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Reel World Reality A ministry of the ChildCare Action Project: Christian Analysis of American Culture (CAP Ministry) A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Christian Ministry. www.capalert.com/ Entertainment Media Analysis Report A service to His little ones through you in His name by His Word MAR2012.009  (2012), PG-13 [R-13*] (86.3min) The #1 Christian entertainment media analysis service on the Internet. We give you OBJECTIVE tools NO ONE ELSE CAN to help YOU make an informed decision for yourself whether a film is fit for your family. Over 1300 analyses for parents, grandparents, pastors, youth leaders and more. |
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(While the Scriptural references are certainly not subjective, my commentary may be and sometimes is somewhat subjective.)
 Production (US): DreamWorks SKG Presents a Work After Midnight Films/Saturn Films Production Distribution (US): Paramount Director(s): Brian Robbins Producer(s): Lars Winther, Marc Haimes, Jane Bartelme, Alain Chabat, Stephanie Danan, Nicolas Cage, Norm Golightly, Brian Robbins, Sharla Sumpter Bridgett Written by: Steve Koren Cinematography/Camera: Clark Mathis Music: John Debney Film Editing: Ned Bastille Casting: Juel Bestrop, Seth Yanklewitz Production Design: Clay A. Griffith Viewed on Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment DVD Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy), a loud-mouthed, fast-talking publishing agent gets his comeuppance. McCall becomes "spiritually connected" to a tree that drops a leaf with every word Jack speaks. It even interprets a vulgar finger gesture. When all the leaves fall off the tree it dies ... and so does Jack. So the story goes. A clever and even ingenious cinematic device indeed, but most of the rest of the content is not so clever nor ingenious. This film presents the typical Murphy mouth. Thirty-four uses of profanity (most by Murphy) plus three abuses of God's name with the four letter expletive, all three by Murphy, not to mention 19 abuses of His name without it by Murphy and others of the cast. McCall seeks to make a lot of money by publishing a book by an extremely popular transcendental meditation New Age motivational speaker, Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis). But the book is only five pages long. Miffed about the world-popular speaker writing a book only five pages long, McCall confronts Sinja with the shortness of the book. With Sinja by his side, McCall notices a strange tree that appeared in his yard drops a leaf with each of McCall's words. Sinja suggests that as a tree dies when all the leaves fall off, McCall will also die. Not long after discovering this phenomenon McCall begins to limit his words to the point of being silent most of the time. If you can imagine a salesman selling publications without speaking, you have Jack. If you can imagine a marriage with a husband that will not speak, you have the marriage between Jack and Caroline (Kerry Washington). Caroline ended up inserting her own words in the blanks left by Jack's silence and the marriage withered away. But what was Jack to do? He would die if he spoke a thousand words. Following are brief discussions of the content per individual content investigation area. As always the Findings section of this report, the heart of the CAP Analysis Model, is the best source for discovering the full accounting of the content of this film. Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 88 out of 100 This is not a violent film at all. The only matters that approach violence include the traffic endangerment to a blind man (John Witherspoon), Jack assaulting Dr. Sinja and Jack sapping the face of his assistant, Aaron (Clark Duke). Impudence/Hate (I) - Zero out of 100 As revealed above, this film uses three/four letter word profanity 34 times plus one use of the most foul of the foul words plus a euphemism of it. [Col. 3:8, Eph. 4:29] Jack intimidates Aaron by threatening Aaron will lose his job if he doesn't do whatever it was Jack wanted ... I thing it was getting cashmere socks. A few lies and instances of false pretense may embolden others to do likewise. [Rev 21:8] Aaron shouts he hates himself several times. A significant claim by the script is the fatalistic expression "Life's not worth living without family." Sexual Immorality (S) - 7 out of 100 While there is no nudity in this film there may as well be what with one of the outfits Caroline wears -- a "kinky sex" outfit. Caroline and one of her friends speak together of the kinky underwear and its intended use. Other women engage in vulgar talk about male anatomy. Sexual innuendo and vulgar male anatomy references are plentiful. There is quite a bit more sexually immoral behaviors and/or imagery in this film. So many more that I would like to ask you to please inspect the listing of sexually immoral findings in this film. [1 Cor. 6:18, Eph. 5:4, Gal. 5:19] Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 19 out of 100 Though not as intense as in some or even many PG-13 films, booze, drinking and drunkenness are present. As are a couple references to illegal drug consumption. No matter how "reduced" the drugs/alcohol content may be by comparison to other PG-13 films, any such content is too much. Too much because of the influence of such content on the "permitted" audience. A 2002 study by the American College of Physicians (ACP) revealed that adolescent exposure to drinking in and as entertainment undeniably leads to abuse of alcohol among underage viewers. The report entitled Relation Between Parental Restrictions on Movies and Adolescent Use of Tobacco and Alcohol reports that of 4544 youths from grades 5 through 8 of fifteen Vermont and New Hampshire middle schools (90% of the youths were under fourteen years old) only 16% were completely restricted in their entertainment diets. Within the ACP study population, the prevalence of having tried alcohol without parental knowledge was There is nothing to say that viewing smoking or possession/consumption of illegal drugs in and as entertainment does not carry the same danger of influence as viewing drinking. Actually, the same matter of behavior implantation applies to any behavior demonstrated in and as entertainment, including good behavior. Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 God's name is abused 22 times, 19 of them without the four letter expletive and 3 of them with it. [Deut. 5:11] In addition to profaning His name, His Word is profaned with multiple references to "New Age" and a "magic" tree dictating the life of a human. Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 out of 100 There are no murders or suicides portrayed in this film. SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S) If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ] or bold. If you wish to have full context available, the Blue Letter Bible is a convenient source. If you use the Blue Letter Bible, a new window will open. Close it to return here or use "Window" in your browser's menu bar to alternate between the CAP page and the Blue Letter Bible page. CHAPTER/VERSE As always, it is best to refer to the Findings/Scoring section -- the heart of the CAP analysis model -- for the most complete assessment possible of this movie. |
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(The objective heart of the CAP Analysis Model, independent of and insulated from the Summary / Commentary section.)   Wanton Violence/Crime (W) - 88 out of 100 Impudence/Hate (I) - Zero out of 100 Sexual Immorality (S) - 7 out of 100 Drugs/Alcohol (D) - 19 out of 100 Offense to God (O) - Zero out of 100 Murder/Suicide (M) - 100 out of 100 |
| There are some in the entertainment industry who maintain that 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violent entertainment and aggressive behavior in children, and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy. Unfortunately, they are wrong on both accounts." And "Viewing violence may lead to real life violence." I applaud these associations for fortifying 1 Cor. 15:33. Read the rest of the story. From our years of study, I contend that other aberrant behaviors, attitudes, and expressions can be inserted in place of "violence" in that statement. Our Director - Child Psychology Support, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist concurs. For example, "Viewing arrogance against fair authority may lead to your kids defying you in real life." Or "Viewing sex may lead to sex in real life." Likewise and especially with impudence, hate and foul language. I further contend that any positive behavior can be inserted in place of "violence" with the same chance or likelihood of being a behavior template for the observer; of being incorporated into the behavior mechanics and/or coping skills of the observer. In choosing your entertainment, please consider carefully the "rest of the story" and our findings. |
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| For G rated Films with G equivalence: G PG equivalence: PG-G PG-13 equivalence: 13-G R equivalence: R-G< | For PG rated Films with G equivalence: G-PG PG equivalence: PG PG-13 equivalence: 13-PG R equivalence: R-PG | For PG-13 rated Films with G equivalence: G-13 PG equivalence: PG(13) PG-13 equivalence: PG-13 R equivalence: R-13 | For R rated Films with G equivalence: G-R PG equivalence: PG-R PG-13 equivalence: 13-R R equivalence: R | For NR rated Films with G equivalence: G-NR PG equivalence: PG-NR PG-13 equivalence: 13-NR R equivalence: R-NR |
