Boys Town
Recommended. Age: 6+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
The heart of this film is a priest who refuses to give up on anyone. Father Flanagan loves Whitey before Whitey deserves it, and that is simply grace with a collar on. The conversion is earned through sacrifice, not speeches. One honest reservation: the plot is mostly invented, and the film keeps its Catholicism quiet in favor of an all-faiths welcome. The man himself is drawn truly.
For parents
Good for ages eight and up; the death-row opening and a shooting are intense but brief, and a blackface gag needs a word of context. Ask: is there really no such thing as a bad boy? Talk about original sin and a nature wounded but not destroyed (CCC 405).