Parents' Guide to

Big Trouble

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Sharp, funny movie for high schoolers and up.

Movie PG-13 2002 85 minutes
Big Trouble Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 1 parent review

IsisAndOsiris1
IsisAndOsiris1 Parent of 8, 12 and 13-year-old
June 17, 2010
age 16+
The movie is hilarious but almost all the humor is adult. The violence is all done in a humerous fashion. The sexual content is a little on the heavy side (including mentioning a possible threesome, cheating on a spouse, and a foot fetish, in different scenes), but is also done humorously and not raunchy or overly graphic. The partial nudity is a man's rear end and not part of any sex scene. The movie is great for adults and older teens. The end of the movie is uplifting because of the repairs made in the relationship between a divorced father and his 17 year old son. My daughter is a naive 15, and we still won't let her watch it but probably will when she is 16. It is one of my favorite movies, and I agree that it is a borderline R movie.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much swearing
Great messages
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In BIG TROUBLE, Tim Allen plays Eliot Arnold, a once-successful columnist reduced to writing ad copy after an altercation with his boss. He is held in contempt by his teen son Matt (Ben Foster), who is on a quest to "kill" pretty classmate Jenny (Zooey Deschanel) by squirting her with a water gun in a tag-like game. Meanwhile, Jenny's stepfather Arthur (Stanley Tucci) is the target of a less benign hitman for stealing money from some bad guys. A couple of cops (Jeaneanne Garofolo and Patrick Warburton), a Frito-loving, tree-sitting, strong but sweet guy with a Jesus hairdo (Jason Lee), a couple of Russians who deal weapons, a nuclear device that looks like a garbage disposal, a remarkable number of televisions with their screens shot out, and a herd of goats all manage to play a part before things get resolved.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (2):

If not quite as sharp as it could be, "Big Trouble" is still a sharp, funny movie. Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Berry, it has a terrific cast getting caught up in delicious comic chaos seasoned with a couple of howlingly funny wisecracks.

The translation of book to screen is uneven, primarily because the story is all situation and no character. Even with exceptionally strong personalities in the roles and a director with a refreshing combination of a laid-back tone and a brisk pace, the film still asks too much of the audience by wanting us to care about characters we hardly know.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the relationship between Matt and Eliot and between Jenny and her mother and step-father. They should also talk about the decision faced by the film-makers following September 11. Should they have changed the story, in addition to delaying the release?

Movie Details

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