 | 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. |
Rat Race
- Review Date: May 19, 2003
- PG-13
- Genre: Comedy
- 2001
Common Sense Media says
Vulgar and lowbrow, but very funny.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this PG-13 movie has some vulgar humor, including bathroom jokes, a weird proposition made to a prostitute, an offensive porn movie title, and a cross-dressing man. A multiply-pierced woman flashes her breasts as a way of flirting with a man she does not know (nothing seen).
What's the story?
In RAT RACE, casino owner Sinclair (John Cleese) has a plan to attract the really high rollers -- a race between creatures who can think, plan, and lie -- humans. Six randomly selected customers of the casino are each given a key to a box in a Utah train station. Inside the box is $2 million, and the first one there gets it all. The six include Rowan Atkinson as a narcoleptic Italian, Cuba Gooding, Jr. as a disgraced football referee, Whoopi Goldberg as a woman just reunited with the daughter she hasn't seen since she was a baby, Brecken Meyer as a conservative lawyer who always plays by the rules, Jon Lovitz as a father on vacation with his family, and Seth Green and Vince Vieleuf as small-time con artists. Along the way, they meet up with the prettiest helicopter pilot in the world (Amy Smart), neo-Nazis, real-life superlawyer Gloria Allred, a rocket car, a truck driver delivering some very important and fragile cargo, and a bus full of Lucy impersonators. There is a lot of good, old-fashioned, hit-on-the-head humor, but it's like a Road Runner cartoon -- everyone bounces back without a scratch in the next scene, ready to get right back into the game.
Is it any good?
Rat Race is a loving salute to the spirit of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, a splendid salute to slapstick that featured just about everyone who happened to be in Hollywood in 1965. Rat Race is outrageous, cheerfully vulgar, undeniably lowbrow, and very, very funny. Director Jerry Zucker, shows the sure hand with sight gags that brought us Airplane!. While this one does not have that movie's surreal moments of comic ecstasy, its stronger narrative coherence and more interesting characters make it almost as satisfying.
All of the performances are delights. Kathy Bates's brief cameo as a woman who really likes squirrels and Amy Smart's expression when she dive-bombs her cheating boyfriend (Dean Cain), Vieluf's encounter with his multi-pierced dream girl, Seth Green's encounter with a monster truck rally, and Kathy Najimy's encounter with the Barbie Museum are among the funniest movie moments in years. And the final resolution beats It's a Mad...World by a thousandfold.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about Brecken Meyers's statement that "Good things take time, but great things happen all at once." Why does money make people take such foolish risks? Who were you rooting for? Why? Compare the amount at issue in this movie with the amount that people were racing for in "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World." Why is it so much more?
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AGE
Slap-stick lover's HEAVEN!!!
I saw this movie about one month after I turned 13 with my older brother. A few times language was used and brief sex potty mouth type. The average language you would hear in a public elementary school. You will laugh out loud.
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AGE
Hilarious
This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! I don't think kids under the age of about 11 or 12 should watch it. It's funny, but there are some parts that aren't so nice.
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AGE
i laughed
there telling you that money isn't everything but family, and giving to others makes you feel good about yourself
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Kid, 12 years old
August 1, 2010
AGE
Parental Advisory: Should be Rated R
there is part 2: the end of the word, i say 1+ only can watch it!
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AGE
Parental Advisory: Should be Rated R
there is part 2: the end of the word, i say 1+ only can watch it!
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Kid, 11 years old
August 1, 2010
AGE
Parental Advisory: Should be Rated R
there is part 2: the end of the word, i say 1+ only can watch it!
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AGE
If you want to Laugh, WATCH THIS MOVIE!
This movie is perfect for a family with teenagers that hasn't laughed in a long time. Though there is some nudity, the wacky story sets up a great family movie night to remember forever. Trust me because I had this experience. I really recommend this movie to all people out there.
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AGE
funny comedy
This movie was actully a surprise to me. I dident think I would like It alot actully but I waas wrong for sure. You will laugh. The language is nothing compared to some PG-13 movies and theres some sexual jokes and thats It. Worth checking out.
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AGE
A funny movie you can watch over and over again.
Maybe a little iffy If you should see it or not but I tell you is funny and loads of fun to watch.
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AGE
Perfect movie
This movie was hysterical from beginning to end.
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| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Director: | Jerry Zucker |
| Cast: | Breckin Meyer, Cuba Gooding Jr., Seth Green |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 112 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | August 17, 2001 |
| DVD release date: | January 29, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | sexual references, crude humor, partial nudity and language |
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