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.
Based on the true story of a racially divided Virginia town
and school in 1971 that comes together when Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) is appointed
head football coach and leads the team to victory. Also with Will Patton, Donald Adeosun
Faison, Preston Brant, Rice Brett, Neal Ghant, Ryan Gosling, Stuart Greer, Wood Harris,
Ryan Hurst, David Jefferson, Burgess Jenkins, Craig Kirkwood, Hayden Panettiere, Kip
Pardue, Nicole Ari Parker, Earl Poitier, Brett Rice, Ethan Suplee, John Michael Weatherly
and Gregory Alan Williams. [1:53]
SEX/NUDITY 1 - A couple of chaste kisses; in one scene a boy kisses another,
resulting in scuffling (see Violence/Gore for more details). We see some shirtless boys
with towels wrapped around their waists during two locker room scenes.
VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A truck runs into the side of a car; we later see the
seriously but not fatally injured driver of the car in a hospital bed with a bruised face
and a bloody forehead bandage. During several football games and practices, we see lots of
players tackled, flipped and thrown to the ground, usually with a loud thud; after one
tackle, an injured player lies on the ground (we learn his wrist has been broken). Two
briefly shown "group brawls" with lots of people shoving and scuffling; one
brawl happens after a boy is thrown against a locker by several others, and the other
occurs after two boys punch each other's faces (afterwards, we see a boy with a bloody
nose and another with a slightly red eye). A few other instances of scuffling and people
being pushed to the ground; in one scene a scuffle occurs after a boy kisses another (one
of the boys is thrown into a table). In two scenes played for laughs, a boy purposely
throws a football at (and hits) another's back, and a girl kicks a man's leg. A crowd of
black people and a crowd of white people yell at each other while police hold both crowds
back; a TV is thrown through a window during the event. In another scene, picketers
protesting school integration yell and are held back by police officers. A man takes out a
gun (but doesn't fire it) after something is thrown through the window of his house,
causing two girls to scream. We learn someone dies; we see the casket at a graveside
funeral scene. We see a boy vomit and hear a man vomit.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 2 - An anatomical reference, a few mild obscenities, several
racial slurs and a little name-calling. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Racism (and overcoming racism), school integration,
teamwork, sacrifice, ethics (doing the right thing in a tough situation), friendship,
coaches pushing their players' physical limits.
MESSAGE - Overcoming racism requires conscious, deliberate actions and
choices; teamwork makes everything possible.
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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