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.
Two 17-year-old young men from different
social and economic spheres share a passion for re-enacting battle
scenes from World War II. Through this connection they befriend each
other and they mount their own commando raid against a bully.
Meantime, one falls in love with the other's older sister. The film
is the second winner of the Project Greenlight screenwriting
contest. With Shia LaBeouf, Anson Mount, Shiri Appleby, Elden Henson
and Kathleen Quinlan. Directed by Efram Potelle and Kyle Rankin. [1:20]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - A man and a woman kiss, and a young man
and a woman kiss (she's a few years older). A young woman kisses a
young man on the cheek and they hold hands. A young man talks with
an older woman about flowers being sensual. A young woman wears a
low-cut top that reveals cleavage.
VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - During a battle re-enactment there
are explosions on a battlefield, men are thrown through the air, a
man is shot in the chest, a man is held with a knife to his throat,
a man is held at gunpoint and a man is threatened. Armed people walk
through a street, break into a house, grab a young man, hold him at
gunpoint and the young man urinates on himself (we see a puddle). A
young man punches another young man hard in the face and he falls
flat on the ground. Two young men struggle while driving a jeep, it
swerves through a crowd of people and crashes into a table full of
food. A young man shoves another young man to the ground, gets on
top of him and threatens him. A young man trips another young man
who falls on steps and hits his forehead (we see a bruise later). A
young man throws cans of cat food at a young woman while describing
the Battle of the Bulge from WWII. A young man is hit by food thrown
by people in a passing car. A young man makes a remark about another
young man "torturing puppies." A young man challenges his teacher
about the reality of history and we hear about draft riots. We hear
that a man is in the hospital and is very ill.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 5 - 1 F-word, 1 obscene hand gesture, 2
sexual references, 7 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 16 mild
obscenities, 2 religious profanities, 1 religious exclamation. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Fitting in, adolescence, drug and
alcohol abuse, friendship, collecting, war, revenge, bullies,
lesbians, invention, empathy, growing up, anger, marriage,
infidelity, fantasy vs. reality, consequences, forgiveness,
bitterness, disappointment.
MESSAGE - Everybody makes mistakes, but it's what you
do afterward that counts.
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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