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.
Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) is a biochemist at corn syrup producing company ADM, who becomes a whistleblower by informing the FBI about an international price-fixing scheme. Dreaming of being hailed a hero and taking over ADM, he agrees to a phone tap, wears a wire, and carries a hidden tape recorder, but his stories to his FBI handler (Scott Bakula), his attorneys, his wife, and the media keep changing. Based on a true story. Also with Joel McHale, Mike O'Malley, Melanie Lynskey, Thomas F. Wilson and Andrew Daly. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. [1:50]
SEX/NUDITY 2 - A husband hugs his wife twice, and kisses her once. A woman takes a tissue out of her bra in front of her boss to blow her nose (the bra is not seen) ► A man says to himself that it is strange that businessmen in Tokyo buy little girl panties from vending machines in the airports and there must be something wrong with these men. A man thinks to himself about women's sweaters and asks himself who would want an avocado colored wool sweater in his mouth. A male FBI agent asks two male colleagues if a male informant has a woman other than his wife and a child in some town on his business route. A businessman tells male colleagues that a female secretary will ruin her breasts if she becomes pregnant. ► A woman wears a short skirt. In a swimming pool scene a few women are seen in one-piece bathing suits.
the review continues below...
VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - Throughout the film, a man with a mild facial tic holds a continuing inner dialogue that may seem mildly macabre, but not accompanied by any images: He says a colleague has blotchy skin and this may signify that the man will die of a stroke; he remembers that he saved the life of a man who was choking in a restaurant by getting the man to throw himself over the back of a chair and cough up a bone; he says you can get a tumor; and he recalls a farmer taking a gun out of his truck and killing an injured horse. ► Armed guards stand around the perimeter of a room. ► A man rips his own jacket sleeve, musses his hair and pretends to limp as he rushes into his home yelling, "They kidnapped me!" and later the man is seen on a talk show talking about men hired by his company kidnapping him. A man lies about an FBI agent hitting him with a briefcase. In a business meeting, an American tells a Japanese man, "We'll just hire some Mafia figure to rub you out. That's a little levity, of course." A woman tells two male FBI agents that her family is receiving threatening calls; they reply that they cannot help her. A man and a woman in separate interviews tell a psychiatrist that the FBI has beaten up the man. A doctor asks a man if anyone in his family was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. ► Over a hundred black ants swarm over a small red piece of candy on a city sidewalk in a brief shot.
PROFANITY 5 - 9 F-words, 14 scatological references, 6 anatomical references, 6 mild obscenities, name-calling (cretin, white guy, good guys, bad guys, white hat, black hat, white knight, mafia thugs, thugs, price fixers, mousie, dodohead, brain-washed, crackpot, forces of darkness, paranoid, men in suits, master puppeteer), 19 stereotypical comments about the Japanese, Nigerians, Koreans, Mexicans, French, Swedes, Germans and women, 3 religious profanities, 3 religious exclamations. [profanity glossary]
SUBSTANCE USE - A man asks if someone has "something up his nose" suggesting cocaine use and two other men say that the man does not use drugs. A man takes a sip from a glass of whiskey, a man holds a glass of whiskey, three men stand in a parking lot and drink beer, two men on a plane receive a glass of whiskey and a bottle of beer and both sip briefly, a man drinks twice form a tall glass of alcohol, at a business dinner, several men raise martini glasses, three men eat pizza and drink beer.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Business ethics, price-fixing, tampering with food supplies, crime and consequences, severe mental disorders, delusions, lying, unhealthy foods, child adoption.
MESSAGE - Crime really doesn't pay, no matter how smart you are.
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.
Become a member: You can subscribe
for as little as $1 per month and gain access to our premium site,
which contains no ads whatsoever. Think about it: You'll be
helping support our site and guarantee that we will continue to
publish, and you will be able to browse without any commercial
interruptions.
2.
Tell all your friends:
Please recommend kids-in-mind.com to
your friends and acquaintances; you'll be helping them by
letting them know how useful our site is, while helping us by
increasing our readership. Since we do not advertise, the best
and most reliable way to spread the word is by word-of-mouth.
3.
Alert local & national media:
Let major media know why you trust our ratings.
Call or e-mail a local newspaper, radio station or TV channel
and encourage them to do a story about our site. Since we do not have a PR firm working for us, you can
be our media ambassadors.
"This is an excellent resource for
families. Merits two thumbs up...[Finally] movie ratings that actually
work"