ShareThisA guide to movies from a family perspective:
"Max Payne"
Rated: PG-13.
Suitable for: Teens and up.
What you should know: Mark Wahlberg stars in this movie based on a video game. He's Max Payne, a cop still trying to solve the murders of his wife and child and caught up in a bizarre series of puzzling new deaths.
Language: One f-word, a couple of uses of "Jesus Christ," and a smattering of profanity and vulgarity.
Sexual situations and nudity: A woman is shown partially naked from behind and poses seductively on a bed.
Violence/scary situations: Lots, including flashbacks to Payne discovering his wife's corpse, much exchange of gunfire, fatal falls, murders, dismemberment, near-drowning and winged demon figures.
Drug or alcohol use: Adults drink in a bar or at a party and take drugs with unexpected side effects.
"The Secret Life of Bees"
Rated: PG-13.
Suitable for: 12-year-olds and up (according to the director).
What you should know: The Sue Monk Kidd novel has been turned into a movie with Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah and others. It's set in 1964 when a motherless girl and her housekeeper take refuge with a family of kind beekeepers.
Language: In addition to a handful of curses, some with "God" attached, and some mild vulgarity, use of the N-word.
Sexual situations and nudity: A few kisses.
Violence/scary situations: You hear the sound of a gun going off, which delivers a fatal shot, and witness a father's cruel treatment of his daughter, encounters that turn nasty or violent, and see the lifeless body of a suicide victim and subsequent funeral.
Drug or alcohol use: Nothing out of the ordinary.
"Beverly Hills Chihuahua"
Rated: PG.
Suitable for: Preschoolers and school-age children who can sit attentively through a 90-minute movie.
What you should know: Drew Barrymore speaks for the title character, a pampered dog who is dognapped in Mexico and must try to find her way home to Beverly Hills.
Language: Nothing objectionable.
Sexual situations and nudity: None.
Violence/scary situations: Lots, although generally mild. It starts with Chloe being kidnapped and forced into a dog-fighting pit with a menacing Doberman and continues as Chloe goes on the road.
Drug or alcohol use: Brief scene of adults drinking wine in a restaurant.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
