American Beauty (1999) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: R BBFC: 18 Maturity Rating 18+

MPAA Reason: Rated R for strong sexuality, language, violence and drug content.

BBFC Reason: Contains strong language, once very strong, strong sex, violence & drug use

BBFC Ratings info: AMERICAN BEAUTY is a US drama in which a man has a mid-life crisis. Language: There is infrequent very strong language ('c**t'), use of strong language ('f**k', 'c**ksucker'), and milder terms. Sex: In one scene a man thrusts between a woman's legs, showing buttock nudity and building to an implied orgasm. There are also scenes of implied masturbation, including a sequence implying a man is masturbating while thinking of a 17 year old girl. He later attempts to have sex with her, but stops after parting her top to reveal her breasts. Violence: Scenes include a father beating up his son, and a man being shot. The shooting results in a splash of blood against a wall and is followed by sight of the victim lying in a pool of blood. Drugs: There is sight of marijuana smoking.

Sex & Nudity

severe

A man removes his clothes and exercises in the reflection of a window. Bare buttocks are shown. A man attempts to have sex with a girl he removes her shirt and reveals her breasts but it goes as far as that. Lester's teenage daughter Jane is shown looking at breast enhancers on the internet. The pictures of breasts on her computer screen are visible. There are sexual subjects about how a teen girl has had sex with an adult man. She talks about how she enjoyed it. Another subject involves her talking to her friend saying that if her dad will work out she will have sex with him. A teenage girl (played by a young woman) dances seductively and unzips the front of her dress. Rose petals fly out of it, obscuring most of her skin from view. A teenage girl (played by a young woman) appears naked on the ceiling with rose petals covering her breasts and pubic area. A teenage girl (played by a young woman) talks about how men have ogled her since she was twelve. She says that she enjoys the attention and that she likes it when men want to "f--k her by just looking at" her and that it ensures her modeling career. A teenage girl asks a girl if she's ever seen her dad in his underwear. She then comments that she bets he has a "big dick." A middle age man has a dream of his teenage daughter's friend in the bathtub. It's full of rose petals and he touches the rose petals and she orgasms and moans. There is obviously seductive stuff in the tub. A man watches two men smoke pot from a distance but mistakes the act as oral sex. A teenage boy hangs out with his girlfriend in his room. He's completely nude and we briefly see his bare buttocks a few times. There is no sex in this scene. A girl shows her breasts to a boy through her window next door. A couple of scenes where a man masturbates (no nudity seen). One scene has his wife next to him watching before waking him up and yelling at him. There is an aggressive sex scene in a hotel room. There is loud moaning and hard thrusting. The sheet is pulled up before anything explicit is shown. A teenage girl (played by a young woman) kisses her best friend's 41-year-old father on the lips after purposefully seducing him.

Violence & Gore

moderate

A man gets angry at his family and throws a plate of food against the wall. A woman slaps her daughter across the face. A man beats his teenage son twice. He is shown bloody and bruised afterwards. The colonel shoots Lester in the back of the head, blood splatters all over the wall in front of him, a lot of blood is seen on the killer's shirt and face. The blood is leaking out the man's head on the table. A man beats his son a couple times throughout the film. Not particularly gory but it can be intense for some. A man is shown with a ton of blood gushing out of his head at the end of the movie.

Profanity

severe

A young man and his father refer to a gay couple as "f----ts" and "f-gs." 2 uses of b*tch. Contains a lot of profanity Slang terms for masturbation such as jerking off, whacking off. 1 use of dick 25 uses of "f*ck", some are used in a sexually explicit way. Many uses of "shit", 1 use of "c**t" and "cocksucker"

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

moderate

Jane and Angela smoke pot in a car. Jane and Angela smoke cigarettes outside the school. Teenagers smoke and drink. Also smoke marijuana. An 18 year old man deals marijuana and is also shown smoking it on several occasions. A middle aged man is shown smoking pot frequently. People drink on several occasions. Lester and Carolyn get tipsy at a business party.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

moderate

The ending may be emotional. The main character of the movie is a disappointed and sad person