Family Films for the Winter Months

Continued from page 1

The Astronaut Farmer

"The Astronaut Farmer" is another film about ideas. While the target audience for this one is undoubtedly adults in danger of giving up their dreams, both my 9-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son found it engaging.

It’s the story of a man named Charles Farmer (winningly played by Billy Bob Thornton), who had to quit NASA because of his father’s death, and his determination ever since to build his own rocket and circle the earth just once in outer space. He’s gotten his whole family, including his wife and three children, to share his dream. Of course, his dream has caused huge problems. The bank is foreclosing because he’s spent all his money building the rocket. The fuel to propel him into space will cost $50,000 he doesn’t have. And the townsfolk, of course, think he’s crazy.

The premise of "The Astronaut Farmer" is an allegory of when "going to the moon" meant accomplishing that which was once deemed impossible. It also raises good questions about whether "space" belongs to everyone or can be regulated by specific governments. But mostly it’s a parable about what happens to people when they finally settle for the ordinary--or refuse to do so.

So while Charles Farmer’s dreams might not be as earth-changing as those of William Wilberforce, it is an inspiring testament to not letting go of who you might become and what you might accomplish. And, as one character says to Charles, "Most people can’t get their family to eat together. You’ve got yours dreaming together!" That is a worthy goal indeed.

Epic Movie

In some ways, huge epic films that take themselves very seriously are prime targets for lampooning. "Epic Movie" takes on all comers, including "The Da Vinci Code," "Snakes on a Plane," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Superman," "Nacho Libre," "X-Men," and, most notably, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." While there are some filmmakers who are skilled at making very witty, biting satires at the expense of such blockbusters, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer don’t.

Instead, they make crude, in-your-face slapstick, like "Date Movie" and "Scary Movie," with the idea that if jokes hit you at the rate of six per minute, surely you’ll find several of them funny over the course of the film. (I admit I thought the funniest bit was the four minute send-up of "The Da Vinci Code" that opened the film.)

Bottom line: Your kids will probably think "Epic Movie" is hysterical, especially if they’ve seen the Narnia film, "Superman," and "X-Men." But the film is rated PG-13, mostly for language, and nonstop foul language there is. (For instance, The White Witch of Narnia fame becomes, quite deservedly, the White Bitch.)

While some ideas are amusing, such as Tumnus’ cave home being shown to the "children" as an MTV-style crib, people who take their Narnia seriously will likely be troubled by a mincing Aslan in bed with a couple of hot females, or the inter-species relationship between Mr. Beaver, and, well, another animal. Still, many of the ideas are silly fun--such as having the four children stare down the White Bitch’s entire army--and get wiped out within seconds. But whether you’ll want to let your children rent this one will depend entirely on the level of crudeness you find acceptable in the dispensing of humor.