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Beautiful Girls

(1996, Rated R, Comedy, Starring Matt Dillon, Timothy Hutton, Uma Thurman)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 15.

  • Is it any good?

    2.0

  • Common Sense says

    Talky '90s romance; kids may be "just not into" it.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 15–18

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Most, if not all, of the heroes eventually make mature decisions, including forgiving ex-lovers for rejecting them and breaking off an affair with a married woman. Still, their actions include physical threats against other posses of guys, acting spitefully toward old girlfriends, and indulging in lots and lots of drinking. One briefly considers an affair with a (willing) adolescent girl, with the qualifier that the two of them would wait until she becomes of legal age.

  • Violence:

    Fighting in a bar brawl, ending with one character beaten so badly he needs hospitalization.

  • Sex:

    One of the characters shown in a bra. Nudity glimpsed only semi-indistinctly in pinup posters and girlie magazines. No sex shown, but lots of talk, including a 13-year-old girl who deliberately shocks by speaking favorably about "male contraception." One wife is having an adulterous affair. One character utters an explicit monologue about the differences in bodies between "real" woman and idealized/airbrushed "models." Jokey references to masturbation.

  • Language:

    Pretty much the whole spectrum of profanity is heard.

  • Consumerism:

    Food-product labels, liquor brands, references to MTV, works of literature, and a strange male fetish for Neil Diamond and the vintage TV miniseries "Rich Man/Poor Man."

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Much social and private alcohol drinking, including inebriation, and some cigarette smoking.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Beautiful Girls

Parents need to know that this ensemble comedy-drama about occasionally loutish guys and the girls who love them (or don't) has an abundance of swearing and sexually-oriented banter, including marital infidelity. No actual sex happens, however; just lots of talk about it and quick rifling through pages of a porno magazine. The female characters can trash-talk as strongly as the men at times. The loose plotline isn't the strongest grabber for young attention spans, despite a gallery of recognizable mainstream Hollywood stars in the cast.

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Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the characters and the choices they make. Ask kids of dating age if they relate to any of the attitudes here. Since the (faint) structure of the plot is provided by a ten-year high-school reunion and the soul-searching it brings, you could discuss with teenage viewers the choices they are making now, and how they might affect them in 10 years.
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