USCCB - (Film and Broadcasting) - Ten Best List for the Year 1993

Ten Best List for the Year 1993

The Age of Innocence -- Screen version of the Edith Wharton novel about a wealthy young lawyer (Daniel Day_Lewis) torn between his sweet, socially acceptable fiancee (Winona Ryder) and her independent_minded cousin (Michelle Pfeiffer) who has left her faithless husband behind in Europe to face the chilly embrace of New York's disapproving elite in the 1870s. Director Martin Scorcese's visually opulent work skewers the shallow pretenses of high society while delicately exploring the emotions simmering beneath the fragile facades of the three protagonists. Mild sexual references. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1993
Cool Runnings -- Coached by a disgraced former Olympian (John Candy), four feisty Jamaicans (Leon, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba and Rawle D. Lewis), who have never even seen snow, arrive in Calgary, Canada, in hopes of representing their country in the 1988 Winter Olympics by qualifying as a bobsled team. Jon Turteltaub directs a high-spirited, loosely fact-based underdog story that never loses its sense of good, clean fun as the foursome practice on junkyard parts under a tropical sun, ignoring ridicule and impossible odds. Fleeting violence. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1993
The Fugitive -- Having escaped while being transported to prison, a Chicago surgeon (Harrison Ford) convicted of murdering his wife must evade the ever-tightening net of a relentless U.S. Marshall (Tommy Lee Jones) while desperately tracking down the one-armed man (Andreas Katsulas) who actually killed her. Director Andrew Davis knits together a strong narrative, crackerjack performances and taut editing for a fine thriller not dependent on constant, glorified violence for mounting suspense. Brief, sporadic violence. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG-13) 1993
The Joy Luck Club -- A San Francisco bon voyage party becomes the occasion for four immigrant Chinese mothers (France Nuyen, Lisa Lu, Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin) to reflect on their past lives and present prickly relationships with their Americanized daughters (Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita, Ming-Na Wen). Wayne Wang directs the adaptation of Amy Tang's novel with considerable sensitivity, insightfully exploring the love and pain that go into nurturing mother-daughter bonds complicated by each having grown up in vastly different cultures. Brief violence including a suicide, a restrained sexual encounter, much sexual innuendo and minimal rough language. A-III-adults (R) 1993
Mrs. Doubtfire -- Limited by court order to seeing his three children only once a week, a resourceful father (Robin Williams), disguises himself as a matronly British housekeeper, gets hired by his estranged wife (Sally Field), then tries to dissuade her from romance with a wealthy former beau (Pierce Brosnan). Directed by Chris Columbus, the sweet but one-joke comedy is carried by Williams who manages to make the zany situation both hilarious and heartfelt. Frequent though mild sexual innuendo. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG-13) 1993
The Pelican Brief -- With her life in grave danger after figuring out who was behind the assassination of two Supreme Court justices, a New Orleans law student (Julia Roberts) turns to a investigative reporter (Denzel Washington) to get her incriminating brief in print. Abetted by exceptional performances from a fine supporting cast, director Alan J. Pakula's spiky thriller maintains suspense despite a convoluted plot. Some restrained violence and an instance of rough language. A-III-adults (PG-13) 1993
The Remains of the Day -- Having utterly sacrificed his personal life in the service of an English lord (James Fox) who ended up as a disgraced Nazi sympathizer, an aging English butler (Anthony Hopkins) journeys to the West of England in 1958, hoping to rehire and possibly risk romance with the spirited housekeeper (Emma Thompson) whose love he dutifully spurned decades earlier. James Ivory meticulously directs a splendid portrait of personal tragedy as a selfless man sadly comes to realize in his unquestioned devotion to his master he has missed out on the all the best things in life. A few emotional confrontations. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1993
Rudy -- Earnestly portrayed true story of Daniel Ruettiger, (Sean Astin), a youth so determined to play football for Notre Dame in the '70s he overcame his slight physical stature, mediocre athletic ability, poor grades and lack of emotional or financial support from his family to gain admission to the university and wear the uniform of the Fighting Irish. David Anspaugh's narrowly focused direction results in an inspirational but overly sentimental story in which one can admire the young man's bulldog tenacity yet find the movie rather humorless. Numerous football field skirmishes. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1993
Schindler's List -- Sobering account of an opportunistic German businesssman (Liam Neeson) out to make his fortune by exploiting Jewish labor in occupied Poland but the increasing barbarism of Nazi racial policies and the sadistic perversions of the local commandant (Ralph Fiennes) cause him to risk his life trying to save the Jews in his employ. Director Steven Spielberg restages this Holocaust story on an epic scale that gives horrifying dimension to one man's attempt to save some innocent lives, though providing little insight in the German's moral transformation or the individual lives of his Jewish workers. Realistically graphic treatment of an infamous historical period and its crimes against humanity, a few discreet sexual scenes and occasional rough language. A-III-adults (R) 1993
Shadowlands -- Fact-based story of Anglican writer and Oxford don C.S. Lewis (Anthony Hopkins) whose scholarly seclusion is unsettled late in life by one of his readers, a divorced American writer (Debra Winger) who stirs the lifelong bachelor to discover the friendship of a woman, then the emotional fulfillment of marriage and finally the pain of loss when she dies of cancer. Director Richard Attenborough's 1950's period piece explores the gradual transformation of a withdrawn intellectual by a woman whose death plunges him into dark despair which challenges the consolation of his Christian faith. The tragic ending to this romantic story raises questions of life's true meaning. A-II-adults and adolescents (PG) 1993