protect her prized creation from being “Disney-fied.”

“I won’t have her turned into one of your silly cartoons!” she warns Disney. “You don’t know what Mary Poppins means to me.”

Disney and Travers are polar opposites. Disney, gregarious and ever sunny, is countered at every suggestion by the prickly, buttoned-up author, who is no fan of Hollywood. He launches an all-out charm offensive, including a guided tour of Disneyland, but without result.

Faring no better are the songwriters, the famous Sherman brothers, Richard (Jason Schwartzman) and Robert (B.J. Novak). Travers is opposed to turning her book into a musical, and repelled by the chirpy songs that have become iconic, including “A Spoonful of Sugar” and “Chim Chim Cher-ee.”

Things look pretty bleak until Disney senses an opportunity. Delving into Travers’ background, he discovers there is an intensely personal side to Mary Poppins.

In flashbacks to Travers’ impoverished childhood in rural Australia, we learn that her Aunt Ellie (Rachel Griffiths) was the model for the nanny, and her adored but flawed father, Travers Goff (Colin Farrell), the inspiration for the fictional George Banks of the title.

Although the ending of this story is well-known, “Saving Mr. Banks” has many surprises in store as it veers from comedy to tearjerker and back again. Parents should be aware of emotional moments which may be too intense for pre-teens. Overall, though, the sincerity and wholesomeness of the picture make for a welcome change at the multiplex.

The film contains mature themes, one use of profanity and a mild oath. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

The Nut Job

By Kurt Jensen, Catholic News Service

The multi-layered plot of “The Nut Job” might confuse smaller children. However, this animated feature’s continuous action and theme of the importance of living in community make it both splendidly entertaining and morally appealing.

Not all the humour will please accompanying parents, though. Potty jokes seem to have become an unavoidable ingredient in children’s movies, and “The Nut Job” is no exception.

In this case, the flatulence afflicting the hardworking groundhogs who populate the film serves as an unfortunate go-to gag. Still, director and co-writer (with Lorne Cameron) Peter Lepeniotis keeps this aspect of the proceedings reasonably restrained.

Surly the squirrel (voiced by Will Arnett) is a lone operative in a parkland community of critters who rely on Raccoon (voice of Liam Neeson) to supervise their coordinated gathering of the wintertime food supply. When one of Surly’s elaborate plans to raid a nut vendor’s wagon goes explosively awry and destroys the oak tree holding their food stash, Raccoon and the others ban him from the park.

Forced to fend for himself in a harsh urban landscape dominated by evil rats, Surly comes across a nut shop he regards as his holy grail. But his find raises a moral dilemma: Should he keep the contents of this treasure trove for himself or share it with the others?

Though Surly makes the right choice, all is not what it seems. The store turns out to be a front for thieves who are tunnelling into the bank next door.

Raccoon, moreover, is not the benevolent leader he initially appears to be. Rather, he’s an Orwellian dictator served by lackeys. “Animals are controlled by the amount of food they have,” he intones. “It is our job to keep it from them.”

Loyalties shift as the animals learn to work together, build a new food supply and ultimately confront the truth. Surly longs for the affection and respect of Andie (voice of Katherine Heigl) and also learns to control Precious, a pug (voice of Maya Rudolph), in order to sneak around the robbers.

With its action set in the 1950s, “The Nut Job” uses coal bins, cars with running boards and electric street cars with overhead wires to create a nostalgic atmosphere grown-ups of a certain age will likely appreciate.

The film contains some intense action scenes and mild scatological humour. Some material may not be suitable for children.