TV film fare -- week of Dec. 2

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies on network and cable television the week of Dec. 2. Please note that televised versions may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations.

Sunday, Dec. 2, noon-1:45 p.m. EST (Cinemax) "Notes on a Scandal" (2006). Lurid but skillful melodrama set in England about a lonely history teacher (Judi Dench) whose unhealthy interest in an attractive younger art teacher (Cate Blanchett) leads her to help conceal the latter's reprehensible affair with a determined 15-year-old student (Andrew Simpson) in the hope of fostering the woman's dependence on her. Richard Eyre directs playwright Patrick Marber's adaptation of Zoe Heller's award-winning book with Hitchcockian flair, while taking care not to glamorize the seamier plot elements. Though Dench is a manipulative villain, she skillfully delineates her character's sense of isolation. The themes may rule out the film for many, but those who approach the plot as the astute psychological thriller it is will appreciate two actresses at the top of their game. Some rough, crude and profane language, domestic violence, adulterous affair with underage boy including some kissing, innuendo and obsession. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Sunday, Dec. 2, 8:30-11 p.m. EST (USA) "Sweet Home Alabama" (2002). High-spirited tale in which a small-town Southern girl (Reese Witherspoon) hides the truth about her previous marriage and humble Southern roots in hopes of marrying an up-and-coming politician whose mother is the mayor of New York City. Directed in breezy fairy-tale manner by Andy Tennant, the movie suggests following your heart and being true to yourself, but plays fast and loose with the main character's attitude toward the sanctity of marriage. Some alcohol abuse, mild profanity and homosexual references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Monday, Dec. 3, 11 p.m.-12:45 a.m. EST (Showtime) "Art School Confidential" (2006). Oddball story that can't decide if it's a touching coming-of-age story, gross-out frat movie, murder mystery or mordant black comedy, though it does make some sharply satiric points about the art world. Director Terry Zwigoff's sporadically amusing film adapted by Daniel Clowes from his comic strip concerns a sensitive art school student (Max Minghella), smitten with an attractive artist's model (Sophia Myles) and struggling to find his artistic voice amid loutish roommates, colorful teachers (John Malkovich and Angelica Huston), and an embittered and alcoholic failed artist (Jim Broadbent), against the backdrop of a mysterious strangler killing off the students. Pervasive profanity, rough language and vulgarity, full-frontal male and partial female art-model nudity, much sexual banter and innuendo, a couple of minor gay characters, and a stylized strangling. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1:15-2:30 a.m. EST (Cinemax) "Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus" (2006). Cinematically inventive fictional take on photographer Diane Arbus (a luminous Nicole Kidman), circa 1958, on the verge of transformation from being her photographer husband's (Ty Burrell) stylist and becoming a trendsetting pictorial chronicler of societal pariahs and those with physical abnormalities. The catalyst for her transformation is her upstairs neighbor (Robert Downey Jr.), a mysterious figure covered with voluminous hair from head to toe, who unleashes her inhibitions and her artistic vision, and with whom she enters into a mostly platonic, but sensually charged, relationship. Director Steven Shainberg uses elements of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Alice in Wonderland" for this absorbing allegory which, if viewed in that light, tempers some of the undeniably problematic elements which will severely limit its appeal to Catholic audiences, and necessitate the restrictive classification. Full-frontal nudity, a sexual encounter along with several highly suggestive if nongraphic encounters, adultery, suicide, some instances of profanity, rough language and crude expressions, mortuary image of a dead woman, alcohol and fleeting drug use. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Saturday, Dec. 8, 4:30-6:45 a.m. EST (Cinemax) "Little Children" (2006). Sharply observed suburban story of an unhappy wife (Kate Winslet, in peak form) and a stay-at-home dad (Patrick Wilson) who gradually fall in love and commence an adulterous affair after meeting at the local playground against the backdrop of a community all aflutter because a convicted sex offender (Jackie Earle Haley) has moved into his mother's (Phyllis Somerville) house there. Director and co-writer Todd Field's black comedy, with its pitch-perfect performances (including those of Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Connelly, Jane Adams and Gregg Edelman), is one of those films that illuminates the human condition, even as it presents characters whose behavior is deeply flawed, while capped by a deeply moral and redemptive ending. Some rough and crude language and expressions; profanity; several brief sexual encounters, one particularly graphic with rear male nudity; upper and rear female nudity elsewhere; adultery; some implied aberrant sexual activity; and bloody self-mutilation. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Saturday, Dec. 8, 8:15-10 p.m. EST (HBO) "Deck the Halls" (2006). Yuletide comedy about an obsessively organized eye doctor (Matthew Broderick) whose regimental holiday zeal alienates his wife (Kristin Davis) and two kids (Alia Shawkat and Dylan Blue), and who meets his match when his new neighbor (Danny DeVito) challenges his reputation as the town's "king of Christmas" by decorating his own house with enough lights to be visible from outer space, prompting escalating attempts by the two men to outdo each other at the risk of losing what matters most to them, their families. Though brightly colored bulbs abound, the laughs are mostly low-wattage, as director John Whitesell decks his plot with clumsy slapstick and a few out-of-place, off-color gags, but he ultimately proves that his heart is in the right place with an earnest endorsement of home, family and friendship. And while a secular view of Christmas dominates, things are brought to a predictably sentimental close that at least acknowledges in song the true meaning of the holiday. Some mildly crude language and humor, including a few suggestive images and a lightly irreverent sight gag, innuendo and an instance of profanity, limiting the film's suitability to older adolescents and up. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification of the theatrical version was A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating was PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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