![]() ![]() It's set in Depression-era Chicago, with a memorable musical score using the Ragtime piano pieces of Scott Joplin (from an earlier turn-of-the-century era). for teens: One of the best movies about con men getting even with someone through an elaborate trick is "The Sting" (PG, 1973) - a classic caper film that stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford. But the film is a gentle PG-13, with occasional mild profanity, the nongraphic depiction of a heart attack, a steamy seduction that never gets past a brief shedding of outer garments, a daunting view of sumo wrestlers' behinds, and limited drinking. Younger teens may squirm through the movie's narrative detours and chattier scenes - under Steven Soderbergh's sly direction, characters are always talking, eating and conniving. And shy Linus (Damon) disguises himself to seduce Bank's tightly wound top executive (Ellen Barkin). They even go so far as to create a fake earthquake. Danny's gang plots to wreck the grand opening of Bank's new casino/hotel. Ruthless casino magnate Willie Bank (a bronzed and coiffed Al Pacino) has cheated Tishkoff on a Las Vegas business deal, driving him into a heart attack. It's all about male star power, great clothes and collegiality - and, incidentally, about how Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and their fellow con men (Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Eddie Jemison and Shaobo Qin) gather to avenge their mentor, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould). Never mind trying to follow the intricate revenge plot in "Ocean's Thirteen," a sequel (to "Ocean's Eleven, 2001 and "Ocean's Twelve, 2004, both PG-13) long on glitz and short on content, but amusing in a low-key way that feels fresh in this season of superheroes. The loss of a parent is a secondary theme: We see in a photo Cody's dad and a whale about to swallow him. Cody and others get knocked out and nearly drowned in briefly intense surfing wipeouts. ![]() When the otter, Reggie, emerges from a hot tub, the camera blurs his crotch, a la "real" reality shows. his surfing trophies - which seems to be a subtle reference (likely clear to adults and teens) about masturbation. ![]() "Surf's Up" contains toilet humor, occasional crude language ("crap" and "pecker face" seem gratuitous), a long scene in which Tank talks about being alone with his "ladies" - i.e. Her reclusive uncle Geek (Jeff Bridges), who has a secret connection to Cody's idol, Big Z, helps Cody achieve a Zen-like approach to surfing, but surfer bully Tank Evans (Diedrich Bader) sees Cody as a loser. Cody sets out, befriends a spacey surfing rooster, Chicken Joe, from Sheboygan (Jon Heder), and meets lovely penguin lifeguard Lani (Zooey Deschanel). One day, a scout bird named Mikey (Mario Cantone), traveling by whale, recruits Cody for the big Big Z Memorial Surf Off on tropical Pen-Gu Island, run by a sleazy otter named Reggie (James Woods). Bored with sorting fish, he longs to surf the world's waves in emulation of his idol, legendary champ Big Z. The look of the film is artful and the script includes great vocabulary words, such as "finesse," for grade-schoolers.Ĭody Maverick (voice of Shia LaBeouf) is a small Rockhopper penguin from Antarctica. "Surf's Up" is consistently funny, from the three little penguin chicks who comment on the action to the "native" penguins who capture and nearly cook a surf-loving rooster. ![]() And its message - that winning isn't everything - doesn't crash down like a wave. The movie doesn't talk down to kids, but has plenty to tickle adults. Older kids will also like the way it unfolds as a "reality TV" show, with interviews and scratchy "archival" scenes. Kids 6 and older will take pleasure in the film's clever overlay of surfer-dude culture onto a cartoon penguin world. But it turns out that "Surf's Up," about a penguin who lives for surfing, is a funnier, less pretentious, more carefree enterprise that can stand on its own webbed feet. It sounds like a weak excuse for yet another computer-animated feature about penguins, especially after last year's "Happy Feet" (PG, 2006). ![]()
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