Two thought-provoking movies to welcome February

Two different DVDs, both carrying important messages about making a positive difference in others’ lives, make up a great entertainment duo for the first weekend in February.

In Plain Sight is an inspiring documentary featuring the work of six female abolitionists as they fight sex trafficking in the United States. Journeying to six U.S. cities, the film, narrated by Natalie Grant, opens the viewer’s eyes to what’s happening down the street “in plain sight.”

Word Entertainment presents the important 86-minute documentary that shows sex trafficking is happening in your state, not just around the world. It’s probably happening in your city. In Plain Sight will help you understand what is happening, why it’s happening, and what you can do to make a positive difference. It’s a moving, informative, and necessary film.

In a very different movie, but one that still carries a message, a cynical weatherman played by Bill Murray finds himself waking up each morning having to relive the same day. Groundhog Day is a laugh-out-loud, modern-day parable with an intelligent script that’s not only full of fun, but also has pathos and effective character development. There’s not one profane word in the whole production, which was rare when the film came out in 1993, let alone today.

TV weatherman Phil Connors finally accepts his fate of waking to the same day and decides to find out as much as he can about his producer, played by Andie MacDowell, so he can fool her the next day into thinking he is the man of her dreams.

Groundhog Day is rated PG for some surreal violence and two implied sexual situations, but the hero learns life lessons, including the fact that promiscuous sex does not lead to happiness. The content is more bawdy than crude, and eventually Murray’s character learns how to become a better man.

Listen to Phil Boatwright’s DVD recommendations on The World and Everything in It.