It can be tough to find good movies for kids these days. Some are age-appropriate, but not very well-written or meaningful: the intellectual equivalent of junk food. Others are very engaging, but include some content that may be scary or inappropriate for younger viewers. Then there are the ones that perpetuate stereotypes you’d rather your impressionable kids weren’t exposed to. Here are some Instant Video picks that kids will find very entertaining, and parents can be sure are teaching lessons about character, strength, and remaining true to oneself while coping with the challenges of youth.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (rated PG, $2.99 to rent, $9.99 to buy, avg review rating 4/5 stars) is one such film. In this funny and uplifting movie, newly-minted middle-schooler Greg Heffley tries everything he can think of to become one of the popular crowd. Plan after plan backfires, eventually making Greg an outcast. Greg’s astonished to find that Rowley, the awkward, definitely “uncool” best friend he’s tried to distance himself from, is doing just fine socially. Rowley may be a little immature and dorky, but he’s also kind, loyal and trustworthy, and a lot more interested in having fun than impressing anyone. When Greg lets Rowley take the fall for his own mistake, Greg realizes he may have lost the best friend he’s ever had for good—and that maybe having just one really great friend is a lot better than being part of the “in” crowd.
Ever After: A Cinderella Story (rated PG-13, $2.99 to rent, $9.99 to buy, avg review rating 5/5 stars) is a wonderful re-imagining of the classic fairy tale. In this version, Drew Barrymore stars as Danielle, the unloved and overworked stepdaughter to a scheming woman who’s determined to see her own eldest daughter married to the prince. Danielle is honest, brave, hardworking, and a lover of books, art, philosophy and nature. This is a young woman who can take care of herself, as well as those she cares about. Danielle is not at all like the original Cinderella, whose entire story seemed to boil down to getting dolled up to meet and marry a prince. In fact, when Danielle first meets the prince she finds him shallow and arrogant. In this version of the story, it is he who must win her over.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (rated PG, $9.99 to buy, avg review rating 4/5 stars)is rated PG, but this is definitely one for tweens and older, as younger children may take its over-the-top bad guy too seriously. In this surprisingly comic movie, orphaned Violet, Klaus and their baby sister Sunny must escape the wiles of their greedy uncle, Count Olaf (played by Jim Carrey), who agrees to take the children in only so he can plot to kill them and take their sizeable inheritance for himself. While the idea of an evil uncle attempting to off his own nieces and nephew for profit may sound much too dark for a film aimed at kids, because Count Olaf’s schemes are so transparent that even the children can see through them, his designs on the children aren’t any scarier than than the coyote’s designs on the roadrunner in the famous Warner Brothers cartoons. The children stick together, and work together, to comfort and protect one another, even when the adults around them seem oblivious to what’s going on. Fans of the books may complain that the film doesn’t hew too tightly to its source material, but non-purists will find plenty to like about this movie.
Nanny McPhee (rated PG, $2.99 to rent, $5.99 to buy, avg review rating 4.5/5 stars) is a big, colorful, very different take on the Mary Poppins concept of a magical caretaker coming to whip some misbehaving kids into shape. In this story, the children’s trespasses far exceed the mild naughtiness of the kids left in Mary Poppins’ care, and Nanny McPhee is no singing, spoonful of sugar dispensing young lovely. She’s actually quite ugly when she first arrives, but with each lesson the children learn from her (in all manner of hilarious ways), Nanny McPhee’s looks improve as the kids’ respect and love for her grow. The children gradually come to see that behaving properly is something they should do not because of any arbitrary rules, but because loving one another and their father means showing respect and care. They also learn that sometimes the rules imposed by adults are there to protect children, not just to frustrate them.
