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Brady Williams (Christian Spotlight) calls it "entertaining, but average … a typical romantic comedy, in the vein of Sweet Home Alabama. I would not recommend this movie to teenaged young ladies."

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) calls it "a breezy but slight teen romantic comedy. Luketic once again pins his hopes of box-office success squarely on the ditzy dimples of a bubbly towhead."

Annabelle Robertson (Crosswalk) defends the film from its detractors. First, she praises the script and the acting. She writes that it "has the feel of a movie from yesteryear, and if Rosalie had suddenly transformed into Doris Day, I wouldn't have been at all surprised. … [Young girls] will see that kindness is rewarded and virginity is a virtue. [This] is the kind of movie everyone says Hollywood should make more of. So, now that Hollywood has, go and see it."

More on Along Came Polly , Teacher's Pet , Torque, and Oscar-nominated In America

Several recent releases continued to draw attention from religious press critics this week.

Loren Eaton (Plugged In) says, "Along Came Polly viewers will … ingest skewed messages about marriage's importance (or lack thereof), sexual gags galore and multiple misuses of God's name. Ultimately, all the raunch and disrespect make the film's already ambiguous moral messages seem tacked on and insincere, and its mirth self-conscious and hollow."

Chris Monroe (Christian Spotlight) finds irony in that "while Along Came Polly proudly purports the idea that the 'safe' choice isn't really the best choice, the run of the mill making of this film does nothing but choose what is 'safe' with jokes, characters, and storylines that are all very commonplace. Clearly, the medium holds none of the message and works against itself in providing any effectiveness."

Of Teacher's Pet, Jimmy Akin (Decent Films) writes, "Refreshingly, there is little of the crude humor that films many children's films these days." But he concludes with "significant reservations. Though it's quite clean in many respects, there is an awful lot of lying in the film. That's a bad example for children in the audience. Then there's the fact that Spot/Scott has a severe case of … um … 'identity confusion,' of feeling trapped in one body when he wants to be in another. I wouldn't remotely put it past the folks at Disney to not include that as a subliminal message for children in the audience."

Reviewing Torque, Loren Eaton (Plugged In) says the fast-paced biker movie "is one of those films that really gets you thinking—about how sloppy it is. Why would a major motion picture studio create such an obviously and obnoxiously flawed work? Because large numbers of 24-going-on-12-year-old males always seem willing to shell out $7.50 to see scantily clad woman, violent clashes and super-slick racing action."

Andrew Coffin (World) speaks up this week about In America, which earned Oscar nominations this week for Best Actress (Samantha Morton) and Best Supporting Actor (Djimoun Hounsou). Coffin says, "It wonderfully balances grief with hope, and is both life-affirming and, subtly, pro-America. In America's hopeful tone, remarkable performances, and flawed but fascinating engagement with basic ideas like life, death, and heaven make it a standout among the films being recognized as the best of 2003."

Next week: Owen Wilson in The Big Bounce and more.

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January (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48