Parents' Guide to

Identity Thief

By S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Great stars can't rescue uneven, sometimes violent comedy.

Movie R 2013 100 minutes
Identity Thief Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 14 parent reviews

age 12+

Not that crude.

The sexual references are very mild compared to most slapsticks. As long as you've had the talk, you're in the clear. The internet will expose your kids to much worse than this.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much swearing
age 17+

Good but ROB

Very good but just content and language

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (14):
Kids say (47):

IDENTITY THIEF makes off with a few of your hours that you might find yourself missing. Not because of Bateman and McCarthy, mind you; they have an authenticity and likeability that save this comedy from true ruin. Their chemistry makes their unlikely team-up -- and subsequent journey -- believable and even understandable.

The problem lies in the script. Identity Thief can't seem to decide what it wants to be: Is it a road-trip comedy? A buddy comedy? An absurdist, violent, witty mayhem extravaganza (a la Quentin Tarantino)? Too many characters are given little to do; in the end, they seem like red herrings that distract from, not add to, the movie's potential greatness. Some of the jokes seem mean-spirited, too: We're asked to sympathize with Diana, even as the movie makes her a discomfittingly easy mark. We can put up with the enormous suspension of disbelief that the movie demands, but we do have our limits.

Movie Details

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