"UNBREAKABLE"
(2000) (Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson) (PG-13)

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

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QUICK TAKE:

Drama/Suspense/Thriller: A disillusioned security guard tries to figure why he was the only survivor of a train crash and what a stranger wants with him in regards to that.

PLOT:

David Dunn (BRUCE WILLIS) is a Philadelphia-based security guard who's unhappy with his life and his apparently failed marriage to his wife, Audrey (ROBIN WRIGHT PENN). Returning from a job interview in New York, David's train crashes, with him being the sole survivor. More peculiar than that, he wasn't injured at all, a point reiterated by a note later left on his car asking if he's ever been sick in his life.

Realizing that he hasn't, he goes with his son, Joseph (SPENCER TREAT CLARK) to find the person who left the note. He's Elijah Price (SAMUEL L. JACKSON), the owner of a comic book-based art gallery and victim of a genetic brittle bone disorder that's resulted in fifty-four broken bones during his life. David learns that Elijah is seeking out a person who's the polar opposite of him - in other words, one who's unbreakable - and believes that David is that person.

Although David thinks Elijah's some sort of con person, he begins to reexamine pivotal points in his life, including a car accident in college that reportedly resulted in the end of his promising football career. That, and repeated encounters with Elijah who becomes increasingly curious about David's apparent extrasensory ability to see past events in people's lives soon has him wondering if there's more than some passing validity to Elijah's claims, all of which then lead to some startling discoveries.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

If they're fans of Willis, Jackson or liked the "The Sixth Sense" and want to see if director M. Night Shyamalan can follow up that film with one just as good, there's a good possibility they will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13

For mature themes, some disturbing violent content and a sexual reference.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:

BRUCE WILLIS plays a disillusioned security guard who's not happy with his life or apparently failed marriage, but finds himself reexamining both when he realizes (after being the sole survivor of a train wreck) that he's never been sick or injured in his life.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON plays an odd and suspicious character who suffers from a brittle bone disorder and goes to extreme measures to locate a real-life, archetypal comic book style hero that he believes to be David.

ROBIN WRIGHT PENN plays David's wife who's likewise unhappy with their marriage but wants them to give it another try.

SPENCER TREAT CLARK plays their son who becomes so preoccupied with the notion that David can't be hurt that he nearly takes dangerous/lethal steps to prove that.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

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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).

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OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

Here's a quick look at the content found in this suspense/thriller that's been rated PG-13. Violence consists of a man fighting another man who's bound or killed various members of a family (with some brief, bloody moments), as well as the off-screen deaths of many people in a train wreck (as well as a briefly noted, but fatal plane crash and building fire).

Those scenes, others (including a son pointing a gun at his father in an attempt to prove that the father can't be harmed) and the overall film, may be unsettling, suspenseful or possibly even scary to some viewers, mostly depending on their age and tolerance for such material.

Profanity consists of at least 1 use of the "s" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases also occur, as does one lone, sexually related comment. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, some thematic issues are present (an implied date rape, a character suffering from a brittle bone disorder, an apparently failed marriage, characters going to extreme measures to get what they want, etc.) and some brief drinking/drunkenness is present.

Should you still be concerned with the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who wishes to see it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what's present in the film.

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ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE

David stops a man at a game he believes to be a drug dealer, but after frisking that man, he doesn't find anything on him.

People have drinks in a bar, including David and Audrey.

David has another flashback to a young man seeing a passed out girl sprawled on a bed, stating that she's had too much to drink and we then see him closing the door (thus implying that he molested/raped her).

People have drinks at a reception.

A killer drinks a beer.

BLOOD/GORE

In a shot set in an ER, an out of focus glimpse of a sheet covering a mortally wounded train passenger (in the foreground of the shot) slowly becomes soaked in blood.

We see a dead body on some steps.

A person's wrists - that have been bound - are a bit bloody from the restraints.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE

Despite the fact that their marriage is strained at best, David's still married but nevertheless removes his wedding band when a young and pretty woman sits on the train next to him. Nothing happens, however, as she's married and moves to another seat once she feels uncomfortable around him.

A man tries to bring a gun into a football game, but David gets the sense that he's doing that and the man then gets out of line before there's any confrontation.

Elijah acts weird in a comic book store and as the owner tries to wheel him out in his wheelchair, Elijah purposefully turns it into various store displays and thus knocks over various items in the store.

David breaks into the facility holding the charred remains of the train wreck (just to take a look at them).

David bumps into a woman and has a flashback of her stealing jewelry from a jewelry store after distracting the sales person.

David has another flashback to a young man seeing a passed out girl sprawled on a bed, stating that she's had too much to drink and we then see him closing the door (thus implying that he molested/raped her).

David has a flashback of a car driving past a group of people and the passenger leaning out and hitting a woman on the head with a bottle.

David discovers a man who's killed a father and bound the mother and their two kids in the house where he's now living.

We learn that a person was responsible for the train wreck, as well as a fatal fire and plane accident.

FRIGHTENING SCENES

Scenes listed under "Violence" might also be tense to some viewers.

Since most everyone who's seen the commercials & trailers for the film know a train wreck is involved, the scene where David is on a train (shot in a somewhat eerie/suspenseful manner) might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers as they wait for the big event to occur (but it does so off camera).

Thinking he needs to prove that his dad can't be hurt, Joseph shows up in the kitchen with David's gun and aims it at him. As David and Audrey try to talk him into putting the gun down, Joseph even goes so far as to cock the gun, but his parents eventually convince him to put it down.

We see a flashback to David and Audrey's car accident when they were in college. David runs up to the partially burning car that's flipped upside down, yanks the door open, and then gets her out.

David follows a man back to a house where he discovers a dead man lying on the basement steps and the wife and their two kids bound and frightened. As he tries to free them, there's the possibility that the killer/abductor might show up at any moment.

A person pushes David out a window and he falls onto the covered pool below. As the cover starts to sink into the pool, David tries to get out but finds himself tangled in the cover underwater.

David grabs a killer in a chokehold and then holds on as the killer repeatedly smashes him backwards into walls and other items in a bedroom. He also repeatedly elbows him, but David doesn't release his grip that eventually renders the man unconscious.

GUNS/WEAPONS

Handgun: Kept by David in his closet and later used by Joseph in an attempt to prove that his dad can't be harmed (seen "Frightening/Tense Scenes" for further details).

Handgun: Briefly seen carried on a man's belt.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR

Phrases: "What the hell are you doing?" and "Jacking off" (masturbating).

A woman on a train has a tattoo on her belly (seen when her shirt rides up).

Thinking he needs to prove that his dad can't be hurt, Joseph shows up in the kitchen with David's gun and aims it at him. As David and Audrey try to talk him into putting the gun down, Joseph even goes so far as to cock the gun, but his parents eventually convince him to put it down.

David has a flashback of a car driving past a group of people and the passenger leaning out and hitting a woman on the head with a bottle.

We briefly see a woman stealing jewelry from a jewelry store after distracting the sales person.

JUMP SCENES

A bad person suddenly shows up right behind David.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE)

A heavy amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE)

None.

PROFANITY

At least 1 "s" word, 1 ass, 1 hell, 2 uses of "Jesus Christ" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "Jesus," "Oh my God" and "Swear to God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY

Seeing Elijah in a daze among rows of comics, a storeowner tells him, "You better not be jacking off with the Japanese comics."

SMOKING

We briefly see some background characters smoking in a bar.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES

David and Audrey obviously have a strained marriage. They sleep in separate bedrooms, he's trying to get a job in another city, and he even slips off his wedding band when he meets a young and pretty woman on the train. However, they do try working on their marriage as the story progresses.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT

The film's ending and the characters' motivations regarding it.

The brittle bone condition that Elijah suffers from.

David and Audrey's apparently failed marriage and their attempts to get it back on track.

Extrasensory perception (David seems to be able to see the past when he touches certain people).

Thinking he needs to prove that his dad can't be hurt, Joseph shows up in the kitchen with David's gun and aims it at him. As David and Audrey try to talk him into putting the gun down, Joseph even goes so far as to cock the gun, but his parents eventually convince him to put it down.

VIOLENCE

Although we don't see it, a train wreck kills hundreds of people. That, and other intentionally caused violence that's similarly noted, but not seen (including a fatal plane crash and building fire), is present.

Trying to follow a man down a flight of steps, Elijah slips and falls, his brittle bones breaking upon impact with the various steps.

David has a flashback of a car driving past a group of people and the passenger leaning out and hitting a woman on the head with a bottle.

David has another flashback to a young man seeing a passed out girl sprawled on a bed, stating that she's had too much to drink and we then see him closing the door (thus implying that he molested/raped her).

A person pushes David out a window and he falls onto the covered pool below. As the cover starts to sink into the pool, David tries to get out but finds himself tangled in the cover underwater.

David grabs a killer (who killed one person and was responsible for another's death) in a chokehold and then holds on as the killer repeatedly smashes him backwards into walls and other items in a bedroom. He also repeatedly elbows him, but David doesn't release his grip that eventually renders the man unconscious.

Reviewed November 17, 2000 / Posted November 22, 2000

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