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.
Three high school seniors, one of whom is vying for the
honor of Valedictorian, hold a bitter teacher hostage after she threatens to expel them
over a misunderstanding. With Katie Holmes, Marisa Coughlan, Barry Watson, Helen Mirren,
Michael McKean, Jeffrey Tambor, Vivica A. Fox, Molly Ringwald, Liz Stauber, Lesley Ann
Warren and John Patrick White. [1:35]
SEX/NUDITY 4 - Some sexual innuendo (including a reference to group sex and
a reference to spanking) and a couple of kisses. A girl takes off her shirt (her bra is
visible), rips open a boy's shirt and kisses him passionately while lying on top of
him; we then see them post-coitus, nude but covered with a blanket (his bare chest is
visible). A blindfolded man embraces a boy -- whom he thinks is a woman -- and kisses his
hand and mouth, then passes out. A man nestles against a woman's cleavage and we see
a few girls wearing cleavage-revealing tops.
VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - Several scenes of threatening with a crossbow; also,
someone is almost shot in the head with an arrow (it pierces a book the person is holding
up), someone is grazed in the head with an arrow (the person is knocked unconscious and
gets a small bloody facial cut) and someone appears to be shot in the stomach with an
arrow but is not injured. A punch and a slap; a person is grabbed and choked. Two people
scuffle, chase, choke and throw each other against walls (they both get bloody cuts on
their faces). Someone is knocked down a staircase but isn't injured; also, an
unconscious person's head "thuds" against a wall as the person is being
carried up a staircase. Throughout most of the movie, a woman is tied to a bed and gagged;
also, we briefly see another person tied to a bed.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 5 - An F-word, some anatomical references, many scatological
references, a couple of mild obscenities, some insults and some name-calling. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Unprofessional teachers, hostage situations, teen drinking,
teen sexuality, love triangles, college scholarships, infidelity, deception.
MESSAGE - The end justifies the means; everyone gets what he or she
deserves.
NOTE: Critics were shown a different final scene than what moviegoers will see; we
do not know, and we won't know until the film opens and we have the opportunity to
screen it again, whether the scene shown in theaters contains any sex, nudity, violence,
gore or profanity.
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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