Parent reviews for Bend It Like Beckham

a lot of talk about "shagging" and bra fittings -- wasn't a good fit for my 10 year old boy

I had to watch this for school and I enjoyed it to some extend, however, I would say it is for kids because at some points I cringed so hard that I needed a coffee break. However, If you think about the movie more deeply there are some things to analyze with the big themes of Stereotyping, Cultural differences, Relationship with parents, etc... If I was little, I wouldnt liked to watch that movie - cmon, your kids want to watch star wars and not bend it like beckham.

VERY FUNNY COMEDY should be rated PG great movie for soccer fans and girls that want to become pro-soccer players in their future there is some sex between Jes and Joe Jes's sister breaking up and language like p***y (used once), s**t (used 4 times), a*s (used once), and some racist language like paki also british slang like sh*g, and some partial nudity in the girl's lockeroom with a couple of girls in their underwear and bras, but includes great role models and great messages for kids with the age of 10.

I liked this movie alot when I was a teenager. I have never been into soccer or any sport outside of martial arts (specifically Taekwondo) but I really enjoyed the movie alot. It has some funny parts but it's not appropriate for young children. Two of the girls fight over the affections of their male coach and it almost ruins their friendship but they work it out and it turns out good in the end. No one really gets the guy at the end and the focus is more on the girls becoming friends and bonding over soccer. The one Hindi (?) girl is forbidden by her parents to play soccer and is also shown to have a scar from a burn that makes her slightly self conscious. Another girl's mother thinks her daughter is a lesbian just because she plays sports, even though she isn't. And one of the characters male friends is gay but he is also a very likable character. A great movie for older preteens and teenagers regardless of whether they like sports or not. There's also a drinking scene if I remember correctly so I am marking drinking and there is language since this is a PG-13.

Great role models for everyone and no violence ,Brilliant film

Likable and engaging film which has good messages about girls in sports, and offers a humorous and occasionally touching portrait of a Sikh family in London. Some of the conflicts are a bit repetitive and the resolutions a bit pat, but nevertheless it's hard not to get caught up in the film. Only gripe is the romantic interest between the coach of the girls' team and his two star players, who are presumably 18 but not yet in university. Maybe this relationship is less strange in Britain -- are these girls even still in school? But from an American frame of reference we see a 25 year old coach falling for his high school age player (who at least shares his feelings). I watched it with my 9yo and on the plus side it gave us a chance to talk about how inappropriate this would be in real life. You could also easily skirt the issue because there's no explicit reference to the girls being in school and the lead actress is actually 2 years older than Jonathan Rhys Meyer, which is probably why this issue didn't even strike me the first time I saw the film. I think in the long run though it is best to educate kids about harassment and consent, and believe the film's message of female empowerment would have landed better had it not glamorized a romantic tryst between a teen and an authority figure.

I have seen this film twice and enjoyed it both times. I watched it this week paying careful attention to what age group it would work for and think 11+ is great, possibly even younger. I like the blend of everything mentioned in my title - the fashions, traditions, music of the Indian family plotline, and the friendship, sports and girlpower of the rest of the story. As warnings to other parents, I normally don't care that much about swearing in a movie, but the first scene had more language than I was expecting in this type of movie, as did some other scenes. The only sexual scenes are two kisses, and a scene where a car is rocking, then we see an engaged couple fully clothed who appear to have been seriously making out. In terms of whether the coach-player relationship is in appropriate for kids, it is mentioned early in the movie that it is not allowed for a coach to date a player, but the relationship in the movie seemed very natural to me, in part because the characters appeared to be close in age (Jess is supposed to be 18 or 19 but seems older, and the coach is 25ish). Also, only one kiss happens while he is her coach. The last warning about the movie is the two sisters repeatedly lie and sneak around to their parents which may bother some viewers. Yet, this child dream vs traditional parent is the central conflict of the movie so you have to know this will be part of the plot from the start. Ultimately, it's clear that the characters do love and respect each other, and are willing to sacrifice for the other. A fun, uplifting and funny movie.