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Whatever It Takes | 2000 | PG-13 | - 5.2.5

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).

LANGUAGE 5 - Many anatomical references and slang terms, many scatological references, many mild obscenities, some insults and many instances of name-calling.

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.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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