Premonition - PG-13

Dark Bullock deja-vu thriller won't interest kids.

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Rating: PG-13 for some violent content, disturbing images, thematic material and brief language. Studio: Sony Pictures Directed By: Mennan Yapo Cast: Sandra Bullock, Nia Long, Julian McMahon Running Time: 110 minutes Release Date: 03/15/2007 Genre: Thriller

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know if they're looking for the usual bright-faced, charming Sandra Bullock, this dark thriller will be disappointing and potentially confusing. As a new widow reliving the week of her husband's death out of sequence, it's unclear whether Bullock's character is insane, in a drug-induced hallucination, or living in a parallel universe. Several disturbing scenes include seeing a car that has just been crushed, a bloody electrocuted bird, a severed head tumbling out of a casket, a woman being committed to a psychiatric hospital, and a child's wounded face after an accident. The film never reaches a "horror" level of graphic images, but it's certainly too creepy for tweens.

Families can talk about thrillers with plot twists. What's the appeal of having a big "surprise" at the end of the movie? Are those surprises always satisfying? Why or why not? What do you think really happened at the end of this particular movie? Families can also talk about life and death and second chances. When given the chance to relive otherwise mundane moments with her husband again, how does Linda act differently? What would you do differently if you had a second chance with someone who's gone?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Sandie Angulo Chen

Even an avid Sandra Bullock fan would have to admit that, while it's slightly original, PREMONITION also exemplifies what's awful about the time-bending thriller subgenre.

Bullock plays Linda Hanson, a newly widowed stay-at-home mom who wakes up the morning after her husband, Jim's (Julian McMahon), fatal car accident to relive the day before his death -- or maybe it's the same day. It's unclear, but all viewers know is that sometimes Linda wakes up and her car-dealer hubby is dearly departed and other times he's still alive.

The problem, of course, is that she's either insane (or, as a priest suggests, a witch with some sort of "shining") or, perhaps, imagining everything in a Lithium-induced dream. Who can be sure? And a halfway through the movie, who even cares any more?

The point is that Linda uses the days on which Jim is alive to show him that she loves him -- even though they weren't really passionate about each other and she eventually discovers that he crashed on his way to cheat on her. Ultimately, she may or may not have a living husband, but she sure-as-Hollywood gets a treacly end to her Groundhog Day spent in emotional hell.

For far more satisfying and trippy time-benders, try Groundhog Day, Deja Vu, and Frequency.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Linda and Jim kiss and are then shown bare-shouldered in bed. Linda discovers her husband was going to have an affair with a co-worker.
Violence Some disturbing images: Jim's casket opens, and viewers see a quick glimpse of a severed head (only the hair is shown) falling. Linda falls onto a bloody dead bird in her yard; a young girl accidentally crashes through a glass door, leaving her face bloody and later in stitches; Linda witnesses Jim's graphic, fatal car accident.
Language The usual: "s--t," "f--k," "damn," etc.
Message
	Social Behavior As she relives the week of her husband's seemingly inevitable death, Linda learns to appreciate the extra time with him and to make sure he knew how much she and their daughters loved him.
	Commercialism Linda clearly drives a Ford SUV, and Jim works at a Ford car dealership.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Grieving Linda drinks wine and takes prescribed Lithium for her erratic behavior.