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.
A young woman (Michelle Williams) and her dog become stranded in Oregon while driving to Alaska to seek a better life. Also with Will Patton, Will Oldham, John Robinson, Wally Dalton and Larry Fessenden. Directed by Kelly Reichardt. [1:20]
SEX/NUDITY 1 - A woman unbuttons and removes her shirt in a gas station bathroom in order to clean herself (we see her in a tank top, a portion of her bare stomach is seen and we see her bare legs from the front, as she steps into underwear). A woman's bare legs are seen in shorts throughout the film.
the review continues below...
VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - A man grabs a woman by the arm and the woman yells, "Let go of me!" ► A man approaches a woman as she sleeps in the woods, she opens her eyes and sees the man going through her personal belongings; she is frightened, tries not to move, and cries (her cries are muffled by a blanket), while the man yells a few expletives and leaves. A woman yells at a man as he gets into a car. ► A woman steals bread and dog food from a grocery store. A woman is taken away in a police car. A woman is fingerprinted, photographed and held in a jail cell. A woman visits an animal shelter where we see multiple dogs barking, crying and howling in cages. ► A woman enters a gas station bathroom, closes the door and begins to sob, slams her hands against the wall and cries. A man talks about destroying work equipment on a job. ► A woman is upset about her car breaking down, a woman searches for her dog in several scenes, a woman is worried and upset about her dog in several scenes and a woman cries when she leaves her dog. ► A woman sleeps on cardboard in the woods.
PROFANITY 6 - About 11 F-words, 1 religious exclamation, 2 anatomical terms. [profanity glossary]
SUBSTANCE USE - A man is seen smoking a marijuana cigarette, and a man is seen licking paper in order to roll a marijuana cigarette.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - The homeless, companionship, transients, love of a dog, young people "on the road," kindness, living in a car, compassion, dog and people relationships, shelter dogs, stealing, stealing out of necessity, seeking a better life, loneliness, desperation, nobility, fear, living without money, selflessness, being arrested, driving cross-country, self-reliance, difficult life choices, hard times.
MESSAGE - Truly loving someone means making selfless decisions.
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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