Piglet's Big Movie (2003)

The Many Adventures of Winnie Tgltfs the Pooh, the first feature-length Disney Winnie -the-Pooh cartoon, Ic^flyi^ was actually a compilation of earlier animated shorts, all based on episodes of A. A. Milne's classic stories (such as the stories of the honey tree and the blustery day). Subsequent Disney Pooh outings, however, had original stories not based on Milne's work. These lacked the author's special wit and charm.

With Piglet's Big Movie, Pooh finally returns to his roots, bringing three of Milne's original tales to the screen for the first time in an anthology-style story. Framed as a series of flashbacks in a story with Pooh and his friends searching for the missing Piglet, the movie recalls the tales of Christopher Robin's expedition to the North Pole, the house at Pooh Corner, and the arrival of Kanga and Roo in the Hundred Acre Wood. Running through all three episodes as well as the framing story is the film's unifying theme: little Piglet's big heart and heroism.

With some of the author's original verse set to pleasant music by Carly Simon, Piglet's Big Movie is a heartwarmingly gentle tribute to Milne that's appropriate for even the youngest viewers. (One caveat: The end credits feature live footage of Simon singing one of the film's songs; this music-video closing seems inappropriate for the target audience.)

Content advisory:Nothing problematic.

One Man's Hero (1999)

“One man's hero is another man's traitor,” says John Riley (Tom Berenger). To many Catholics, especially in Mexico and Ireland, Riley and his fellow San Patricios — Irish soldiers who deserted the U.S. Army and then fought against it in the U.S.-Mexican War — are heroes. To many Americans, they are traitors.

Who is right? The issues are complex, and historians and faithful Catholics disagree. One Man's Hero is sympathetic to the St. Pats and critical of American Manifest Destiny expansionism and anti-Catholicism.

The film depicts Irish soldiers — many signed up right off the boats from famine-stricken Ireland

— as second-class citizens in the U.S. Army. They are harassed for such offenses as wanting to go to Mass. It shows the connection they felt with Mexico, a Catholic country that, much like Ireland, they saw encroached upon by a Protestant neighbor with British roots.

One Man's Hero is most worth seeing for its remarkably positive depiction of Catholic piety and sobering reminder of a shameful hour in America's past. Unfortunately, it suffers from heavy-handed dialogue and characterizations — and overzealous attempts to find rationales for the protagonists’ actions, down to the cliché that soldiers fight not for a flag or country but for each other. An earnest, flawed film for thoughtful, critical viewing.

Content advisory: Wartime violence and mayhem; execution and brief torture; some crass language and brief profanity.

Lilies of the Field (1963)

Sidney Poitier won an Oscar as Homer Smith, a cheerful, itinerant Baptist handyman who has a chance encounter with a community of ‘ German-Catholic nuns led by stern, iron-willed Mother Maria (Lilia Skala). Mother Maria quickly sizes up this capable man God has sent her way and decides to find something for him to do. How much, and how much she can pay, is unclear — as is the extent to which she is hindered by the language barrier or is hiding behind it.

Tolerant ecumenical respect characterizes the relationship between Smith and the sisters. He gives them English lessons and, in a joyous sequence, leads them in a united proclamation of the Gospel in song, teaching them the Baptist spiritual “Amen,” which narrates the life of Christ. In return, Smith suggests that the sisters might teach him the Tantum ergo, but, alas, the movie doesn't follow up on this.

But Smith does have something to gain from the encounter. The sisters’ austerity isn't for him: “Is that a Catholic breakfast?” he asks dubiously when offered a single fried egg and shows, in a great sight gag, how a Baptist eats a Catholic breakfast. But when Mother Maria's full vision is laid before him, Smith is challenged to confront his doubts and misgivings. Later, there are more subtle lessons about pride.

Content advisory: Nothing problematic.