Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence as two guys serving life on Mississippi prison farm in often amusing tale with dab of social history. Keanu Reeves as computer hacker freeing mankind from controlling super computers in neat mix of cyber punk, martial arts, mythology, sci-fi. This buttoned-up English drama will bore the backpacks off most preteens, and even many older kids. I who risk everything to defend the son they think has been unfairly expelled from school. Nigel Hawthorne and Jeremy Northam shine as the boy's father and his lawyer, but other characters remain frustratingly poker-faced.
Characters occasionally smoke and drink.
The 1948 film version has more heart. The World War II-era fable will fly over the heads of many preteens and teens, but it offers the receptive among them tasty bits of art and softened history. The script contains profanity, and one character drinks, smokes and has liaisons with men. There is mild sexual innuendo and a hint of male nudity. The rating reflects brief semi-nudity, mild sexual situations and scatological humor.