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"HEAD OVER HEELS" (2001) (Monica Potter, Freddie Prinze, Jr.) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Mild Heavy Mild Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None Moderate None Moderate Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None None Mild Moderate QUICK TAKE: Romantic Comedy: After moving in with a quartet of models, a single woman falls for a seemingly perfect man who lives across the street, but then worries about that when she thinks she sees him commit a murder. PLOT: Amanda Pierce (MONICA POTTER) is a Renaissance painting restorer at the Met in Manhattan who thinks she has the worst judgment in men when it comes to romance. Her lesbian coworker, Lisa (CHINA CHOW), thinks it's silly that Amanda gets weak in the knees over paintings rather than men, but Amanda says that they're easier to deal with. That proves to be true when she comes home to find her live-in boyfriend in bed with a model, so Amanda sets out to find a new place to live. She does so in a closet that's been converted into a bedroom and then rented out by a quartet of models, Jade (SHALOM HARLOW), Roxana (IVANA MILICEVIC), Candi (SARAH O'HARE) and Holly (TOMIKO FRASER), who live there for free and get a long list and line of men to pay for all of their other needs. When the models realize that Amanda is attracted to Jim Winston (FREDDIE PRINZE, JR.), a fashion executive who lives in the building across the street, they give her a quick makeover and crash one of his parties. There, Amanda and Jim learn that they're kindred spirits and agree to go out on a date. Yet, when Amanda returns to her place and gazes down into Jim's, she thinks sees the silhouette of him murdering a woman. Of course, no one else saw this and the police don't believe her report, but Amanda and her new roommates then set out to prove whether or not Jim actually committed the crime. While doing so and seeing him dealing with a shady businessman, Halloran (JAY BRAZEAU), Amanda finds herself torn between completely falling for Jim and worrying that he may indeed be a killer. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Teens will probably want to (as it should look like a good date movie to many), as might anyone who's a fan of someone in the cast (especially Freddie Prinze, Jr.). WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For sexual content, crude humor and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: MONICA POTTER plays a classical painting restorer who believes she has the worst judgment in men in a romantic sense. Even so, she falls for Jim (and ultimately sleeps with him) but then worries that he may be a murderer. She also uses some profanity. FREDDIE PRINZE, JR. plays a fashion executive who lives across the street from Amanda and both falls for and beds her. He may also be a killer, a point that isn't answered until near the end of the film (but considering the genre and the film's style, it's not hard to guess whether he is or not). CHINA CHOW plays Amanda's lesbian coworker who always has the hots for various women, including Amanda's model roommates. She uses some profanity. SHALOM HARLOW plays one of Amanda's model roommates who's the ultimate gold digger. IVANA MILICEVIC plays a Russian model. SARAH O'HARE plays an Australian model who's a klutz and is last seen with Lisa. TOMIKO FRASER plays another of Amanda's model roommates. 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 summary of the content found in this PG-13 rated comedy. All sorts of mostly non-explicit sexually related dialogue occurs throughout the film, covering a variety of topics. A sexual encounter is partially seen (a woman on top of a man, but all we see is that position and her bare back with no other nudity or movement), while another occurs off-camera between the film's two leads (we see some making out and brief removal of some clothing as well as others watching this act from another building). Some jokes are made about various characters being gay or lesbians (with related dialogue and/or behavior), as well as that of a Great Dane humping a woman. Profanity consists of some slang terms, several uses of the "s" word and other expletives, while some colorful language is also present. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, including some villains who occasionally fire their guns at others, while some punching and other fighting is also present. A woman thinks she sees the silhouette of a man killing a woman (which obviously turns out not to be true) and some younger viewers may find some of those scenes as a little tense, even if all of them are played in a light, comedic style. Two instances of bathroom humor are present (one involving exaggerated bathroom sounds, the other lots of raw sewage spewing onto several women), while various characters drink in several scenes. Should this summary not answer your concerns about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may want to see it, we suggest that you more closely examine our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Roxana states that a particular shirt makes her look like a heroin addict. Three of the models have drinks with Amanda in a bar/club (as do others). People have drinks at a party at Jim's place. Jim and Amanda have wine with dinner, while various men drink beer at the bar. One of the models holds a bottle of liquor while watching Jim's apartment with the others. A man in a limo has champagne. A model drinks straight from the bottle. BLOOD/GORE As several of the models hide in Jim's shower when he unexpectedly returns home, we see him sitting on the toilet (but don't see his lower half) and then hear all sorts of diarrhea type sounds (while we watch the woman react to the sounds and the smell). The models end up hiding in the men's room where they all stand on a stall while some plumbers work on the toilet next to them. Suddenly the water in their toilet disappears, only to be replaced by a volcanic eruption of raw sewage/human waste that blasts out of the toilet, covering them. A man has a little bit of blood on his forehead after being kicked, while another has a little bit from his mouth/lip after being punched. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Amanda's boyfriend has both for cheating on her with another woman. Amanda and the models crash a party at Jim's. A police officer is insulting and disrespectful to Amanda and her roommates when he learns that the latter are models (and treats them as such stereotypes). Amanda and her roommates bribe a janitor to let them into Jim's place so that they can snoop around for evidence. One of the models states that she thinks she's getting hives being around so many ugly people (in a bar). The villains in the film obviously have traditional bad attitudes for their criminal behavior and for trying to harm/kill others. Jim lies to Amanda about who and what he is, but does so in accordance with his occupation. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may be tense or unsettling to some viewers, but everything that's presented here is done so in a light, comedic style. A comically tense scene has Amanda and her roommates snooping around Jim's place and then having to hide when he returns home. Later, she follows Jim at night after thinking she's seen him carrying a body out in a bag. Even later, he pulls out a dagger and she thinks he's going to kill her, but instead he throws it into a wall. GUNS/WEAPONS Dagger: Thrown by Jim into a wall (to kill a fly) and later used against some bad guys. Handguns: Used by some bad guys to shoot at Jim and others. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Oh, sh*t," "Piece of crap," "He's a horny bastard," "Slut," "Scumbag," "Whores," "Skank," "Kissing ass," "Lame ass," "Tramp," "Shut up," "What the hell happened to her?" "You throw like a girl," "Oh, crap," "Bastard," "Who the hell are you people?" "What the hell have I been saying?" "What the hell do I look like?" "Losers" and "Screwed up." Amanda and her roommates repeatedly spy on Jim from their apartment that's above and across the way from his. When Amanda and the models leave to crash a party at Jim's place, one of them comments about doing something to their "headlights" (breasts/nipples) and we then see them manually tweaking their clothed nipples - presumably to make them erect. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of traditional and playfully suspenseful music plays during the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 3 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("banging"), 2 slang terms for male genitals ("d*ck" and "dong"), 4 slang terms for breasts/nipples ("t*t," "boob" and "headlight"), 6 asses, 6 hells, 3 damns, 2 craps, and 14 uses of "Oh my God," 4 of "Oh God," 2 of "My God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "For Christ's sakes," "God," "Jesus" and "Swear to God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY In voice over and flashback, Amanda states that her grade school boyfriend left her for another girl with "boobs," and that her high school boyfriend left her for someone who didn't have them (meaning a guy and we see the two young men intimately close to one another - but clothed - at a high school dance). We see that Lisa has the hots for other women (based on her comments about and behavior toward other women). After Amanda comments on the people in an old painting she's working on, Lisa sarcastically comments that if they lived in today's world, the girl would be pregnant and the guy would be out "banging" the barmaid. Amanda walks in to find her live-in boyfriend having sex with another woman (we see that woman's bare back as she sits up on top of the boyfriend, but we don't see any movement or explicit nudity). After he states that it's not what it looks like, Amanda states, "It looks like you're having sex with a woman on the cover of a lingerie catalogue…in our bed." After that, Amanda stays over at Lisa's for the night, with Lisa cuddling up to Amanda and placing her hand on Amanda's clothed breast (with Amanda looking uncomfortable) and asking, "Is this okay?" A Great Dane that Jim's walking breaks free, knocks Amanda to the ground and then begins humping her from behind while she's on her hands and knees. Jim then states that he guesses the dog likes her and jokingly asks her if she wants a tissue or cigarette. After Amanda gets weak in the knees upon seeing Jim, a nearby doorman states, "He's a horny bastard." Amanda replies that she just met him and thus doesn't know, but the doorman answers that he was talking about the dog. Amanda then states that it was nice meeting Jim and his huge dong (with the doorman saying he's seen bigger), and then lets slip out, "I mean, his huge d*ck" and then catches what she said and repeats "Huge dog." After Amanda informs the models that she caught her boyfriend cheating with a model, they all look worried. She then states that it wasn't anything of them and they're then relieved. We see the bare backs of various models as they go topless in their apartment (Amanda sees their fronts, but we don't). Commenting on some men standing out in the hallway, one of the models mentions one guy with the bulge in his pants. She then states that it's either a necklace box in his pants, but doesn't mention the other alternative, only saying, "Oh hell, I'll take him either way." Candi makes various airhead comments (said to be jokes in the film) about her relationship with her uncle (saying she used to see an attracted look in his face, that his rules in charades were no props and no clothes, etc.). Trying to find something wrong with Jim, Amanda tells her roommates that a baby they see is his love child, and then that the man and woman who show up for the baby (obviously the parents) are part of a ménage a trios. She then states that some young girls selling cookies are really under-aged prostitutes dressed as Catholic girls. After Amanda then states that since Jim is in the fashion business, he probably only dates (but doesn't complete the thought and points at the models, so one of them chimes in, "Promiscuous women?"). The models gives Amanda a quick fashion makeover, with one of them commenting on her dress, "You can wear it, honey. I'm just not sure how long you can keep it on" (in relation to them crashing a party at Jim's place). When they then leave to crash a party at Jim's place, one of them comments about doing something to their "headlights" (breasts/nipples) and we then see them manually tweaking their clothed nipples - presumably to make them erect. Some of the models show cleavage. Amanda and Jim briefly kiss. After Amanda thinks she's seen Jim kill a woman in his place, she yells for the others to come out and look, and Holly blindly asks if they're having sex. Amanda and Roxana adjust their clothed breasts before meeting a janitor they want to bribe, and Roxana comments on leaving some French-cut, crotch-less panties at Jim's place. That janitor then says that he'll trade them a key to Jim's place in exchange for Roxana's dress. She agrees and we later see him dancing around, wearing that dress. The models end up hiding in the men's room where they all stand on a stall while some plumbers work on the toilet next to them. The joke is that they don't know the men are plumbers and thus mistake them and their comments as being homosexual-based. Among what they hear are comments such as "Whip that bad boy out" (referring to the snake they're going to use on the toilet), "That is huge," "I'm going to stick it in now," the sound of one saying "Ow…be careful" and the other replying that he's stuffed it into "tighter holes than this" and one then finally stating "It's going to blow!" Jim and Amanda kiss and we then seem them making out even more in the hallway leading to his place. This then continues into a bedroom where they're starting to disrobe (but no nudity) and he briefly stops them, wondering if they're going too fast. She says that they're not and he replies that he's wanted to do this ever since Hamlet (the Great Dane from above) drooled on her. She replies, "Me too." It's thus implied that they have sex, and that the models watch them from across the way (with one of them stating, "They're really clicking sexually"). After the two are done, we see them sit up (and see their bare shoulders until she puts on one of his shirts and we then see him in his boxers). When Amanda returns to the apartment, she realizes the models saw everything. Roxana states something about after watching that performance, she wants to be Amanda's friend, and Candi wonders how she did that thing (we don't know what) with her back. After Amanda states that she now knows Jim intimately, Roxana replies that since Amanda left the blinds up, "We all know him intimately." Amanda states that she slept with a man and doesn't even know his real name (referring to Jim). Handcuffed around a clothes rack, Jim starts to bite into a dress that just so happens to position his mouth at Amanda's crotch as she stands on the other side of the dress. She thinks he's doing something sexual, but he's really try to bite off a stone from the dress to check what it's made of. At the same time, one of the models who's handcuffed below another who's standing looks up her dress and realizes that the standing one has borrowed her panties. We see that Lisa and one of the models are an apparent lesbian couple. Jim and Amanda kiss and he asks if she can do that thing with her back again (in reference to the above sex scene, but we still don't know what that exactly means). SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES None. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Amanda's comment that men are genetically predisposed to lie to women (based on her experience in the world of dating) and her general view of picking the wrong men. Models and the stereotypical way they're often presented (as is the case here). Acting like a Peeping Tom and make assumptions about what one sees others doing (the women spy on Jim in his place). VIOLENCE Most of what's listed below isn't graphically portrayed or meant to be viewed in a realistic fashion. Some slapstick style material has a dog repeatedly knocking Amanda to the floor/ground, her tumbling down some steps, and Candi repeatedly falling over furniture, etc. Amanda sees the silhouette of what looks like Jim beating a woman to death with a bat. An older woman slaps another on the back of her head, knocking her dentures out and across a table. A man holds a gun to the back of another man who then pops some daggers from under his sleeve and spins around, causing that man to shoot his gun but not hit anything. The second man then throws various knives that apparently pin other bad men's sleeves to the walls (rather than impaling their arms). When he escapes in a car, one of the other men comes out and repeatedly fires a handgun at him. A bad guy holds a handgun to Roxana's head. A bad guy holds a gun to Jim's head. Jim trips a man and then kicks him in the face, knocking him out. A villain shoots at a limo as it pulls away (and it turns out to be bulletproof). Some bad guys chase Amanda. Jim punches a bad guy and then pushes him over a table, landing on him on the floor. A bad guy has Jim on the floor, but the latter sprays some inhaler mist on his attacker before repeatedly punching him in the face. A model knocks out a bad guy with her high heels, while several models knock over another bad guy. Jim punches a man in the face. Reviewed January 30, 2001 / Posted February 2, 2001