The following movie reviews are supplied by Catholic News Service in conjunction with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Film and Broadcasting.

For full reviews of these films, as well as earlier releases, visit the CNS movie site here.

This list will be updated regularly, and all reviews are copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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Captain America: The First Avenger” (Paramount)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

A complete absence of cynicism, a crackling undercurrent of dry wit, and the classical purity of its golden-age Hollywood references distinguish this comic book adaptation relating the origins story of the titular superhero (Chris Evans). Director Joe Johnston displays a warm affinity for America in the 1940s as he chronicles the muscular warrior’s battle against a rogue Nazi (Hugo Weaving) and his restrained romance with a fetching scientist (Hayley Atwell).
Despite some scenes of destruction, the result is, for the most part, full-on family entertainment of the old school. Much action violence, including gunplay.

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“Winnie the Pooh” (Disney)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences.

Delightfully innocent, predominantly animated adaptation in which the immortal bear (voice of Jim Cummings) finds his characteristic quest for honey interrupted by his friend Eeyore’s (voice of Bud Luckey) latest crisis — the downcast donkey has lost his tail — and by a misunderstanding that leads all the residents of the Hundred Acre Wood (voiced, among others, by Craig Ferguson, Travis Oates and Tom Kenny) to fear that Christopher Robin (voice of Jack Boulter) has fallen into the clutches of a monster.
With its messages about friendship and putting the interests of others first, directors Stephen Anderson and Don Hall’s visually and spiritually faithful screen version of incidents drawn from A.A. Milne’s classic books for children is family fare of the highest quality and widest appeal. The proceedings — though brief at an hour-and-a-quarter — are further enhanced by narration from John Cleese and songs by the husband-and-wife team of Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.

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“Friends With Benefits” (Screen Gems)

The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Frustrated with the urban dating scene, a New York headhunter (Mila Kunis) and the formerly L.A.-based art director (Justin Timberlake) she recently recruited for a job in Gotham, form a pact to maintain their newfound friendship while also sharing commitment-free, emotionally uninvolved sex.
Neither friendly nor beneficial, director and co-writer Will Gluck’s thoroughly unromantic romantic comedy features excessively detailed bedroom scenes, a frivolous view of human sexuality and dialogue replete with obscenities. Strong sexual content including graphic nonmarital sexual activity, rear nudity, pervasive sexual and some irreverent humor, relentless rough and crude language.

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“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” (Warner Bros.)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

One of the most successful movie franchises of all time goes out in style with director David Yates’ gratifying wrap-up to a decade of blockbuster adaptations. As the titular wizard (Daniel Radcliffe), now grown to maturity, continues to battle his evil nemesis, Lord Voldermort (Ralph Fiennes), he’s once again aided in the epic struggle by his two closest friends (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson). Many of the symbols and themes in the narrative, based on the last volume of J.K. Rowling’s run of phenomenal bestsellers, echo Scripture and comport with Judeo-Christian beliefs.
Too intense for the youngest viewers, the fantasy — which manages to strike notes both elegiac and exciting — is acceptable for most others. Much action violence, brief gory images, a single crass term.

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“Zookeeper” (Columbia/MGM)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Scattershot, sometimes earthy comedy in which a mild-mannered Boston zoo attendant (Kevin James, who also co-wrote the script) discovers that the animals under his care (voiced by an ensemble that includes Nick Nolte and Adam Sandler) can communicate with him. Their “Wild Kingdom”-style mating advice, however, does little to help him recognize that a caring colleague (Rosario Dawson) is the gal he ought to be pursuing instead of the attractive but shallow ex-girlfriend (Leslie Bibb) with whom he continues to be infatuated.
Director Frank Coraci’s ill-matched crossbreeding of romance and children’s fantasy is too mushy — and occasionally too mature — for kids, yet too sloppy for their discerning elders. Probably acceptable for mature teens. Cohabitation, brief implied frontal nudity, some scatological and restrained sexual humor and a couple of mildly crass terms.

“Horrible Bosses” (Warner Bros.)

The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Mean-spirited, often sordid comedy in which a trio of friends (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis), exasperated by the varied misbehaviors of their respective bosses (Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell), plot to eliminate all three irksome employers the old-fashioned way: by murdering them. Of course the humor focuses on the normally law-abiding pals’ inept attempts to execute their outlandish scheme, and they are shown to experience some appropriate moral qualms along the way. But director Seth Gordon’s film treats wayward sexuality as fodder for laughs while dialogue is riddled with ribaldry.
Strong sexual content, including brief but graphic images of nonmarital and group sex, masturbation, partial nudity, drug use, references to perversion, about 15 uses of profanity and pervasive rough and crude language.

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“Larry Crowne” (Universal)

The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Suddenly fired from his longtime job as a clerk at a chain store, a middle-aged suburbanite (Tom Hanks) enrolls in his local community college, joins a student scooter-riding club (led by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Wilmer Valderrama) and falls for one of his professors (Julia Roberts). Hanks, who also directed and co-wrote the script, creates a generally genial, low-key romantic comedy with a hopeful starting-over theme. But the second chances on offer include problematic marital mulligans since Hanks’ character has recently been divorced, while his instructor is still in the process of splitting from her lazy, porn-obsessed spouse (Bryan Cranston).
Brief nongraphic but adulterous sexual activity, acceptability of divorce, pornography theme with fleeting suggestive images, a bit of sexual humor, at least one instance of profanity, and a couple of rough and some crass terms.