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Far From Heaven | 2002 | PG-13 | - 4.4.5

Drama set in the Connecticut suburbia in 1957. Julianne Moore stars as a homemaker, wife and mother, leading a comfortable, well-ordered life, and primarily concerned with carefully-ordered family etiquette and social events. Her life changes drastically when her husband (Dennis Quaid) reveals he's gay. Also with Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson and Viola Davis. [1:46]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A man and woman kiss passionately and lie back on a sofa (we hear the man moaning), and a man and woman hug and kiss. Two men are shown kissing and caressing each other. A man and a young man look at each other suggestively; the young man follows the man to his hotel room, opens his robe and touches his chest and abdomen suggestively while the man watches with interest. Men and women kiss at a New Year's Eve party. A young man and woman kiss. A young man and woman hold each other and kiss while leaning against a car. A woman kisses a man on the cheek a couple of times, and a man kisses a woman's hand. A man and woman dance close together. A man and a young man are shown in a hotel room together; the young man is reclining on the bed. Women talk about how many times their husbands "want it." There are discussions about a man having "problems" and his seeking treatment for a "heterosexual conversion." Women are shown in evening gowns that expose bare shoulders, backs and cleavage.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - Three white boys tease and chase an African-American girl and throw stones at her; she falls back onto the ground unconscious after one stone hits her in the head and we see a bloody gash. A man hits his wife in the face and we see a large gash on her forehead the next day. A man yells at his wife, a husband and wife yell at each other. An African-American man touches a white woman's arm and another man across the street yells at him and tells him to leave her alone. A man talks about his father's death and his wife having died. We hear about electroshock treatments. People look at a white woman talking to an African-American man with disdain. A woman cries hysterically and uncontrollably. Children are frightened when they see their father cry.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 2 religious profanities, 11 religious exclamations, 1 mild obscenities, 4 derogatory terms for African-Americans.

SUBSTANCE USE - People smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol. People are shown drunk in a few scenes and there is a discussion about a man having been intoxicated when he was arrested.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Racism, homosexuality, liberalism, integration, NAACP, love, divorce.

MESSAGE - Sometimes things are not as they appear to be, and what we really want is not within our reach.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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