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"THE FIVE SENSES"
(2000) (Mary-Louise Parker, Philippe Volter) (R)

Alcohol/
Drugs
Blood/Gore Disrespectful/
Bad Attitude
Frightening/
Tense Scenes
Guns/
Weapons
Mild None Moderate None None
Imitative
Behavior
Jump
Scenes
Music
(Scary/Tense)
Music
(Inappropriate)
Profanity
Mild None None None Heavy
Sex/
Nudity
Smoking Tense Family
Scenes
Topics To
Talk About
Violence
Extreme Minor Heavy Moderate None


QUICK TAKE:
Drama: As authorities and concerned parents search for a missing child, various characters directly and indirectly involved with that incident try to sort out their connection to others via the various five bodily senses.
PLOT:
Ruth (GABRIELLE ROSE) is a widowed, Toronto-based massage therapist who may touch strangers all day, but can't manage to connect with her 16-year-old daughter, Rachel (NADIA LITZ). Their relationship becomes even further strained when Ruth asks Rachel to watch the toddler of one of her clients, Anna Miller (MOLLY PARKER). Distracted by watching others, Rachel loses track of the little girl, setting into motion a widespread police search and news coverage.

As this transpires, Rona (MARY-LOUISE PARKER), a professional cake decorator, is facing her own personal crisis. Beyond the fact that her cakes look wonderful but taste awful, Rona is concerned about the motivation behind the arrival of Roberto (MARCO LEONARDI), her recent Italian lover who speaks little English but is a wiz in the kitchen.

Rona's friend, Robert (DANIEL MACIVOR), a professional house cleaner, doesn't help in dispelling that fear, but he has his own agenda. Believing that he can smell true love, Robert has set out to reconnect with all of his former lovers - male and female - hoping to find the one who may have the right scent. Meanwhile, Ruth's eye doctor neighbor, Richard (PHILIPPE VOLTER), has his own quest connected to a particular sense. Realizing that he's losing his hearing, Richard has set out to build a library of sounds in his head. With the help of a hooker, Gail (PASCALE BUSSIERES), however, he soon learns that there are more than the obvious ways to "hear."

As Rachel continues her voyeuristic ways with the help of Rupert (BRENDAN FLETCHER), a boy she's just met, and the search for the missing child continues, the various people who are directly and indirectly involved in that incident try to find ways to connect with each other and the outside world.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Unless they're fans of someone in the cast or of "art house" films, it's not very likely.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R
For sexuality and language.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
  • MARY-LOUISE PARKER plays a cake decorator who uses some strong profanity, and takes in and sleeps with a man she met in Italy.
  • PHILIPPE VOLTER plays an eye doctor who's losing his hearing and spends time with a hooker/escort while trying to build a library of sounds in his head.
  • GABRIELLE ROSE plays professional masseuse and widow who has a hard time connecting with her teenage daughter, but does befriend the mother of a missing child.
  • DANIEL MACIVOR plays a bisexual home cleaner who meets all of his former lovers (male and female), hoping to find one who smells like love. He briefly uses strong profanity, does some social drinking, and is seen getting out of bed where a married couple sleeps (although we don't know the extent of their sexual activity, if any).
  • NADIA LITZ plays a surly/disillusioned teenager who doesn't get along with her mother and whose voyeuristic tendencies make her lose track of a toddler she's supposed to be watching.
  • MOLLY PARKER plays the worried mother of that missing child who briefly lashes out at Ruth because of it.
  • PASCALE BUSSIERES plays a hooker who befriends and helps Richard.
  • MARCO LEONARDI plays an Italian man who arrives in Toronto to stay with Rona while looking for a job. He has sex with her when not cooking up a storm in the kitchen.
  • BRENDAN FLETCHER plays another voyeur who befriends Rachel.
  • CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

    HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE


    Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
    Then read OUR TAKE of this film.


    (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).


    OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
    The following is a brief look at the content found in this R-rated drama. The "Sex/Nudity" category receives an extreme rating due to several sexual encounters (that show movement, some nudity and related sounds, and one that implies a sexual threesome) as well as brief, female full frontal nudity. Sexually related dialogue (some of it briefly graphic) also occurs.

    Profanity is rated as heavy due to at least 4 uses of the "f' word, while a handful of other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Some bad attitudes are present, as are some tense family moments related to a missing toddler and a mother/teenage daughter relationship that's strained at best. Several characters drink and a few bits of imitative behavior are present.

    Should you still be concerned about the film's content and its appropriateness for anyone in your home who wishes to see it, you may want to take a closer look at our detailed content listings.


    ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE
  • Robert mentions finding some amphetamines in a client's house.
  • Robert has wine while one of his past lovers has a drink (while others in the background of this restaurant also drink). Later, this is repeated with other lovers who have beer, etc.
  • Rachel jokes with Rupert that she had to get a job to support her mother's drug habit (not true).
  • Rona has wine and later does the same again.
  • Richard has a drink.
  • We see that Robert has poured wine for himself and Rona.
  • BLOOD/GORE
  • None.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE
  • Rachel is a typical disillusioned teen with a surly attitude. Asked to watch Anna's toddler, Rachel instead wanders off to watch a couple making out in the woods and thus loses track of the young girl who then disappears.
  • Rona somewhat snoops around the home owned by one of Robert's clients.
  • Rachel and Rupert enjoy being voyeurs and watching others making out.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES
  • None.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS
  • None.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR
  • Phrases: "F*ck off," "Freaky sh*t," "Whore house," "Where the hell have you been?" "Freak" and "Bitch."
  • Rachel and Rupert enjoy being voyeurs and watching others making out.
  • One of Robert's former female lovers has a pierced nostril and eyebrow.
  • Rachel has Rupert dress up like a woman (in women's lingerie with wig and makeup, etc.).
  • JUMP SCENES
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)
  • None.
  • PROFANITY
  • At least 4 "f" words (2 used sexually), 7 "s" words, 1 slang term for breasts ("t*t"), 1 ass, 1 hell and 3 uses of "Oh God" as exclamations.
  • SEX/NUDITY
  • We see Anna get out of an isolation chamber and briefly see her bare breasts, butt and what looked like a possible quick glimpse of full frontal nudity. As she then sits down on a massage table, we see the top of her bare butt.
  • Robert finds what's presumably a gay magazine (titled "Husky Boy") in a client's drawer (it shows a shirtless man on the cover).
  • Talking about Roberto's pending arrival, Robert tells Rona, "He's going to f*ck you silly." She replies that she's not going to sleep with him and will instead put him on the couch.
  • As Rona and Robert talk about their rules of dating, one of them says not to date anyone "who won't let you go down on them."
  • Rachel spots a couple passionately making out in a park (during the day) and then follows them deeper into the woods. There she sees them beginning to disrobe (the man is shirtless) as they continue with more passionate kissing, but she's interrupted by Rupert who tells her to call him if she wants "to see more stuff."
  • We learn that Robert is bisexual, and former male lover tells him that the sex with him was great and Robert replies that he didn't think their relationship was totally about sex (although he says he also thought their sex was pretty good).
  • Rona and Roberto have sex in a parked car at night in (we see their encounter from the back seat). As such, we see her moving on top of him as she sits on his lap, see her pleasured reactions and hear her related sexual sounds (there's no explicit nudity).
  • We see a head and shoulders shot of Roberto on top of Rona in bed kissing her. We then see a full aerial view of him between her legs but under the covers. As he then gets up, we see her bare breasts and his bare butt.
  • A client tells Robert that her husband has a crush on him, but that it's not necessarily sexual. Later, however, that husband kisses Robert and we then see the three of them in bed together (the married couple is asleep in the "spoons" position and Robert gets up from being the "third spoon" and is nude, but we don't see any explicit nudity).
  • Rachel and Rupert spy on some gay men making out in the woods. Rupert then says that he likes to watch where they're looking "when they do it" (stating that it tells him whether they're "turned on" or uncomfortable, etc.).
  • A hooker shows up at Richard's place and asks him, "here or in the bedroom" (referring to where they'll have sex). We later see them in bed together (she's in her bra and panties) but don't know if they've done or are going to do anything sexual.
  • Rona runs her hand up Roberto's back in bed and then licks his shoulder (but there's no response from him). We then see her in her underwear and a tank top.
  • Robert tells Rona that she looks good. She replies, "Of course I do. All I do is f*ck and eat." When Robert asks why they stopped dating, she replies that one thing is that they couldn't stop laughing when they'd go to bed.
  • SMOKING
  • A miscellaneous character appears to smoke.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES
  • Anna panics and worries about the disappearance of her young daughter.
  • Ruth and Rachel have a strained mother/daughter relationship and the teenager tells Rupert that her father is dead and that she's responsible for that (he died in a car accident two years earlier while on the way to pick her up after she intentionally caused herself to be kicked out of school).
  • Richard states that he's been separated from his wife (and their child) for some time.
  • Ruth talks to Anna about losing her husband (see above).
  • Rona finds her mother's body slumped on the floor (but she turns out to be okay).
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT
  • The various ways in which the five senses are portrayed through the various characters in the film.
  • Losing one's hearing.
  • Rachel says that she killed her father since he died in a car accident two years earlier while on the way to pick her up after she intentionally caused herself to be kicked out of school.
  • The repercussions of Rachel not paying attention (and allowing the little girl to wander off).
  • VIOLENCE
  • None.



  • Reviewed July 11, 2000 / Posted July 28, 2000

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