El Camino Christmas

Gun shots, characters shot and injured, shot and killed. Police engage in an inept gunfight in which they unwittingly fire on each other. An alcoholic police officer shoots at the lead character's car during a pursuit. A police officer arrests a man just passing through town on a trumped-up charge and beats him with a billy club during the interrogation. An alcoholic man is jumped by a group of young men outside a bar and beaten up. Reference to domestic violence.

The mother of one of the characters talks to her daughter with her grandson present about having sex with the man she was on a date with the night before, and how bad he was in bed. This same mother jokes of having sex with the cable guy. A police officer sits at his desk looking through a pornographic magazine. Sex referred to as "the hokey-pokey."

Frequent use of "f--k." "S--t," "bitch," "crap," "pecker," "Jesus."

Characters drink heavily. A lead character is an alcoholic and introduces himself as "Charles Bukowski" (the late legendary writer known for being a heavy drinker). A police officer character is an alcoholic and gets drunk on duty, leading to many bad decisions. Tequila, wine, beer drinking. Drinking in a bar, including a bar fight. Some marijuana smoking. A police officer uses chewing tobacco. Police officers talk of arresting a teenager who had a meth lab in a barn.

Parents need to know that El Camino Christmas is a 2017 dark comedy in which a young man on a road trip in search of his father ends up falsely accused of taking hostages in a liquor store. The movie verges on being depressing rather than funny. It's a self-consciously anti-feel-good Christmas movie, and as such, the attempt at noir cynicism manifests itself through alcoholism, inept police officers, and frequent swearing, including regular use of "f--k." An alcoholic and corrupt police officer of the small town in which the movie is set beats up the lead character with a billy club after arresting him under false charges. This officer later is shown drunk while on duty and shooting his gun at the lead character's car during a pursuit. The police are shown to be inept -- especially in a scene in which they think they're exchanging gunfire with the alleged hostage taker but are actually shooting at each other. Some characters are shot and killed, others shot and injured. Besides all the alcohol consumption, there's marijuana smoking, cigarette smoking, and tobacco chewing. The mother of one of the lead characters talks to her grown daughter about having sex with the cable guy and also about the lack of sexual prowess of the man she was on a date with the night before, all while a young boy is in the room listening. Those wanting heartwarming holiday fare, or even a holiday-themed comedy, should look elsewhere, as the uneven story and self-conscious cynicism don't even succeed as an antidote to sappy Christmas movies.

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