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Parents' Guide to

Head of State

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Chris Rock runs for president.

Movie PG-13 2003 95 minutes
Head of State Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 13+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Lowe's man
Lowe's man Adult
February 18, 2016
age 15+

Ideas compensate for lack of experience by this candidate.

There is sexual humor that was put in just for the sake of it. Some of the other unclean humor was unnecessary as well. For those reasons I'd have reservations about showing this movie to anyone 12-14. That said, Chris Rock's character had some good ideas drawn from good points. (The most memorable was in a campaign speech: "People work in a hospital that they can't afford to get sick in.") It is because of ideas like these that he was able to beat a candidate with more experience, something that should happen more often in elections in real life. The message of this movie is that ideas beat experience. Mays obviously stuck up for low wage workers and the poor.
Aidan S.
Aidan S. Adult
September 12, 2015
age 11+
some sexual refrences and language
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Chris Rock makes an appealing Presidential candidate in HEAD OF STATE, a comedy about Mays Gilliam, a Washington D.C. alderman who is thrown into the race after a plane crash kills the candidates for President and Vice President just weeks before the election. The idea is to use Mays as a placeholder so that one of the party regulars can be the candidate in 2008. At first, Mays does what he is told by the party's handlers. He wears a suit and tie and speaks in meaningless platitudes. Then he decides to be himself and speak from his heart and the voters begin to respond.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (3 ):

Yes, it's a little bit Rocky and a little bit Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. And it's more than a little bit Chris Rock's stand-up routine. But his stand-up is pretty funny, and a lot funnier than his previous movies. This one, directed and co-written by Rock, is a real-life version of the story it tells. Rock is breaking away from what he had been told to do to succeed in Hollywood and just being himself, which makes this a nice way to spend 90 minutes.

The joke success to failure rate is above average, as Rock goes after men, women, whites, blacks, voters, and just about everyone and everything else. Thankfully, the movie avoids the easy "white people with no soul get taught how it's done by black people" clichés. I loved it when Mays abandoned his generic campaign ads and conservative suits in favor of gangsta-flava'd music-video-style spots and threads. It's a shame to waste Robin Givens by making her character a one-note shrieking harpy, and Rock cannot act at all, but he does get some able support from Lynn Whitfield and Dylan Baker as political advisors and Tamala Jones as the sweet girl he'd like as his first lady.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why what Mays says is so appealing to voters. His diagnoses of the problems may be right, but does he offer any solutions? When are we likely to have a black President, and who is it likely to be? What does it mean to "dress for the job you want?" Was it true that the options Mays had were limited because he had to represent the entire black race the way a white candidate would not? Why was Lisa's advice to "run your race" so important?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: March 28, 2003
  • On DVD or streaming: August 12, 2003
  • Cast: Bernie Mac , Chris Rock , Dylan Baker
  • Director: Chris Rock
  • Inclusion Information: Black directors, Black actors
  • Studio: DreamWorks
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Run time: 95 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • MPAA explanation: language, some sexuality and drug references
  • Last updated: June 4, 2023

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