Parent reviews for The American President

I have always loved this movie. The casting of each role was spot on. Every single actor could not have been a more perfect fit. They added so much to the roles they played. The writing was top notch and very realistic. It told the story in a captivating way. You were never led off course. The topics were realistic. It was impressive to get a glimpse of what goes on in Washington. It may have been idealistic but with what we’ve got going on in politics now, who couldn’t use this movie to help us forget for a short time what politicians are really like. Syd’s role made me want to rethink my career path and I’m 61 years old. She’s a person with a job that could make huge impacts in America. Something to aspire to. All the scenery was beautiful and realistic . Excellent job all around. I pull this movie out as a favorite go-to movie!

The Common Sense Media rating is completely wrong. It says that there's no sex, but there are multiple conversations about sex, the president and the girl he's courting end up sleeping together. Nothing's shown, but it's a main part of the plot and many conversations afterward refer back to it. Common Sense's rating for language is accurate, but the description only reports three instances of swear words being used. My kids counted well over 15. Based on Common Sense's ratings, we thought that the PG-13 rating probably wasn't merited and decided to watch it with the whole family. That was a bad idea. This movie isn't for kids.

Great romance movie and a cute movie too! However, common sense did lie about the “language” section. “F- -k” is used a few times, not once. Sh-t is used about 6-8 times, not twice. There are also other minor-moderate curse words such as damn, hell, ass, g-ddamn and on one implied use of b-tch. Awesome movie I would recommend this movie to all parents and children ages 14+.

Growing up I didn't watch any kids movies and this movie was one that my mom and I would watch over and over again I was pretty young when I first saw it and I absolutely loved the dynamic between the characters and the plot line was fabulous I'd happily watch it again and I recommend it to anyone who loves a good political and kookie romance.

Kids won't likely be interested in this witty, funny, and moving political romance. I heard of it because I was a fan of the writer's (Aaron Sorkin) later TV series THE WEST WING, also about politics (there's a review for it on COMMONSENSE). But, even if you're not a WEST WING fan, there's tons to love in this movie. It's funny, smart, filled with witty dialogue, and packed with great performances. It's okay for teens and up, and maybe some mature preteens. As COMMONSENSE warns, Andy and Sydney sleep together early on in their relationship. Onscreen, they have a conversation about how she's not comfortable with physical intimacy because he's the President. Then, she comes out of his bathroom in only one of his T-shirts (nothing is shown, as it covers sensitive spots). They start kissing, and nothing at all is shown after that. However, the next 15-20 minutes of the film are devoted to the media scandal that results from her spending the night with him. Be prepared for several scenes where the media makes reference to their sex, and even one where a President hopeful lies about Sydney giving "sexual favors" in exchange for votes. The President never comments on his relationship with her to the press, so the act of their pre-marital sex is neither condoned or portrayed as bad. Make sure young kids know your policy about pre-marital sex before watching the film (if you haven't spoke of it yet, this film could be a good launch point for discussion). If kids know the consequences of pre-marital sex, the film should be fine. If not, they might get some wrong ideas from the President and Sydney's relationship. In addition, we've got 2 "f**k"s, 4-5 "s**t"s, 3-4 "a*s"s, and several "d**n"s and "h*ll"s.