Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Not for kids 17 and under
Unfunny "comedy" is crude, profane, drug-filled.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this over-the-top gross-out comedy from Adam Sandler's production company is riddled with crude jokes, some of which are (most likely quite intentionally) offensive: Characters make fun of how Mexicans speak and talk about women as if they're nothing more than sex objects. Even animals are sexualized (yuck). There's some nudity -- random women dancing bare-breasted in thongs and close-ups of male genitalia -- and frequent drug use (particularly marijuana). The characters swear a blue streak, especially favoring "f--k" and derivations thereof).
- Families can talk about why Hollywood is motivated to produce gross-out comedies. What's their appeal? Why are some successful (and actually funny), while others fall flat? What makes a good comedy? When does humor fall under the category of "in poor taste"? Who determines what counts as "bad taste" to begin with?
The good stuff
-
Positive messages: Peter has a soft heart, but he's also lazy, obnoxious, and crude. He lies and does whatever is necessary to get what he wants, and he's chauvinistic and prejudiced, too (women are treated as sex objects, and Mexicans' speech is mocked). His competitor belittles him, and his crew clearly doesn't respect him. But it's apparent that Peter is proud of his father and wants to save his legacy. And buried somewhere amid the bad jokes is a message about the value of friendship.
What to watch for
-
Violence: Clips of vultures feasting on a dead zebra's head; friends take a swing at each other; a man regales a crowd with stories of why his private parts are mangled; a TV crew is killed, with one man's torso cut in half (the scene is played for laughs); a man hits another with a frying pan; scenes of people attacked at sea, with the water turning bloody.
-
Sex: Lots of crude jokes about sex and body parts; one scene shows bare-breasted women dancing; a man's mangled genitalia are shown up close; scenes of animals mating; a turkey fastens its beak onto a man's genitals; a camera catches a man having sex with someone else's wife; countless jokes about the name "Dick."
-
Language: A blue streak. There's a constant barrage of "f--k" (and "motherf--ker"), "bitch," "s--t," "a--hole," and more.
-
Consumerism: The logo for the fictional TV station that airs Peter's show, KPIP, is clearly visible a few times, as is the one for his show (also named Strange Wilderness).
-
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of scenes of characters smoking marijuana (sometimes with bongs). One character is an alcoholic. A trip turns into a free-for-all when everyone inhales nitrous.