THREE MEN AND A LITTLE LADY

This is a four-star family comedy with a surprisingly serious heart. It is joyful, funny, precocious, and warmly acted, especially in the relationship between Mary and the three men who have become her fathers. The movie also shows that adult themes can be handled humorously without graphic sex, nudity, or heavy profanity.

The family arrangement is complicated, and the story briefly raises concerns that it might undermine traditional families. Instead, it argues for monogamous marriage, lifelong commitment, and raising children within that commitment. The few sexual situations are handled mildly, with no bedroom scenes, nudity, or near nudity.

You can watch it with older children and adults if four obscenities, implied promiscuity, and sexual innuendo are acceptable for your family.

Five years after Mary was left on the doorstep of three bachelor roommates, she now lives with all three men in a New York brownstone. Jack is her biological father, but Mary considers Jack, Peter, and Michael her daddies.

When Mary's mother, Sylvia, receives an opportunity to perform in London, she believes their unusual family arrangement must change. A new engagement, a move overseas, and Mary's future place in the family force the three devoted fathers to decide how far they will go for the little girl they love.

Four stars means this comedy is an excellent example of its kind. It is wonderfully humorous and marvelously well-acted, with a warm emotional center built around Mary and the three men who care for her.

The movie's comedy grows naturally from the responsibilities of parenthood. One especially funny sequence involves a daddy feeding baby Mary while wearing a rain slicker and welder's helmet with a face shield. The film's emotional depth also gives its family story more weight than a simple bachelor comedy.

The film begins with a family situation that might seem likely to undermine traditional families: one child is being raised in a household shared by three men, while her mother considers marriage to another man. Yet the story ultimately argues the opposite. It presents monogamous marriage and having children with one's spouse for life as the highest social order, and it treats love as powerful enough to overcome difficult circumstances.

The movie also shows how a child's sense of belonging can be affected when her family differs from those around her. Mary considers all three men her fathers, and the three men discover that they cannot live without her. The story values devotion, responsibility, marriage, and the lifelong care of children.

That vision aligns with Scripture's design for marriage and family: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

This is a funny, tender, well-acted comedy that treats family responsibility and lifelong marriage with unusual respect. Its four obscenities, implied promiscuity, and sexual innuendo call for parental discernment, but the movie’s warmth and moral vision make it a strong choice for older children and adults. WORTH THE TRIP — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP.