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"HOT ROD" (2007) (Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Moderate Heavy *Minor Mild Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Minor None Minor Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor *Moderate Moderate *Heavy QUICK TAKE: Comedy: A young stuntman hopes to raise enough money performing a dangerous stunt to pay for his stepfather's heart transplant. PLOT: Rod Kimble (ANDY SAMBERG) is a daredevil and self-proclaimed stuntman who isn't very good at that, but wants to follow in his late father's footsteps. His mom, Marie (SISSY SPACEK), has since remarried Frank Powell (IAN McSHANE) who constantly battles Rod in a series of rough but friendly battles to prove who's more of a man, all while Frank's son Kevin (JORMA TACCONE) watches. The latter is part of Rod's inner circle that also includes Dave (BILL HADER), Rico (DANNY R. McBRIDE), and eventually pretty neighbor Denise (ISLA FISHER), while hanger-on Richardson (CHESTER TAM) mostly must stay on the sidelines. Rod would like Denise to be his girlfriend, but she's dating lawyer and resident jerk Jonathan (WILL ARNETT), so he does what he can to try to impress her. But when he learns that Frank needs a heart transplant and that their insurance won't cover the $50,000 operation, Rod and his friends set out to raise the money by having the young stuntman jump a record number of parked buses. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of anyone in the cast or simply like stupid/goofy comedies, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For crude humor, language, some comic drug-related and violent content. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ANDY SAMBERG plays a young man who fancies himself a professional stuntman, but isn't very good at that. Nor does he fair well when battling his stepfather (in contests to prove who's more of a man), although he eventually wins over Denise and briefly makes out with her. He uses profanity, and briefly drinks and smokes. JORMA TACCONE plays his stepbrother who videotapes and edits footage of his stunts. BILL HADER plays a member of Rod's inner circle who helps with the stunts. He drinks and is briefly high on acid. DANNY R. McBRIDE plays another friend who's involved in the stunts. He drinks and uses profanity. ISLA FISHER plays Rod's pretty neighbor who eventually dumps Jonathan for him. SISSY SPACEK plays Rod's mom who eventually tells him the truth about his biological father. IAN McSHANE plays her husband, Rod's stepfather who enjoys belittling, battling, and defeating Rod, but is doing so to try to force him into becoming a man. He's sidelined for much of the film due to the need for a heart transplant. WILL ARNETT plays Denise's boyfriend, a lawyer and jerk who's self-centered and puts down Rod. He uses profanity and briefly drinks. CHESTER TAM plays a hanger-on to Rod who enjoys dancing about. 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 comedy that's rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually related dialogue and humor are present, there's some brief making out, footage of dogs mating, and the view of some young women in bikinis. Kids may be enticed to try to imitate the various stunts, physical comedy and other behavior that occur in the film, some of which could be potentially dangerous or fatal. The main character is repeatedly injured by trying them, but in more of a cartoon-like rather than realistic fashion, while comedy-based fighting also occurs. Various bad attitudes are present, as is crude humor, while a character is high on acid. Drinking and brief smoking also occur, while comedy-based tense family material includes a stepfather constantly belittling his stepson when not otherwise physically fighting with him. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, varying amounts of camera movement are present in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Rod has a beer. Dave and Rico have beer. Rod says that his "safe word" for a stunt is "whiskey." Jonathan orders some sort of drinks (a shot of liquor dropped down into beer) for himself, Denise and Rod, but only he drinks his. Dave and Rico have beer. Dave drinks from a brown paper bag. Upset about learning the truth about his biological dad, Rod buys a lot of liquor in a store (we don't see any consumption). We see a flashback to a guy telling Dave he has some extra acid. Dave says he did it, and was "tripping balls pretty hard." Later, and while riding with Rod, Dave is still high. Rico and others have beer. BLOOD/GORE Rod vomits after he crashes doing a stunt. Rico states, "I'm gonna go drop some dumpage" (defecate). After Denise revives him via CPR, Rod reflexively spits out water and vomit onto her face, with her saying she's then going off to wipe the "puke" off her face. Rod embellishes the story of his father's death, saying his handlebars went through his head, that there was blood everywhere, and that the front of his face exploded through the back of his skull (only explained, not visualized by the film). Rod asks Denise if there's a tai chi move that would make a man "crap his pants." She says there is, but he's not ready for it. He says he is, so she hits him several times in his chest and gut. He then tries to act nonchalantly, but walks off as if he's dirtied his pants. We see a small shard of metal sticking out of Dave's head near his eyebrow (from an earlier accident, with some blood around the wound), but he's high on acid and thus doesn't seem to feel the pain. A radio announcer shows a tattoo he has of a guy (facing away from the camera, with his pants partially down, thus showing part of his bare butt) urinating in two directions. The man then jokingly says he imagines the guy having had sex the night before, with some leftover material partially blocking his urethra, thus resulting in the double urine stream. Rod sees or imagines a taco and grilled cheese sandwich (people in such costumes) battling it out in Heaven, including the taco hitting the sandwich repeatedly with a folding chair, and what looks like blood pooling behind the sandwich. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Frank is constantly belittling Rod, especially in regard to their various physical fights (played for comedy), but later says it's to toughen him up into being a man for when Frank is no longer around (so that Rod will be the "man of the house"). Rod does something of a luge run down a steep street, but gets out of control and bashes into the side of a parked RV. Its owner is mad and confronts them, but Rico then beats up that man. Jonathan laughs at Rod when the girl he asked out stands him up on their double-date. Trying to belittle Rod, Frank says, "You're a p*ssy," "You suck," and calls him a "homo." Various students laugh at the demo video Kevin has made of Rod's stunts, with one calling him a moron (not to his face). Rod is so upset that he runs up to the booth, tears out the projector and throws it out through a closed window (we later see it smashed halfway through a person's windshield). Jonathan lies to Rod on the phone about writing down a message Rod wants to go to Denise. While driving, Jonathan purposefully hits a raccoon (we never see the animal) and is then excited about having just done so. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed here and under "Violence" might be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material, but are all played for comedy. Rod wants to do some lung strengthening, so he has Dave and Rico hold him underwater in a pool. He immediately struggles to get free, but they don't hear his safety escape signal (a ringing bell) since its string broke. They then let go after the preset 40 seconds, but he just then floats face down. They pull him out, and Denise revives him via CPR. Rod does something of a luge run down a steep street, but gets out of control and bashes into the side of a parked RV. Rod tries to jump many parked buses, but becomes separated from his bike, with both landing quite hard (the bike hits something and explodes, while he lies motionless for a bit, but gets up and he and others comment on his presumed internal injuries). GUNS/WEAPONS We see a montage of Rod doing stupid stunts to raise money for his dad's surgery. They include an earlier than expected explosion knocking Rod off the top of a tower. Rico uses a handgun to shoot a lock off a barrel (to rescue Rod from inside it). A cop hits a rioter with his nightstick during a riot, while a person throws Molotov cocktail into an empty car. A song has the lyric, "Keep your hand on your gun." During a fight, Frank tosses a throwing star into Rod's chest. Rod throws it back, but misses. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Get the f*ck off my porch," "Oh sh*t," "Hello, sh*t-heads," "You look sh*tty," "Holy sh*t," "It's awesome as sh*t," "No sh*t," "You old sack of sh*t," "One of you is getting your d*ck hole smashed" (said by a man to other men about one of their mouths). "You're a p*ssy," "Dong bags" (condoms), "Bang pooch" (have sex), "Boner police," "Eat my smoke," "Psych," "I'm gonna go drop some dumpage," "Superbad," "(Oh) Hell yeah," "You're pathetic," "Muchacho," "You're being a tool," "There's no tool in this pool," "I still need to kick your ass," "Before you sucked at being a man," "Funky fresh," "So I can kick your ass," "Sweet," "Shut up," "Brainiac," "I'm going to go wipe this puke off my face," "Where do you get off..?" "What the hell /was that all about/are we supposed to do?" "You're the devil," "Have fun being married to Satan," "Nuts" (crazy), what sounded like "You chode," "The hell with that," "Holy moly, Kev-pot," "Bubble trousers," "You suck," "Homo," "This guy's a moron," "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" "I was too legit to quit," "I was tripping balls pretty hard," "Take it easy, mountain-face," "Sweet," "Cool beans" (said many times in one sequence), "I'd rather die than live in a world where I can't kick your ass," "You pathetic wash-out," "Messed up," "Coolio," "Nerds," "No way," "Big ass stunts," "Uncork the ass-beating of a lifetime" and "Go kick those buses' asses." Some kids may be enticed to try the various stunts seen in the film (including the fighting that Rod and Frank do), some of which could be dangerous and/or potentially deadly. Various characters do goofy and/or exaggerated dancing. Rod tries to ride his moped up a ramp and over a mail truck, but he ends up flying over the truck and slams into the end of the far ramp. Rod stands on one foot on his bike. Rod wears a fake mustache. Rod tries to jump a pool via a ramp on his moped, but ends up landing halfway across in the water. Rod and his friends celebrate by popping plastic bubble wrap. Rod pours his drink on Denise's foot as her "initiation" into his stuntman circle. Rico sprays Dave with a garden hose. While they're dancing about and goofing around, Rico repeatedly pushes Kevin into the side of a van. A van with a padded front crashes into Rod who's covered in padding (as part of his training). We see a montage of Rod doing stupid stunts to raise money for his dad's surgery. They include being on fire for a birthday party; being locked inside a barrel underwater in a pool (with Rico shooting the lock of the barrel to rescue him); having a large appliance on a rope swing into a padded Rod; Rod serving as a party piņata (with kids beating him with sticks); kids beating Rod with sticks in a separate, non-piņata scene; and an earlier than expected explosion knocking Rod off the top of a tower. Denise rides a bike by standing with just one foot on the seat. Rod asks Denise if there's a tai chi move that would make a man "crap his pants." She says there is, but he's not ready for it. He says he is, so she hits him several times in his chest and gut. He then tries to act nonchalantly, but walks off as if he's dirtied his pants. Instead of handing them out, Richardson just throws fliers at people (thus littering) and does a lot of exaggerated dancing, including lots of clothed pelvic thrusting, both to midair and up against strangers. Rod rides his moped into a grocery store display, and later slams it into an ice rink wall. A van unexpectedly and suddenly hits Rod (played for laughs) blasting him out of the camera shot. A radio announcer shows a tattoo he has of a guy (facing away from the camera, with his pants partially down, thus showing part of his bare butt) urinating in two directions. Played for comedy, a riot suddenly breaks out, started by a man throwing a trashcan through a storefront window. That's followed by a guy bashing a windshield, then what looks like a Molotov cocktail being thrown into a car, and then a cop hitting a rioter with his nightstick. Some miscellaneous rockers have tattoos. Rod tries to jump many parked buses, but becomes separated from his bike, with both landing quite hard (the bike hits something and explodes, while he lies motionless for a bit, but gets up and he and others comment on his presumed internal injuries). A miscellaneous man appears to have a stud in his chin. JUMP SCENES Rod turns and Frank is suddenly there (played for laughs). A van unexpectedly and suddenly hits Rod (played for laughs) blasting him out of the camera shot. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song has the lyric, "Keep your hand on your gun." PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 10 "s" words, 4 slang terms using male genitals ("d*ck," "dong" and "tool"), 2 using female ones ("p*ssy" and "pooch"), 9 asses, 9 hells, 2 craps, 1 damn, 3 uses of "Oh my God," 2 each of "G-damn" and "Oh God" and 1 use of "My God" and "Jesus Christ." SEX/NUDITY We briefly see some young women in bikinis at a pool (including one bent over while getting out). Denise shows varying amounts of cleavage in various outfits (usually not too much until a dress late in the film). About a dream he had, Rico talks of the wizard wives who came out and wanted him to have sex with him. After Denise revives him via CPR, Rod asks his stepbrother, "Did it look like we were making out?" with Kevin replying, "Sort of." A man angrily tells other men, "One of you is getting your d*ck hole smashed" (meaning their mouth). We see a painting that Frank has done of Rod (who's clothed) showing a horse trying to mount him (sexually) from behind. We see Rod in just a shirt and briefs as his mom works on his pants. Kevin goes to show Rod a video he's made about him, but mistakenly shows one of dogs mating. Richardson does a lot of exaggerated dancing, including lots of clothed pelvic thrusting, both to midair and up against strangers. We see a poster in Kevin's room of two men bent over with their pants down, but their shirttails cover their butts. A radio announcer shows a tattoo he has of a guy (facing away from the camera, with his pants partially down, thus showing part of his bare butt) urinating in two directions. The man then jokingly says he imagines the guy having had sex the night before, with some leftover material partially blocking his urethra, thus resulting in the double urine stream. Jonathan looks through a magazine that shows scantly clad women on the front (but we couldn't tell if it was porn or not). We see Rod shirtless while doing some tai chi. We then see an older, homeless man somewhat sensually rubbing body oil on Rod who continues with his moves. During a riot, we see a miscellaneous couple making out on the hood of a car. Jonathan tells Denise that maybe he'll get a bag of "dong bags" (condoms) so that they can "bang pooch" (have sex) later. Denise suddenly and passionately kisses Rod (done for comedy, as she approaches his face with her mouth wide open), but he stops her because he said her mouth was open while they were kissing. However, he then continues passionately kissing her. That prompts a radio announcer to comment something about the "boner police." SMOKING Rod smokes once. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Rod says that his dad died as an anonymous stuntman who worked for Evel Knievel. We learn that Frank needs a heart transplant, but that the family's insurance won't cover the $50,000 operation (but this is all played lightly). Frank is constantly belittling Rod, especially concerning their various physical fights (played for comedy), but later says it's to toughen him up into being a man for when Frank is no longer around (so that Rod will be the "man of the house"). Trying to belittle Rod, Frank says, "You're a p*ssy," "You suck," and calls him a "homo." Rod and Kevin briefly struggle on the ground when the former is mad at his stepbrother. Marie informs Rod that his dad really wasn't a stuntman, but instead was a cashier who died from choking on a pie. This greatly upsets Rod who goes into his room and tears various related posters and such off the wall. Rod overhears a paramedic telling another that Frank has one week to live. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Professional and amateur stunt people. We learn that Frank needs a heart transplant, but that the family's insurance won't cover the $50,000 operation. Frank is constantly belittling Rod, especially concerning their various physical fights (played for comedy), but later says it's to toughen him up into being a man for when Frank is no longer around (so that Rod will be the "man of the house"). The fact that Rod wants respect from his stepdad by defeating him in fighting. VIOLENCE All of the following is played for laughs. Rod tries to ride his moped up a ramp and over a mail truck, but he ends up flying over the truck and slams into the end of the far ramp. Rod and his stepdad get into the first of their many battles, with Frank flipping Rod and then repeatedly hitting him with a stick (Rod is wearing padding). Rod then tries to hit Frank who avoids his punches and other contact, and then throws and knocks Rod around. Rico pushes a kid into a pool while passing by. Rod pushes Kevin aside to get to his stepdad. In anger and frustration, Rod breaks a lamp and then something else with a pole of some sort. Rod does various flips in the woods, but then ends up falling down the embankment (which continues on for quite a while as we see him tumbling and bumping along various terrain, sometimes hitting things quite hard along the way). He's dazed at the bottom, but otherwise okay. Rod wants to do some lung strengthening, so he has Dave and Rico hold him underwater in a pool. He immediately struggles to get free, but they don't hear his safety escape signal (a ringing bell) since its string broke. They then let go after the preset 40 seconds, but he just then floats face down. They pull him out, and Denise revives him via CPR. Rod does something of a luge run down a steep street, but gets out of control and bashes into the side of a parked RV. Its owner is mad and confronts them, but Rico then beats up that man, including hitting him with something and then dumping a trashcan's contents onto him. While they're dancing about and goofing around, Rico repeatedly pushes Kevin into the side of a van. Frank hits Rod in the face with his cane and then drives him back against a wall with it. A van with a padded front crashes into Rod who's covered in padding (as part of his training). We see a montage of Rod doing stupid stunts to raise money for his dad's surgery. They include being on fire for a birthday party; being locked inside a barrel underwater in a pool (with Rico shooting the lock of the barrel to rescue him); having a large appliance on a rope swing into a padded Rod; Rod serving as a party piņata (with kids beating him with sticks); kids beating Rod with sticks in a separate, non-piņata scene; and an earlier than expected explosion knocking Rod off the top of a tower. Rico uses a handgun to shoot a lock off a barrel (to rescue Rod from inside it). Rod asks Denise if there's a tai chi move that would make a man "crap his pants." She says there is, but he's not ready for it. He says he is, so she hits him several times in his chest and gut. He then tries to act nonchalantly, but walks off as if he's dirtied his pants. Rod slams a door in frustration and the glass in it breaks (not his intent). Rod rides his moped into a grocery store display, and later slams it into an ice rink wall. Various students laugh at the demo video Kevin has made of Rod's stunts, with one calling him a moron (not to his face). Rod is so upset that he runs up to the booth, tears out the projector and throws it out through a closed window (we later see it smashed halfway through a person's windshield). Rod and Kevin briefly struggle on the ground when the former is mad at his stepbrother. A van unexpectedly and suddenly hits Rod (played for laughs) blasting him out of the camera shot. We see a small shard of metal sticking out of Dave's head near his eyebrow (from an earlier accident, with some blood around the wound), but he's high on acid and thus doesn't seem to feel the pain. Played for comedy, a riot suddenly breaks out, started by a man throwing a trashcan through a storefront window. That's followed by a guy bashing a windshield, then what looks like a Molotov cocktail being thrown into a car, and then a cop hitting a rioter with his nightstick. While driving, Jonathan purposefully hits a raccoon (we never see the animal) and is then excited about having just done so. Rod tries to jump many parked buses, but becomes separated from his bike, with both landing quite hard (the bike hits something and explodes, while he lies motionless for a bit, but gets up and he and others comment on his presumed internal injuries). Rod sees or imagines a taco and grilled cheese sandwich (people in such costumes) battling it out in Heaven, including the taco hitting the sandwich repeatedly with a folding chair, and what looks like blood pooling behind the sandwich. Six months after Frank has had a heart transplant, he and Rod have another fight, with Frank hitting Rod in the face with a stick, and Rod then knocking Frank to the floor where he repeatedly punches him. Both get up, with Frank then tossing a throwing star into Rod's chest, with Rod pulling that out and throwing it back at Frank (but missing). They then end up crashing through the wall out into the yard, smash into and crush a table, Frank holds Rod's hand to a hot grill, and one repeatedly hits the other in the face with a brick. Rod then slams Frank's face down to a car hood, bends him arm behind his back, and then hits him repeatedly in the chest and gut (the tai chi move from above). Reviewed July 30, 2007 / Posted August 3, 2007

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