The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 96

ft ii i I film sure to split kids adults Sweet football tale is almost undone by grossness sexism By JANE HORWlTZ 1994 Washington Post Just about all lively kids 6 and up will chortle at this peewee football flick but it may earn a whopping penalty from parents since it implies that girls who compete in coed sports will never get dates Overlooking (if possible) that infuriating bit of backwardness offers a funny rather sweet saga of underdogs who triumph of sibling rivals who reconcile and of innocent preteen romance Not to mention the nerd who blows snot bubbles and the kid with a flair for flatulence (The gross-out essential in this sort of film) Ed and Rick Moranis play the squabbling broth Beyond the ratings A look at major films playing in theaters now For most Uds (6 and up): Little Giants: PG Nerds vs jocks in peewee football sweet funny but dubious message to girls that competing with boys means no dates The Little Rascals: PG (Guys gals go-carts) For slightly older Idds (8 and up): Only You: PG Woman pursues dream man through Italy scenic silliness one steamy kiss The Middle Ground (13-ish): The River Wild: Family rides rapids faces down evil profanity violence too much for under-IOs Quiz Show: Scandal from 1950s TV played out with style brains For thoughtful kids Rs In October: Wes New Nightmare: back too scary for kids younger than 13 and some older profanity graphic violence Older teen-agers Pulp Fiction: Hit men druggies crooks brilliant funny writing acting mega-profanity violence Mature teen-agers Exit to Eden: Chasing a diamond thief to a resort for sadomasochlsts No one under voting age Ed Wood: Flhe flick about 1950s schlockmeiSter profanity drug use Sarita Khjuria is comforted by Mo Sesay in "Bhaji on the Beach" Absolute authenticity sells story of Asian women in England MOVIE REVIEW How it rates ers Kevin and Danny an arrogant former football hero and a nebbishy loser They play out their feud coaching rival junior football teams to see which squad macho 10-year-olds or unathletic misfits will represent the town in a tournament daughter Becky (Shawna Waldron) the star of his team possesses the football talent he lacked but she nearly quits and becomes a cheerleader to impress a boy Ten-year-old girls need pep talks pdit poop-outs A little crude language andonein- on the a comedy and drama is unrated and contains adult language and mild violence Running time is 1 hour 43 minutes 'Bhqji on the makes the most of story and character By ROBERT WBUTLER Movie Editor Being of Asiap descent in contemporary England is no bed of roses Skinheads paint swastikas on mirtority-owned storefronts young toughs hurl lewd comments and the odd beer bottle and even usually placid Brits get steamed at overt displays of Tabloid newspapers carry headlines such as "They curried my If a minority and a woman got double trouble since in addition to the inhospitable natives you must deal with menfolk who embrace old-country chauvinism enforced with a heavy hand Gurinder upbeat on the takes us on a day trip to the Blackpool seashore (the British equivalent of Coney Island) with a busload of East Indian women who desperately need a day out These women cover three generations from boy-crazy teenagers in blue jeans been so thoroughly Anglicized they can curse like Royal Marines) to and unrelentingly traditionalist advice Driving the bus is Simi (Shaheen Khan) a feminist overflowing with the true enthusiasm for the cause At least two young women hope the brief vacation will offer a respite from intolerable situations The med-schpol-bpund Hashida (Santa Khajuria) has just learned pregnant Worse her Boyfriend whom managed to kep hidden for a year is a black Jamaican he the scandal of the Hindu community Ginder (Kim Vithana) is deal-' ing with an equally thorny problem A few weeks earlier she took her young son and fled her husband and his suffocating family been hiding in a shelter this trip is her first taste of freedom in years But both boyfriend (Mo Sesay) and desperate husband (Jimmi Harkishin are motoring to Blackpool in pursuit the latter accompanied by his thuggish brother (Tan veer Ghani) who thinks nothing of slapping around a few women to find the whereabouts of his truant sister-in-law In the course of their day at the beach heroines will undergo a series of funny and sobering misadventures These range transvestism Older-' -H'-V- The Specialist: Stallone Stone groan profanity violence nudity sexual situations Older teen-agers The Shawshank Redemption: Inspiring prison drama brutality implied rapes Mature teen-agers Jason's Lyric: Inner-city love story ruined by violence graphic sex profanity Older teen-agers Timecop: Sci-fi bone crusher profanity implied rapeassault nudity sexual situations Older teen-agers to 3 club populated by male strippers One middle-aged woman (Lali-ta Ahmed) is pursued by a straw-hatted ham actor (Peter Cellier) who evidently makes a career of charming ladies of Asian extraction Hashida will pay a visit to an abortion clinic Intergenerational fighting will break out The great strength of film debut the first Asian woman to direct a feature in Britain) is its absolute authenticity Her depiction of Asian-English life captures in telling detail the dislocations of people trapped between two cultures The characters she has created come to life effortlessly but with a remarkable degree of depth The performances are refreshingly natural and unforced And when finally these women suspend their infighting to rally against a common foe on the delivers a satisfying emotional punch iaasi I PA for kids: If ever been the test one picked for a team or not picked at all appreciate the niessage of this movie: Everyone deserves a chance no one is a loser and sports are for fun New Especially unsuited to kids under 1 3 because it deals frighteningly (and from an adult perspective) with nightmares this latest Freddy Krueger rampage is cleverly conceivfB as a movie-within-a-movie The razor-fingered devil (Robert Englund) breaks into the world to stalk actors who starred in his earlier Nightmare on Elm Street" films (1984-present all Most at risk are Heather Langenkamp (as herself) who played Nancy in I and III and her young 1 (See NIGHTMARE G-7 Col 3 grandmotherly who still Lli.