Leading Ladies: August 2005

Valiant

Stars: Ewan McGregor, John Cleese, Tim Curry, Rupert Everett
Director: Gary Chapman
Rating: G

And the drought of great family flicks this summer continues, as the critics don't care for the not very kid-friendly story line or the odd bird drawings in this animated story of a spunky little pigeon (McGregor) who wants to join the elite Royal Homing Pigeon Service and serve his country during World War II.

L.A. Weekly's Ella Taylor says: "Unless your child has a close working knowledge of the role of homing pigeons in World War II British espionage, he or she is likely to be bamboozled for the duration."

The Los Angeles Times's Carina Chocano says the movie is "an unconscionably dreary and amateurish-looking thing, and the rote plot and annoyingly predictable script ‑- a compendium of bird puns, mostly ‑- don't work nearly hard enough to make up for the hammy awfulness of the images."

And the New York Daily News's Jami Bernard says: "Stick to the genuinely delightful Chicken Run ‑- this one's for the birds."

Female consensus: An obscure WWII history lesson in a kids' movie = a bird-brained idea

next : The Cave