Ready to Rumble

  • Review Date: May 7, 2003
  • PG-13
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2000
 Review

Common Sense Media says

PG-13 movie has a lot of R-type material.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that, despite the rating, this movie has a lot of R-type material, including incessant and very raw potty humor, strong language, sexual references, and a bare behind. Part of the adventure is sexual initiation for both of the leading characters. A bad guy tells an employee to have sex with someone to find out what he is up to. A girl "presents" a boy with sex as a gift.

  • Wrestling violence, mostly comic, but brutal at times.
  • Brief bare behind, many sexual references.
  • Some strong language, many euphemisms.

What's the story?

In READY TO RUMBLE, David Arquette and Scott Caan play Gordie and Sean, two likeable doofuses who worship "the King" -- wrestling champion Jimmy King (Oliver Platt), who seems to have appropriated his accent and substance abuse problem from that other King, Elvis. Horrified when the King is defeated by Diamond Dallas Page, they resolve to help him regain the title. This process leads them to encounter a van full of nuns singing Van Halen's "Driving with the Devil," a sultry Nitro Girl named Sasha (Rose McGowan), a tough old wrestling coach (Martin Landau), and the King's bitter ex-wife (Caroline Rhea) and snaggle-toothed son.


Is it any good?

 

For all those out there who can't wait for the next Adam Sandler movie, and especially for those who find those Adam Sandler movies a little too intellectually challenging, we now have "Ready to Rumble," a sort of Bill and Ted's Excellent Wrestling Adventure.

Arquette and Caan are hard to resist. Most actors who play clueless characters can't resist show-boating to let us know how clever they are. Arquette and Caan just open themselves up to the inner dope. Their simple exhuberence, loyalty, and sweetness keep this movie from feeling too sour or tired. The able support of character actors like Platt, Landau, Joe Pantoliano (as the wrestling promoter), the sadly underused Rhea, an assortment of wrestling superstars like Goldberg and Sting and some good music help to keep it moving. This may also be the only soundtrack in history to feature both Kid Rock and Aaron Copeland.


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This review was written by Nell Minow
Parent
July 11, 2011
 
Think twice!
My son is 5 and a big WWE fan, so despite it being rated PG13, I figured it might be a good watch for him. Was I wrong!! This should have been rated R due to the language and the MANY sexual references. Girls barely dressed, and at one point, there was a bare butt.

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Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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This review was written by Nell Minow
Studio:Warner Bros.
Director:Brian Robbins
Cast:David Arquette, Oliver Platt, Scott Caan
Genre:Comedy
Run time:107 minutes
Theatrical release date:April 7, 2000
DVD release date:September 19, 2000
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:language, crude humor, sexual content including brief nudity, and wrestling violence

This review was written by Nell Minow
 

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About our rating system
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.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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