Parents' Guide to The Business

Movie R 2021 97 minutes
The Business movie poster: Man in a pool with arms outstretched, a man holding a shotgun and a woman stand behind him under a blue sky

Common Sense Media Review

Alistair Lawrence By Alistair Lawrence , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 17+

Strong language, violence, and drugs in Brit gangster flick.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 17+?

Any Positive Content?

  • The Business: Man looking at a champagne tower in a dimly lit setting
  • The Business: Man smiling while aiming a gun outdoors
  • The Business: Man in a red jacket with a concerned expression against a plain background
  • The Business: Woman by the sea with a thoughtful expression, wearing a white top

Parent and Kid Reviews

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What's the Story?

THE BUSINESS follows Frankie (Danny Dyer) as he joins the ranks of an expat criminal gang of drug dealers in Spain's Costa del Sol, including Charlie (Tamer Hassan), who takes Frankie under his wing.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

This slog of an underworld tale features plenty of sex, drugs, and violence but lacks any originality. Leading man Dyer has thankfully found roles that make better use of his talents in recent years, but The Business is a reminder of the charmless gangster fare he was typecast into during his younger days. The film is full of two-dimensional characters trading witless insults as they ultimately become their own worst enemies. One minute Dyer's Frankie is a wide-eyed newbie, the next he's a hardened pro in his element. The gaps in his arc and other characters' backstories are hurriedly filled in with exposition-heavy dialogue and narration. The distractingly sweary screenplay is unable to make the most of what should be a reliable premise for this type of story. Writing memorable female characters clearly wasn't in writer-director Nick Love's repertoire in 2005, either, with the women here reduced to bit-part players, punching bags, or vacuous femme-fatales. Sometimes all three. A hit-filled period soundtrack that grounds us in its 1980s setting is the only part that feels authentic.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in The Business. Did you find it exciting and thrilling, or over-the-top? Does exposure to violent media desensitize kids to violence?

  • Talk about some of the language used. Did it seem necessary, or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie? Is a certain level of language expected in a movie like this? If so, why?

  • How were drinking, smoking, and drug use depicted in the film? Were they glamorized? Why does that matter?

  • How were women portrayed in the movie? Did you find this problematic? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

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The Business movie poster: Man in a pool with arms outstretched, a man holding a shotgun and a woman stand behind him under a blue sky

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