Spring Breakdown

  • Review Date: May 31, 2009
  • R
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2009
Review

Common Sense Media says

Raunchy comedy is a waste of time, brain cells.
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 this is a comedy that takes the concept of spring break to its most outrageous levels. While there is no actual nudity, college-aged girls wear bikinis, tight shorts, thongs, etc. and little else throughout the film. The dialogue is filled with references to body parts, coarse swearing, and crude language, all delivered to get laughs. Sexual episodes include: lots of sexy dancing, passionate kissing, girls kissing, a "threesome," and a glimpse of a gay massage. Kids, having no adult supervision, spend a week dancing, drinking, getting drunk, and letting their libidos run wild. Even the semi-sensible adults, of which there are only a few, get caught up in the rowdy, self-indulgent, never-ending party.

  • Positive messages0
    Young women are shown to be two-faced, cliquish, and cruel, while some, with less self-confidence, are willing to do anything to be accepted into the group.  Most suffer no remorse, nor are there consequences for bad behavior. Homosexuality is seen only as a stereotype. A blind man is the brunt of a recurring joke. Everything, however, is depicted as over-the-top, ridiculous behavior not meant to be imitated or taken seriously.
  • Violence1
    Slapstick roughhousing, including salsa wrestling, girls fighting clumsily, a character hit with a football, a whack in the face, a false threat with a "loaded gun," and a dead cat seen from a short distance.
  • Sex3
    Frequent sexual references. Female bodies are rarely seen in anything other than bikinis, thongs, short shorts, tight tube tops, or wet T-shirts. There is passionate male-female kissing, slobbering, girls kissing, sexy dancing, bumps, grinds, a "threesome," and a brief scene with a gay massage in process. However, there is no nudity, and there are no serious sexual encounters.
  • Language3
    Constant swearing, racy language, and sexual dialogue: "eat me," "s--t," "take a leak,"  "piece of a--," "turd," "smell like a--," "feel like a--," "butt-sucking,"  "bitch," "horny," "penis," "bone me," "went down on a guy" and numerous instances of "slut." The F-word, however, is kept to a minimum.   
  • Consumerism0
    Not applicable.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking4
    College kids and immature adults spend a week drinking to excess and partying non-stop. Almost every scene shows someone chug-a-lugging beer, doing shots, and getting wildly drunk. 
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What's the story?

Three young women: Gayle O'Brien (Amy Poehler), Becky St. Germaine (Parker Posey) and Judi Joskow (Rachel Dratch), have been best friends since college. They were nerds then, and even though they stuck together and their friendship was strong, they longed to be "cool" and popular. SPRING BREAKDOWN finds them fifteen years later and nothing's changed. They're single working women, still feeling like outsiders. When Becky's boss, Senator Kay Bee Hartmann (Jane Lynch doing a dead-on parody of... Jane Lynch), sends her to watch over her daughter Ashley (Amber Tamblyn), Gayle and Judi join her. The three bring their blissful obliviousness to the non-stop drunken party, where they find that Ashley is more like them than the "in-crowd" she's courting. Many beers and much dirty dancing later, Ashley saves what minor self-respect she has, and our heroines return to reality a little bit (very little) wiser.

Is it any good?

 

After the enormous success of bawdy comedies in which inept, socially-awkward man-boys find joy and solace in each other's company (Superbad, Role Models, I Love You Man), three very talented women go for the gold for their gender.

Unfortunately, they wind up humiliating themselves in a movie with too little story, too few laughs, and amateurish production values that led them straight to DVD-land. It's a frenzy of skimpy bikinis, racy dialogue, drunken partying, and women trying way too hard to be stupider and more unconscious than they look. Could it be that it's impossible for women to appear that clueless?

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What families can talk about

Families can talk about how real or unreal this spring break is. What are some of the real consequences that might result from the wild behavior? How do you think the relationship between Ashley and her mother changed after spring break? When, if ever, do you think it's acceptable to set aside your values and your sense of right and wrong in order to be accepted by your peers? Discuss how it might feel to be different. What are some things you can do to appreciate your own specialness?

This review was written by Renee Schonfeld

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This review was written by Renee Schonfeld
Studio:Warner Bros.
Director:Ryan Shiraki
Cast:Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Rachel Dratch
Genre:Comedy
Run time:84 minutes
DVD release date:June 2, 2009
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:for crude humor and sexual references
This review was written by Renee Schonfeld
 

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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.
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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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