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.
Robert De Niro plays a homophobic retired security guard who
takes singing lessons from a drag queen (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
after suffering a serious stroke. Also with Barry Miller, Wanda De
Jesus, Skipp Sudduth, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wilson Jermaine Heredia,
Nashom Benjamin, Christopher Bauer and Scott Cooper. [1:51]
SEX/NUDITY 5 - Lots of graphic sexual innuendo and
talk, including references to fellatio and prostitution. Two
obviously post-coitus scenes: in one, we see a woman in bed and in
the other we see a man and woman in bed (no nudity is visible). We
see dancers in cleavage-revealing tops, a scantily clad woman in a
phone-sex commercial and a cake in the shape of a woman's breasts.
VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - Gunfire is exchanged in one scene;
two people are killed but we don't see them being shot. A man is
shot in the shoulder (we later see the wound covered with a
slightly bloody bandage) and a man is stabbed in the leg and then
shot (he dies). A man pierces another's foot with a high heel and
later stabs him in the head with it (it's implied that the man is
killed). A man collapses during a shoot-out; we think he's been
shot but later learn he's had a stroke. Men kill a pet bird, some
men repeatedly punch and kick a man, a man is restrained by
several others and repeatedly punched in the stomach and a man is
punched in the nose (it gets slightly bloody). A man slams
another's head into the floor, a woman kicks a man, a man drops a
flower pot on another's head, two men fall down a staircase while
scuffling and a man knocks another down some steps with a
wheelchair. Several men chase a woman and hold her against a wall
and two groups of men scuffle. Many instances of threatening with
guns and a few people are nearly shot; also, a man holds a gun to
his own head.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 10 - More than 150 F-words, lots of
anatomical references, lots of scatological references, several
mild obscenities, lots of insults and name-calling. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Stroke victims, drag queens, homophobia,
homosexuality, intolerance and tolerance, drug dealers, drug use,
prostitution, infidelity, murder, abuse, suicidal thoughts.
MESSAGE - Everyone deserves a second chance; we often
fear and even hate what we don't know or don't understand.
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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