FRIENDS WITH KIDS R Oh, sure: Try a little something unique instead of following tradition and watch your buddies and best friends regard you as wackos. Take Jason and Julie, who are friends to the end. They want a kid together. However, in the absence of “real love” for one another, they don’t want to be married to each other. They speculate that this normal omission avoids the unpleasantness associated with marriage, divorce, etc., in front of the kids. But, like all trailblazers, they discover it is probably back to the drawing board in this delightful adult comedy starring and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt. (Robert Richard Jorge)

JOHN CARTER PG-13 John Carter is based on the first of the Barsoom series written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, an author better known for creating Tarzan. The titular protagonist (Taylor Kitsch) is a burned-out Civil War vet kidnapped and dropped onto wartorn Mars. In Mars’ lower gravity Carter exhibits superhuman strength that endears him to 10-foot-tall, six-limbed warriors known as the Tharks. Carter willingly fights alongside his new tribe, but has a change of heart when they capture humanoid Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), who longs to return to her people. This is the first live-action flick from Pixar’s Andrew Stanton. The film’s $250 million budget pays off in awesome special effects and motion-capture performances. (Lisa Miller)

A THOUSAND WORDS PG-13

Eddie Murphy plays fast-talking Jack Mc- Call, a literary agent who uses trickery and exaggeration to close deals. Chasing selfish purposes yet again, McCall sets his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis). However, the guru is onto the silver-tongued agent. Sinja makes a magical Bodhi tree appear in McCall’s backyard; with each word Jack speaks, the tree loses a leaf, until only a thousand remain, making the tree’s—and McCall’s—life precarious. Realizing their fates are irrevocably intertwined, McCall’s got to stop talking and start walking in this fitting metaphor for Murphy’s dwindling career. (L.M.)