Beetlejuice (1988)

Why it's here:
To sample one of Tim Burton's first directorial efforts. I was also excited about the deeply talented cast.

Specs:
An hour and a half; rated PG*

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.75

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This is a strange film. I guess saying that Tim Burton directed it may have already made that apparent. Although it ultimately becomes a weird, scary-ish, supernatural 'comedy', the film starts out as an idyllic and romantic film of pleasant country life with our young couple played by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin. But all that changes soon enough and we transition into a story about an unpleasant and stressed urban family and their resident ghosts. I won't say much more so I don't give away interesting plot twists.

My older son (age 15) loved the film! My younger (age 12) really wasn't sure what to make of it, but ultimately enjoyed it a lot. I think he found parts of it slightly more disturbing but was won over by the incredible creative talents that are found everywhere in this film.  If you watch with your family, just go in with few expectations and you will probably get a huge kick out of it.

* As with other PG films of this era, the boundaries are stretched with sexually inappropriate content including some erotic gestures, a visit to a brothel, comments from Beetlejuice of a sexual nature and abundant proof that Beetlejuice is "interested" in teenage Winona Ryder. However, much of this stuff is short-lived on screen and might be glossed over quickly by parents or not fully understood by kids. There are also some fairly grotesque or disturbing images related to showing how various afterlife characters died or related to our main characters attempting to scare the living. These are played for absurd comedy purposes and not for horror, so it is hard to say how cautious you might wish to be about them. If you have tender souls in your household, a pre-watch is probably warranted just to see. This would not be a typical PG rated film today.

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Roxanne (1987)

Why it's here:
I remembered this film as extremely charming and thought we could use the full exposure to Steve Martin's talents.

Specs:
Just over an hour and a half; rated PG

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.63

More about the film and our reaction to it:
For a while, I felt that I was watching an almost perfect movie. The scenery is beyond gorgeous; the quaint little idyllic town forms a perfect setting for this clever re-imagining of the Cyrano de Bergerac story. And Steve Martin at the height of his talents is awesome to behold. But, as the film went on, the weaknesses began to show. Oddly, I'm not sure the movie actually got worse in the latter half so much as that I became more aware of its flaws as the mega impact of its initial charm subsided and as I acclimated to the heady power of Martin's performance. It is a touching and lovely film in many ways. But it is also seriously flawed.

Beyond Martin's hilarious and touching performance and the funny antics of the local fire department, you find a rather thin film. Sure the fun take on the Cyrano story is seductive, but it also feels a bit absurd if you look beyond the charm. Daryl Hannah falls for handsome Chris in an absurdly quick and superficial way, and, even more bizarrely, somehow fails to notice how different he is in real life from his letters. (Perhaps a better script could have made this seem plausible?) Also, I'm sorry, she's beautiful, but Hannah's acting chops are definitely minimal. Her loveliness just isn't quite enough for me to be OK with Steve Martin falling so deeply in love with her. Setting a classic love story in modern times presents difficulties in making outmoded romantic mores fit modern characters' motivations and seem reasonable. This film doesn't succeed with that ... in the way "Clueless", for instance, does.

Despite these shortcomings, I would still recommend the film as a satisfying cinematic experience overall. A caveat, though: I would recommend this film for families who are comfortable with with adult relationships. There are many scenes and a good deal of dialog that goes directly to characters wanting to have sex or having sex. The film is not visually explicit at all. (Though there is a scene at the very beginning where Daryl Hannah gets locked out of her house as her robe gets caught in the door and ends up outside naked. This scene is played for laughs and is not explicit). But the dialog definitely pushed boundaries of what I thought was appropriate several times.

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The Three Amigos (1986)

Why it's here:
The main impetus was to see Chevy Chase, who, though hilarious, does not happen to appear in many good family friendly films.  (Of course Steve Martin is a significant draw as well, but we already had "Roxanne" lined up for him).

Specs:
About an hour and a half; rated PG. Like many other movies from the era, this film is a bit more randy than you might expect in a PG rating.

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.0 (We all gave it a 7!)

More about the film and our reaction to it:
This film is certainly good and entertaining, but is by no means a great film. It follows the exploits of a trio of silent film cowboys who have fallen into disfavor with their production company and who travel to Mexico for what they think is an acting gig but turns out to be a real village's real need to defeat an evil bad guy (El Guapo) and his mob.

Cute set up! Very funny leads! So-so execution. Your kids -- or others with sophomoric taste -- will probably like the film, but you may be moderately disappointed. I am not sure exactly where this film loses its potential -- whether in the writing or the lack of overarching purpose -- but it is our lowest-rated film since the Aristocats from a decade earlier. Our comedians are spilling over with talent, but the film can't quite find its purpose. It seems to be primarily for kids, however, and as I mentioned above, there are many sexual themes, including El Guapo's kidnap of a lovely woman for whom he has distinctly sinister intentions.  All in all, its simple fluff, pretty funny and short, engaging entertainment, but my overall advice would be "don't really bother; watch Beetlejuice or Roxanne instead"

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