Fierce People (R)
Smart-but-grim coming-of-age tale best for adults.
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- Studio: Lions Gate Entertainment, Lions Gate Entertainment
- Directed By: Griffin Dunne
- Cast: Diane Lane, Donald Sutherland, Anton Yelchin
- Running Time: 107 minutes
- Release Date: 09/19/2007
- Video/DVD Release Date: 02/04/2008
- Genre: Drama
- MPAA Rating: R
- MPAA Explanation: language, drug use, sexuality/nudity and some violence.
Parents need to know
Families can talk about the prevalence of rich, dysfunctional families in independent films. What draws filmmakers to this world? And, for that matter, what draws Finn to the Osborne family members in the first place? Why are they so appealing to him when they appear deplorable to viewers? Is Liz a good mother? Is her addiction romanticized? Does that happen often in movies? Also, what about the young Osbornes? Are affluent teens really like that, or is the movie making too broad a statement about them?
Message
Social Behavior:
Characters, including some who are underage, drink and use drugs, indulge in casual sex, and exhibit a huge sense of entitlement. But those aren't the worst crimes; there's rape and even murder.
Consumerism:
Mercedes Benz car logo; a certain awareness of what money can get (a mansion, a car, daily housekeeping, fine food and drink, power).
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco:
A mother is an addict, and her child gets caught by the cops while buying drugs for her. Plenty of underage drinking and drug use (mainly marijuana). A mother walks around her estate with a soda can filled with liquor. Grown-ups and teens smoke cigarettes (accurate for the time period).
Violence
A young hunter puts out traps in the forest -- but he doesn't just catch animals, he immobilizes humans, too. Finn becomes the victim of a horrible physical act of rage and violence (he's raped by an assailant whose identity he doesn't find out until the end) and seeks revenge. Guns are shot randomly, and a character points one to his head once. There's much discussion about -- and footage of -- how brutal the Ishkanani can be.
Sex
Lots of sex, both between adults (there's one explicit scene in which a couple passionately makes love on the foyer floor, with the front door wide open) and among teens. Two teenagers strip naked, and one paints the other (breasts are bared). A boy seeks solace in the arms of another teen, who's pregnant (more bare breasts). Ogden often makes verbal and physical passes at Liz and shows a picture of a naked woman to Liz's son. Plenty of non-sexual footage of indigenous people fully naked.
Language
As blue as it gets, with frequent usage of everything from "damn" to "s--t" to "f--k."
Common Sense says
What's the story?
Reviewed by S. Jhoanna Robledo
Is it any good?
One other small complaint: When you eventually find out who wronged Finn, you're not that surprised, which is a bit of a letdown -- as is the wrapped-with-a-neat-bow explanation for why Osborne seems so willing to help Liz out, no questions asked. Still, there's enough artistry and story here to keep viewers wanting more, and in the end, you won't walk away empty-handed. Disturbed, perhaps, but not disappointed.




