The Ultimate Gift (PG, 2007)

Common Sense Media gets it all wrong, yet again. Ok, so this film has some religious overtones. But it's not all about a spoiled rich kid getting religion. The main character never becomes a Christian or even shows any signs of being religious. This is a story about a selfish immature playboy finally coming to realize what the truly important things in life are. This film celebrates hard-work, friendship, family, generosity and treats religion respectfully, but this is not a religious film. I love this movie, honestly. I've seen it close to five times now, and it still has the power to make me laugh and cry. Abigail Breslin is soooo cute as usual playing her part with wit and dramatic talent. The other performers, many of whom are not well-known, are excellent as well. This is a first-class production and doesn't suffer at all from its relatively low budget. There are a few content issues with this film, but for the most part I think parents can talk them through with their kids. There is some implied cursing (characters use screw and BS to stand in for the real curse words), an implied sexual relationship between the main character and his girlfriend (who wears fairly low-cut outfits), and some brief violence, but overall these are not glorified by the film and I think that parents can talk through these issues with their kids. Don't listen to Common Sense Media when they give this film only two stars for quality and describe it as a film where "Spoiled, vapid rich boy gets religion." There is so much more to it than that. This is a really good movie, and I highly recommend it.