| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know that while the tone remains light-comedic, the film includes frequent sexual references and images, including jokes about "close" male friendships, effeminate men, and domineering women. Three sex scenes in beds (two comically show beds slamming through walls as superwomen are on top of partners). A character makes repeated sexual remarks about women; a black supervisor at work discusses sexual harassment and feels offended when Matt carelessly calls her "homegirl." Violence is cartoonish and frequent (explosions, robbery ending in gunfire at superbodied G-Girl, falls, slamming through ceilings and walls). Characters drink wine and beer. Villain smokes cigarettes.
When Matt (Luke Wilson) first meets Jenny (Uma Thurman) on a NYC subway, he thinks she's demure and sweet, her head buried in her book, her brown hair straight and simple. And when he recovers her purse from a mugger, he feels empowered, even if he did hide in a dumpster with the purse. But as the newly forming couple walks off down an alley, the camera cranes up to show the would-be robber hanging from a grate four stories up, where Jenny has thrown him. And now you know: Her secret identity is G-Girl, blond superhero and local celebrity.
Energetic and deliberately absurd, MY SUPER EX-GIRLFRIEND makes fun of comic-book/action movie and romantic comedy conventions. Written by former Simpsons scribe Don Payne and directed by Ivan Reitman, the movie also takes a few jabs at traditional gender roles, not to mention typical anxieties concerning sex and commitment.
There is some spastic violence on the street (cars tossed, spinning tornado effects, buildings broken) as well as the sorts of revelations you might expect for a happy ending. But the film's most delightful element is not special-effected; it's (Eddie Izzard's performance as Professor Bedlam. He's funny, charming, and surprising, this last especially hard to be in a movie so fond of clichés.
Families can talk about effective ways to "break up" with boy- and girlfriends. How does the movie's comic violence make fun of this usually painful process?
How does the film show that teasing in high school can lead to long-lasting hurt feelings?
How might Jenny have treated her friend Barry more generously?
| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Ivan Reitman |
| Cast: | Eddie Izzard, Luke Wilson, Uma Thurman |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 95 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 21, 2006 |
| DVD release date: | December 19, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | for sexual content, crude humor, language and brief nudity. |