"STEALING HARVARD" (2002) (Jason Lee, Tom Green) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Mild Heavy *Minor Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None None *Minor Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Moderate Minor Moderate Moderate QUICK TAKE: Comedy: A young man tries to figure out how to keep the promise he made long ago to pay for his niece's college education. PLOT: John Plummer (JASON LEE) is a normal guy who's excited by the news that he and his fiancée, Elaine Warner (LESLIE MANN), have finally saved $30,000 meaning that they can get married and buy a house. While John isn't crazy about being related to Elaine's father, Mr. Warner (DENNIS FARINA), who happens to be his boss at a home medical supply store, he loves Elaine and will put up with him. Then he's reminded of a promise he made long ago to his niece, Noreen (TAMMY BLANCHARD), in front of his trailer trash sister, Patty (MEGAN MULLALLY), that he'd pay for Noreen's college education. Well, it turns out she's been accepted to Harvard and the cost will be in the neighborhood of $30,000. Unable to tell Elaine of this dilemma, it only gets worse when she uses their money as a down payment on a new house. As a result, John enlists the aid of his goofy friend, Walter "Duff" Duffy (TOM GREEN), a landscaper who comes up with one hair-brained scheme after another of how to get the cash. Between the two of them, they eventually get involved with Duff's Uncle Jack (SEYMOUR CASSEL), former classmate and current thug David Loach (CHRIS PENN), a lonely man, Mr. Cook (RICHARD JENKINS), who misses his dead wife, and Detective Charles (JOHN C. McGINLEY), a cop who's hot on their trail when their plans turn criminal. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of anyone in the cast they might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For crude and sexual humor, language and drug references. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: JASON LEE plays a young man who finds himself in a tight spot when he must choose between using his and his fiancée's saved money for their dream home or to fulfill a promise he made long ago to pay for his niece's college education. He decides to try various criminal actions to get additional money, uses some profanity and drinks. LESLIE MANN plays his live-in fiancée who wants to buy a house with their saved money, and gets aroused by John's criminal ways in which she eventually joins him. She uses some profanity. TOM GREEN plays John's bizarre friend who comes up with various lame and illegal ideas of how to raise the money when not acting in a goofy fashion. He smokes, drinks and uses profanity. MEGAN MULLALLY plays John's sexually indiscriminate trailer trash sister who smokes and is implied to have been fooling around simultaneously with several men in her bedroom. TAMMY BLANCHARD plays John's niece who's been accepted into Harvard. DENNIS FARINA plays Elaine's overbearing father who's determined to prove that John is no good for his daughter. He uses some profanity. JOHN C. McGINLEY plays a detective working an attempted convenience store robbery case. He smokes a cigar. CHRIS PENN plays a former classmate of John and Duff's who's now a tough criminal and participates in an armed robbery. RICHARD JENKINS plays a wealthy and lonely widower who misses his wife so much that he makes intruders dress up like her and spoon with him in bed. 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: Here's a quick look at the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also used. Sexually related dialogue is present, while a couple is seen having sex in various scenes (usually for laughs, but including some movement, sounds and non-explicit nudity). A lonely widower has various men dress up as his wife and then snuggle with him in bed (he states that he's lonely, but not gay), while it's implied that a woman was fooling around with several men simultaneously in her bedroom. Some women are seen in revealing attire and a dog humps a man. Various characters smoke and/or drink, while jokes are made about drunk driving and being on angel dust. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, as many of them are criminals who participate in criminal behavior. Other imitative behavior is also present. Violence consists of people threatening others with guns (including a shotgun being fired at two men), some punching or hitting of others, a small dog attacking a person (played for laughs), and some property damage. Some brief crude humor is also present. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see a flashback to Noreen as a child dressed like the statue of Liberty where she had empty beer cans on her head. John gives Duff a beer that he puts into his worker's belt with others. Duff buys a great deal of beer in a liquor store and we then see him selling it to underage kids out in the parking lot (in a business called "Dial a Bottle"). He then defends his actions by saying that those kids were going to get drunk or end up sniffing model glue. He adds that they deserve to unwind and get drunk. Duff and John have beer. Elaine has wine. We see many bottles of liquor in a liquor store. Trying to keep Loach's thugs at bay, Duff says that he's on angel dust. John tells Det. Charles that he was with Duff drinking beer when the liquor store hold-up attempt occurred. Charles then tries to get John to admit to drunk driving, but John lies about being messed up and doesn't recall driving drunk. Elaine states that when her father was drunk in the past, he admitted to having $50,000 stashed in his office. John has a beer while sitting up on the roof and Duff joins him with a six-pack. BLOOD/GORE We see a flashback to Noreen working in a meat processing plant where she has blood on her full body apron (as do others). After seeing Duff remove a toothbrush from his drawer, lick and then use it to brush his goatee, Det. Charles says that he had a colon scope done, that his doctor said he had the cleanest rectum, and then adds that he uses the toothbrush to reach the hard to reach spots and give them a good scrubbing. Loach has a swollen nose with a dried cut on it. John has a bruise on his face. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Everything listed below is intended to be viewed as comedy. John lies to Elaine's father about sleeping with her after Mr. Warner pries into John and Elaine's private life. John later lies to Mr. Warner again about his whereabouts the night before. Some viewers might not like a joke about Patty finding one of her cats (alive) in the cupboard with its head stuck in a jar (which is then removed). Duff doesn't like Elaine and says, "She's a dirty dumb bitch." Duff buys a great deal of beer in a liquor store and we then see him selling it to underage kids out in the parking lot. We see a flashback to Duff breaking into a client's house and going through their belongings, etc. John lets Duff talk him into breaking into a rich man's house and attempting to steal his money. Duff's uncle Jack sets up a staged robbery with John and Duff where they'll split stolen lottery money from his liquor store. They attempt to do so, but are unsuccessful. The young store clerk there then purposefully shoots the store sign (and then apparently steals or destroys the surveillance camera tape that caught him doing so). Loach is a mean thug who agrees to help John by robbing a bank and then using him as the getaway driver (John is unaware of this until it occurs). Mr. Warner refers to his daughter's baskets as "faggy." Elaine decides to help John by robbing her father of cash he keeps at the store. FRIGHTENING SCENES It's possible some scenes listed under violence (such as holding guns on others) could be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, but they're all played for intended laughs. GUNS/WEAPONS During the opening credits, there's a drawing of a pistol. Pistol: Held by Mr. Cook on various people who separately break into his house. Toy guns: Used by John and Duff in an attempt to hold up a liquor store (after spray painting them black). Shotgun: Aimed by a liquor store clerk at John and Duff and then fired at them as well as used to shoot the liquor store sign. Various guns: Used by Loach and others to rob a bank and then aimed at John and Duff to make them drive the getaway car. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Piece of sh*t," "I was gonna kick your balls up into your head and let them rattle around in your skull like dice in a yahtzee cup," "Sexually indiscriminate trailer trash," "Bitch," "Idiot," "She's a dirty dumb bitch," "Scum," "Bastards," "Like a bat out of Hell," "Shut up before I shove this shoe up your anal cavity," "Hamster d*ck," "He's going to piss himself," "Sac" (scrotum), "Punk ass," "Numbskull," "Faggy," "Sure as hell," "Idiots," "You lying bastard," "Freak," "You're a lying bitch," "You're a bag of crap," "You're such a loser," "Skank," "Screw" (nonsexual), "Shut your cake hole," "Balls" (testicles) and "Jeez." Duff buys a great deal of beer in a liquor store and we then see him selling it to underage kids out in the parking lot. Elaine occasionally wears midriff-revealing tops. We see various miscellaneous people with tattoos. John and Duff don ski masks and fake guns in an attempt to rob a liquor store (with permission from the owner where the three will split stolen lottery money). We see that Duff has pulled a boy up into the air via a cable attached to his van so that the boy can trim a tree with a chainsaw. John wins a great deal of money at the horse track. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song mentions something about a guy who took too many pills, while another uses the word "damn" in it. Others had lyrics that could not be understood, thus offering the possibility of further potentially objectionable content. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 2 "s" words, 1 slang term for sex ("banging"), 2 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck"), 13 asses (9 used with "hole"), 4 craps, 4 hells, 5 uses of "G-damn," 2 each of "Jesus" and "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "God," "Oh God" and "By God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY John states that Elaine was incredible but did have one odd habit. We then see them in bed having sex (a torso shot from above with him kissing her neck while she's under the covers) where she's crying (and he says that she always cried "when we made love"). Elaine's father calls John into his office and says that he likes that John has not slept with his daughter. Mr. Warner then says he'll give John immunity and that if he has slept with her, he should tell him there and now and they'll let it go. He then asks, "Have you slept with my daughter?" John replies (lying), "Mr. Warner, I have never slept with Elaine." John describes his sister Patty as "sexually indiscriminate trailer trash." She shows cleavage and responds to John saying that Elaine likes her by stating, "Yeah, and I'm growing a d*ck." When John realizes Noreen has news for him, he says, "Please tell me you're not pregnant." We learn that John and Elaine live together and then see them in bed again, with him fretting over the money issue and her snuggling up to him with her leg over him. After Mr. Cook catches John wandering through his house during an attempted robbery, the older man has John dress up like his former wife (blonde wig and nightgown) and then "spoon" with him in bed. Cook then says that he's not gay and that he just misses his wife. He later does the same thing with Mr. Warner after similarly catching him in his house. We see John on top of Elaine in bed, and she's crying again. When he asks if they should stop, she acts surprised and asks why he always does that and that when they get a good mood going, he always ruins it. She then adds that he has intimacy problems. We see some young women in small bikinis washing a car (and they show cleavage). Duff mentions some guy from their past who was 13 and got two girls pregnant. John goes to see Patty in her trailer and a man comes from her bedroom adjusting his belt (implying sex). Several more men then eventually come out of the bedroom as well. Roach's minions watch women exercising in leotards on TV, while a miscellaneous woman with Loach shows cleavage. Elaine finds John's criminal streak and standing up to Loach as sexy and she jumps up on him (with her legs around him - both are clothed). We then see a montage of them having sex, with him on top of her with movement and her finally not crying but seeming pleasured; them in the shower (from the waist up and facing each other with him scrubbing her bare back); then her on top of him on the floor (with movement but no nudity); and then him having sex from behind her up against an outside window (seen from inside the house with movement and sounds but no nudity and played for laughs with her face smashed against the glass). Mr. Warner's dog jumps and bites Duff in the clothed crotch and hangs on (with John stating, "Wow. He really likes you"). Elaine gets excited about attempting to rob her dad's office and tells John that she wants "to do it right here" on her dad's desk. She then quickly whips off her top and we see her in her bra as she works on his belt/pants as he lies back on the desk. John tells Mr. Warner that he wasn't truthful about not having sex with Elaine. He states, "We did it the first night we met. And ever since then, we've been banging together like a pair of cymbals in an overworked marching band." Moments later, Warner complains to Det. Charles that they were going to have sex on his desk. We see Mr. Warner's dog humping Duff, a comment is made about a crime having just been committed and we later see them cuddling. A store clerk accuses John and Duff of stealing porno magazines from the store (that the clerk stole - not seen). A comment is made about wondering how Duff got a thousand dollars and we then see him dressed in the blonde wig and housecoat like above. SMOKING Duff smokes around 5 times, Patty smokes several times, and Det. Charles smokes a cigar, as does Uncle Jack. TENSE FAMILY SCENES John states that his parents died when he was 18 and Patty later asks if he remembers their funeral (but little is made of this). John states that no one knows who Noreen's father is. Mr. Cook misses his dead wife so much that he makes various people dress up like her. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Turning to crime in an effort to get money. John going to the horse track in an attempt to win money. Keeping one's promise to another person. VIOLENCE John repeatedly bangs his own head against a mirror. Mr. Cook aims a gun at John's head after catching him wandering through his house. Duff repeatedly slams an office phone against its base. Duff drives over some trashcans in his van. A liquor store clerk aims and then fires a shotgun at John and Duff when they try to rob the place using toy guys. His shot blows out a window and he then purposefully shoots the store's sign with the shotgun. John pushes Duff out of his car to the street. A large tree branch falls onto a parked car, smashing it. Mr. Cook aims a gun at Mr. Warner's head after catching him wandering through his house. Loach and his thugs aim guns at John and Duff to make them drive a getaway car. Some struggling ensues and John then uses the steering wheel club to hit Loach in the face and send him falling to the street. John repeatedly bangs Duff's head against the hood of his car. Det. Charles throws something in his office that breaks. Elaine punches John in the face, sending him to the floor. Duff throws some cheese at Elaine. Mr. Warner's dog jumps and bites Duff in the clothed crotch and hangs on. Duff repeatedly tries to break a large window, but everything he uses bounces off of it (including a walker, chairs and other items). Duff then drives himself in an electric wheelchair into the window, but just plasters himself against it. Warner's dog jumps on Duff again and then chases after him. Mr. Warner knocks out Loach with a prosthetic. He then punches John who punches him back and then tries to hit John with that prosthetic limb. Det. Charles holds a gun on Mr. Warner. Duff falls off a roof (we hear, but don't see the impact). Reviewed September 9, 2002 / Posted September 13, 2002

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