Movie Reviews
What follows — amid her frantic rivalry with another of the attendants (Rose Byrne) — is a series of disastrous misadventures for the titular ensemble as a whole (which also includes Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey) as well as a potentially winning but prematurely physical romance pairing the heroine with a local policeman (Chris O'Dowd). As written by Wiig and Annie Mumolo, director Paul Feig's stumble toward the altar starts with a graphic, commitment-free bedroom scene and proceeds to lift the veil, to supposedly humorous effect, on other uninviting matters such as the symptoms of food poisoning. Explicit nonmarital sexual activity, much sexual and scatological humor, a same-gender kiss, at least a half-dozen uses of profanity and pervasive rough and crude language. (O, R)
Jumping the Broom (TriStar)
Faith-tinged family comedy about the lead-up to a Martha's Vineyard wedding between a postal worker's (Loretta Devine) son (Laz Alonso) and the daughter (Paula Patton) of a wealthy couple (Angela Bassett and Brian Stokes Mitchell). Director Salim Akil and screenwriters Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs embrace all the familiar conventions of upscale vs. downscale. But they make poor use of a clergyman (played by real-life Bishop T.D. Jakes) who offers useful advice early on but is absent when the families have to deal with serious issues. Mature themes; fleeting, mild sexual banter; and a couple of references to masturbation. (A-III, PG-13)
Priest (Screen Gems)
This malign futuristic horror exercise, set after an apocalyptic war in which a distorted version of the Catholic Church helped humanity to defeat a race of vampires, sees the consecrated warrior of the title defying his dictatorial religious superiors — who now hold Big Brother-style sway over society — to go in quest of his niece, abducted during a fresh outbreak of bloodsucker violence. Allying himself with the girl's boyfriend, he also gains the help of a disenchanted priestess as together they battle to thwart the ambitions of a new, seemingly invincible chieftain of the undead. Director Scott Stewart's adaptation of Min-Woo Hyung's series of graphic novels depicts sacramental practice in a borderline blasphemous way, appropriates cherished Christian symbols to its own, often violent ends, and presents the church as a corrupt, evil force against which its hero is honor-bound to rebel. Pervasive anti-Catholicism, sometimes approaching sacrilege; much morbid, occasionally bloody violence; at least one use of profanity and of the F-word; and a few crude and crass terms. (O, PG-13)
—CNS
Catholic News Service classifications: A-I — general patronage; A-II — adults and adolescents; A-III — adults; L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling; O — morally offensive. More reviews online: www.usccb.org/movies.
Jumping the Broom (TriStar)
Faith-tinged family comedy about the lead-up to a Martha's Vineyard wedding between a postal worker's (Loretta Devine) son (Laz Alonso) and the daughter (Paula Patton) of a wealthy couple (Angela Bassett and Brian Stokes Mitchell). Director Salim Akil and screenwriters Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs embrace all the familiar conventions of upscale vs. downscale. But they make poor use of a clergyman (played by real-life Bishop T.D. Jakes) who offers useful advice early on but is absent when the families have to deal with serious issues. Mature themes; fleeting, mild sexual banter; and a couple of references to masturbation. (A-III, PG-13)
Priest (Screen Gems)
This malign futuristic horror exercise, set after an apocalyptic war in which a distorted version of the Catholic Church helped humanity to defeat a race of vampires, sees the consecrated warrior of the title defying his dictatorial religious superiors — who now hold Big Brother-style sway over society — to go in quest of his niece, abducted during a fresh outbreak of bloodsucker violence. Allying himself with the girl's boyfriend, he also gains the help of a disenchanted priestess as together they battle to thwart the ambitions of a new, seemingly invincible chieftain of the undead. Director Scott Stewart's adaptation of Min-Woo Hyung's series of graphic novels depicts sacramental practice in a borderline blasphemous way, appropriates cherished Christian symbols to its own, often violent ends, and presents the church as a corrupt, evil force against which its hero is honor-bound to rebel. Pervasive anti-Catholicism, sometimes approaching sacrilege; much morbid, occasionally bloody violence; at least one use of profanity and of the F-word; and a few crude and crass terms. (O, PG-13)
—CNS
Catholic News Service classifications: A-I — general patronage; A-II — adults and adolescents; A-III — adults; L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling; O — morally offensive. More reviews online: www.usccb.org/movies.
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