Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
Film version of the Broadway musical, set in the roaring 20's, about an aspiring Chicago chorus girl (Renée
Zellweger) who shoots her deceitful lover. She ends up in jail, where she meets another chorus girl and fellow murderer (Catherine
Zeta-Jones) and her media savvy attorney (Richard Gere) who's willing to take on her case too. Soon the two chorus girls are competing to
see who will be the most famous murderer in town. Also with Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, Queen Latifah and Lucy Liu. [1:52]
SEX/NUDITY 5 - A woman kisses a man, he grabs her bare thigh, pushes her back onto a bed, removes her stockings, removes his
own clothes, and we see his bare buttocks briefly as he thrusts on top of her while moaning. We see a man in bed with two women (they are
in their underwear). A woman talks about catching her husband with another woman and we see (dancers act the scene out) a man holding a
woman upside down with her crotch at his chin. A woman talks about making love with her husband and then with another man. A man grabs a
woman's buttocks. A man takes off his clothes down to his boxers and T-shirt, then pulls off his boxers (we see him from the waist up).
Dancers backstage are in cabaret-type outfits that reveal bare legs, backs, shoulders and cleavage and there are a few scenes where women
wear dance costumes that reveal bare buttocks. A woman wears a sheer slip and we see the silhouette of her form. We watch a woman
partially undress and see her stocking tops. A woman is nude going through the induction into prison and we see her bare back to the
waist, we see a woman's bare back after she has undergone a medical examination (there is insinuation that some sexual activity has
occurred between her and the doctor). People dance in night club scenes a few times and there are many other scenes with dancing, some
incorporating seductive and suggestive gestures; a woman dances with a scarf pulling it out of her cleavage and across her crotch, a woman
climbs onto a piano, lies on it and pulls up her skirt showing her garter and stocking top. A number of women dance and sing in outfits
that reveal bare abdomens, bare shoulders and cleavage and bare thighs, women dance, and open their dresses and we see them wearing
sequined bikinis. Women waggle their bottoms in a man's face, a woman dances using a chair, two women dance on stage with hats as props
and they hold the hats over their breasts and crotches (they are clothed). A woman makes comments to a man suggesting that she will give
him sexual favors if he will help her.
VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A man shoves a woman against a wall, yells abusively at her, she pulls a gun and shoots him three times
(we see blood spots on his shirt). We watch a woman walk to the gallows for execution; we see the noose wrapped around her neck, see the
trap door fall away and see her legs dangle and swing. We hear gunshots and see a woman standing over a dead man on the street. We see a
photograph of a dead man with blood on his shirt. A man and woman yell and argue bitterly. A number of women talk (sing) about how and why
they murdered their significant others; a woman says, "...he ran into my knife 10 times," another woman talks about using poison, a woman
talks about shooting two women and a man (we see it re-enacted), and a woman talks about a violent encounter with a man. A woman kicks a
man in the crotch, a woman faints, and we hear a trickle when a man urinates.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 4 - 2 sexual references, 5 scatological terms, 6 anatomical terms, 11 mild obscenities, 6 religious profanities, 6
religious exclamations and 1 derogatory term for Irish-Americans. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Greed, fame, the legal system, infidelity, bigamy, manipulation of the press, prison, murder, pregnancy,
paternity, divorce, political aspirations, corruption.
MESSAGE - The world is a stage and everything is essentially show business.
(Note: People smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol.)
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
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