Stealing Beauty (R, 1996)

Stealing Beauty is an example of a movie that wouldn't harm a teenager of any age if they say it. But that probably most teenagers wouldn't understand the deeper implications of. Yes the movie has nudity, it has sex, it has drug use, language, and even less than perfect people, but it does have some very pointed things to say about how people grow up and how they come to encased into the lives that they build for themselves. As for the main concern of the movie's central protagonist played by Liv Tyler it is losing her virginity. It's handled with a certain amount of leering grace but after all the movie is by Bernardo Bertolucci the infamous filmmaker behind Last Tango in Paris, so it isn't all that surprising. The movie would be a good starting point for some parents to talk about sex with their son or daughter as the finale has a really tender and loving sex scene while Lucy loses her virginity. The scene is bound to go against the standards that most teenagers have seen or assumed about sex and real passes the act off in a realistic light. The characters fumble over things like positions and getting their clothes situated. It's quite a beautiful scene and one that I wish more filmmakers would try to emulate if they insist on having love scenes in their movies. In the end the movie is very humane towards it's characters and very respectful of them. Teenagers could do much worse than see this movie.