I Can Only Imagine 2 (PG)
Age 10+
Heartfelt sequel about faith, fame and family crises.
“I Can Only Imagine 2” — the sequel to the hit Christian film “I Can Only Imagine” — was inspired by the real-life circumstances surrounding the collaboration between MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard (John Michael Finley) and Christian singer-songwriter Tim Timmons (Milo Ventimiglia) on the song “Even If.” There’s little iffy content, but several scenes do take place in hospitals or involve characters needing urgent care due to chronic illnesses, and there are flashbacks to Bart’s traumatizing upbringing. Language is limited to infrequent use of mild insults such as “sucks,” “shut up” and “butt ugly.” As with the first film, racial/ethnic diversity is minimal, though the sequel does include a teen character with Type 1 diabetes and gives slightly more screen time to women characters. Families who are familiar with the music at the heart of the movie will likely appreciate its themes about relying on faith during times of fear and despair. (110 minutes)
Available in theaters.
Crime 101 (R)
Age 15+
Smart but violent character-based crime thriller.
“Crime 101” is a thriller about a career thief (Chris Hemsworth), the LAPD detective on his trail (Mark Ruffalo), and the insurance agent who gets mixed up in all of it (Halle Berry). Guns are used to threaten, beat and kill; there are blood spatters and bloody wounds; and characters are slammed, punched and bloodied. A woman is attacked (she ends up with a black eye), and there are vehicle chases, crashes and more. A pornographic website is shown (with suggestive images and brief nudity), characters kiss and lie in bed after sex, a character employs a sex worker and there’s sex-related dialogue. Language also includes many uses of “f—” and “s—,” plus “bulls—,” “a–hole,” “goddamn,” “bitch,” “pr—,” “d—,” “Jesus Christ” and more. A main character smokes cigarettes, and there’s social drinking. (140 minutes)
Available in theaters.
Joe’s College Road Trip (R)
Age 15+
Crass humor but also sincere messaging in this Tyler Perry film.
“Joe’s College Road Trip” is a Madea film from writer-director-star Tyler Perry. It follows the franchise’s usual practice of including frequently crass humor — often at the expense of women and children — and strong language (“f—,” the n-word, “s—t,” “damn,” “hell,” “ass,” and lots of body parts). This installment focuses on Madea’s grandnephew, Joe (Jermaine Harris), who’s been raised in a mostly White environment and doesn’t know or appreciate his heritage or the experiences of Black people who came before him. Joe drinks and drives, and he mentions a joint (“kush”) in the glove compartment. Scenes in a brothel show people having sex, and characters use explicit sexual language (“pimp,” “ho,” “p—y,” “booty,” “t—ies,” “BJs,” “69,” “jacking off,” “cunnilingus,” and so on). Characters also engage in fistfights and get injured, and an Iranian gang traffics a young woman. Expect lots of misogyny, too, with the terms “ho” and “bitch” frequently used to refer to women. All of that said, the film does have earnest messages about the importance of history, both personally and in a broader sense. (111 minutes)
Available on Netflix.
Kissing Is the Easy Part (NR)
Age 13+
Cute opposites-attract rom-com has teen drinking.
“Kissing Is the Easy Part” is a teen rom-com adapted from a popular YA Wattpad novel. The opposites-attract premise involves a science geek (Asher Angel) taking a bribe to woo a “wild child” homecoming queen (Paris Berelc) to motivate her to start studying. And study, they do: These two aspirational teen characters banter flirtatiously about Greek mythology, statistics and the Missouri Compromise, making striving for high SAT scores look appealing. Their relationship is committed and evolves from dating to kissing to not being able to keep their hands off each other. Whether to have sex is a recurring conversation; eventually, they do, but it happens off camera (after the boy’s shirt comes off). In the beginning of the movie, there’s quite a bit of underage drinking, but that’s balanced later on by serious conversations about the real consequences of an alcohol dependency. Language includes “a–hole,” “s—,” and one “f— you.” (100 minutes)
Available on Tubi.
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