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Movie Reviews Parents Can Trust

Now that my son is almost 10 years old, his entertainment choices are changing. He’s no longer limited to just seeing the kids movies, but a responsible parents wants to keep his kid from seeing movies that are full of unnecessary violence, sex, drugs and the like. Today’s rating system has become almost meaningless, with PG meaning violence and some profanity, PG-13 meaning boobs and obscenity and R meaning more of the same. I need a way to know which PG movies are okay for my kid, and which aren’t.

I’ve started going to the Crosswalk website for help. Crosswalk is a christian website containing articles, bible resources, and much more. My most-used tool on the site is their movie reviews.

I like to use the crosswalk reviews because they’re aimed directly at the family audience. They go overboard, if anything, in their detail of what is not acceptable. After providing a direct review, they have a detailed description of objectionable content at the bottom. They note both profanity and obscentity, sexual content as innocent as a kiss, alcohol and drugs and so on. They go into so much detail that I can show my son the listing for a PG movie I want to take him to, to help convince him it’s okay. That’s right, my son has to be convinced to watch a PG movie.

As an example, I’ll excerpt Crosswalk’s Objectionable Content listing for Christmas with the Kranks.

• Drugs/Alcohol Content: Average. Characters drink wine during dinner in several scenes. One scene in a liquor store where character buys a dozen or so bottles of wine and liquor for a holiday party. At holiday party, many people arrive carrying bottles of wine and champagne, and others are seen in background with people drinking. Main character pretends to “smoke” large cinnamon sticks like marijuana.
  
• Language/Profanity: Very Mild. Two mild obscenities, one of which is rebuked by another character. One mild profanity (“What in God’s name.”)
  
• Sexual Content/Nudity: Mild. Wife gets excited when husband talks about a surprise, unbuttons pants offscreen and says, “But it’s not Saturday night!” only to realize he is talking about something else.
  
• Violence: Lots of physical comedy that results in falls and “accidents” where no one is hurt. Main character has serious fall from roof of house but is stopped by rope and left dangling. Thief runs from police, is tackled then slammed against car window. Same thief is later hit by a man dressed as Santa Claus wielding an umbrella.
  

Like I say, if anything, they go overboard. That’s a good thing, though, if you’re a parent who wants to protect his child from objectionable content. If you’re thinking of taking your kid to see a movie, check Crosswalk first. It only takes a few minutes, and it may be the best review you see.

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