This movie teaches preteens what real life problems are. There are many things to discuss with your kids. Almost every teen will somehow encounter gangs and stuff like that. If you think your kid(s) can handle the fact that there are gangs doing bad stuff and people stealing vehicles, then it is nice to show this film to them. I'm hearing that there's an f-bomb in this film, but I watched this in the airplane and maybe they censored it, but there are still mild obscenities scattered throughout this film. And this film also depicts some drug use. But despite all that, there are strong positive messages and role models by the main characters. The son is bad at first, but then he eventually turns good. Demian Bichir gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the main character. There's one scene at the end that will break everybody's heart. I thought the director from New Moon (the second film of the Twilight film series) was going to fail again like he did with New Moon, but this time, he completely switched gears and made the movie that everybody will love.