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 modern update of "Cyrano de Bergerac" in which
two high school students (Shane West and James Franco) help each other land the girls of
their dreams (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe and Marla Sokoloff). Also with Christine Lakin, Aaron
Paul, Colin Hanks, Vanessa Lee Evigan, Manu Intiraymi, Rachel Kaber, Eric Kushnick, Shyla
Marlin, Mami Nakamura, Kip Pardue, Kevin Ruf, Richard Schiff, Julia Sweeney, Nicole
Tarantini and Scott Vickaryous. [1:32]
SEX/NUDITY 5 - Many instances of sexual innuendo (including a reference to
menage-a trois, though nothing is too graphic) and several kisses, sometimes passionate
(in one scene we see a few couples kissing in the background of a party scene). A girl
takes off her robe, lies on top of a boy and kisses him passionately in a bed (only her
bare shoulders are visible); the girl implies that she'd like to have intercourse but they
don't. A girl ties a boy wearing tiny underwear to a bed and rubs oil on his chest;
in a later scene, we see lots of girls writing on his body with lipstick. A girl throws a
boy on a bed, kisses him passionately and rips open his shirt, but nothing else happens.
We see a boy enter a dark hotel room where a girl is presumably waiting in bed; in a later
scene we see him leaving the room with red marks on his neck. A girl rubs a boy's clothed
thigh with her foot and also sucks his finger suggestively. A school nurse begins a talk
about safe sex and it appears that she'll be demonstrating how to put on a prophylactic
using a very large phallus (in a later scene we briefly see a boy leaning on the phallus).
A few boys look at a partially downloaded pornographic picture on a monitor (we only see
the woman's face, shoulders and cleavage) and also watch a pornographic movie (we briefly
see three scantily clad women). We briefly see a girl's bare back as she removes her towel
and steps into a shower, then we see her face and arms as she showers (a boy watches her
do this); also, a boy wearing a towel opens a shower door while a girl is inside (she
tells him to get out; only her cleavage is visible). We see a couple of boys' bare
buttocks when they "moon" some girls, a boy wearing boxers, a shirtless boy
showering, a girl in a bra and a boy wearing boxers in a hotel hallway, a girl's
panty-clad buttocks when she removes her skirt in front of a boy, many girls wearing
cleavage- and midriff-revealing shirts, a few girls wearing bikinis, some girls wearing
towels in a locker room (a boy is spying on them), a girl in a see-through dress (she
looks like she's wearing a bikini underneath) and a few photos of scantily clad women (one
is enlarged and printed on a boy's dresser). We see some bras and panties hanging from
lights in a hotel hallway.
VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - Mostly played for laughs. A boy is clothes-lined and
tackled by many people during a football game, a boy is pushed to the ground and
handcuffed, a little boy is knocked down by a large stuffed animal, a girl accidentally
kicks a boy's crotch and a boy falls off his skateboard. In a few scenes a man nearly hits
a boy while pitching a baseball to him; in one scene the boy is hit in the head (he's
wearing a helmet, but still falls to the ground) and in another the boy hits the ball into
the man's crotch. A couple of times boys light small firecrackers near girls; in one scene
the girls slap the boys' arms and in another scene the girls' clothes are burned. A gym
floor opens and people fall or are pushed into the pool below. A woman passes gas audibly
and a man holds up a full bed pan (we hear some sloshing noises). A girl vomits on a boy
(we see it all over his neck and shirt).
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 5 - Many anatomical references and slang terms, many scatological
references, many mild obscenities, some insults and many instances of name-calling. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Crushes, teen sexuality, teen drinking, popularity,
deception, honesty.
MESSAGE - Deception can't be the basis of a meaningful relationship. Your
fantasy might not live up to your expectations.
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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