Parents need to know that this film includes several hectic, noisy boxing scenes, with the camera taking alternate points of view for punchers and punchees. The fast cuts and framing make these images potentially disturbing for younger viewers. Some of the training rituals for the Annapolis cadets are brutal (falling in mud and falling off obstacles in slow motion, sweating and groaning). An officer has a cadet get into a body bag and be zipped up, to show other cadets their responsibility to their charges. Depressed cadet jumps out a window. Characters drink alcohol in a bar, a romantic couple exchanges gazes and kisses in pretty lighting. One prostitution reference.

Families can talk about the relationship between Jake and his working class father, Bill. How does the son's aspiration first threaten Dad, then make him proud? How does the movie use traditional means to define "masculinity" -- boxing, physical tests, dominance over other men? How does the film's diverse cast suggest that different individuals might work together?