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Les Misérables | 2012 | PG-13 | - 5.6.4

Musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel: In 19th century France Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is released from prison after almost two decades of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread. He continues to be pursued by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe) for breaking parole, as he tries to redeem himself by taking care of dying factory worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway) and her daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfried). Also with Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks and Isabelle Allen. Directed by Tom Hooper. [2:37]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - A man pulls a woman's dress off her shoulder, kisses her neck, lifts her skirt, he pushes her back onto a makeshift bed and thrusts on top of her while she cries; he pays her and leaves.
 In a brief scene a woman is seen sitting on a man dressed as Santa and she thrusts sexually while exclaiming.
 A man touches a woman's clothed breast. A man caresses a woman's leg. A man lifts up a woman's skirt using his cane and touches her clothed breasts (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman sits on a man's lap and caresses his neck. A man kisses a woman to distract her and then steals the chair she had been sitting in. A man talks to women working in his sewing factory and slaps one woman on the clothed buttock while saying, "sitting on your bum."
 A man's short pants reveal the lower portion of his bare buttocks in a couple of scenes. Women (implied to be prostitutes) wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage and bare shoulders. Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage in a drinking establishment. A woman wears a deeply cut dress that reveals her ample cleavage. A young woman is shown lashing her breasts to disguise herself as a young man.
 Several women are shown standing and making invitations to men as they pass (it is implied that the women are prostitutes). Women in a drinking establishment appear to be propositioning customers. A woman acts in a flirtatious manner with a man in a couple of scenes and they kiss. A woman acts in a flirtatious manner with men in a few scenes and then steals from them. A man kisses a young woman on the head after she dies.
 A husband and his wife kiss. A husband kisses his wife's hand. Men and women dance at a wedding celebration.
 Several women in a sewing factory argue over a letter and when confronted by management one of the women says that another woman "Earns her keep sleeping around," that she has a child and that her husband left her. A man makes suggestive remarks to a worker in a sewing factory and refers to her as "A prim and clean virgin." A man accuses a woman of being less that pure and clean.

VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - A battle sequence shows a flurry of gunfire and we see men collapsing from being struck: a man takes aim at another man and a young woman disguised as a young man grabs the gun's barrel and presses it to her chest (she is shot and falls to the ground where we see blood collecting on her chest and she dies). During a battle sequence cannons are loaded and fired at a barricade causing the wood to splinter and several men fall dead (we see some bloody wounds), a man is stabbed with a bayonet and other men fight hand-to-hand; several men run into a building and they are shot through the floor, several men are held at gunpoint and then shot repeatedly at close range and one man falls out a window hanging by his leg and we see him soaked with blood; we see piles of dead bodies and a river of blood on a street.
 A young boy is shot at and then shot twice and he falls back dead (a man rushes to retrieve the boy's body and we see the boy lying dead with his eyes open). A man jumps off a bridge and lands on a cement wall in swirling water below, killing himself; we see his body wash away with the flowing water.
 We see many men and young men loading weapons and preparing for a rebellion; they interrupt a military funeral procession and gunfire is exchanged (we see an elderly woman struck and she falls to the ground, presumably dead, no blood is seen); men with swords on horseback ride through and slash people on the ground.
 A man draws a sword on another man who grabs a plank of wood and they fight (the fight ends before either man is injured). Several men grab and restrain another man after a boy accuses him of lying; the man struggles and fights back until he is struck in the head and he falls unconscious (no blood is seen). A man pulls a knife on another man; he then fires a gun in the air and tells him to leave (the man is uninjured). A man holds a barrel of gunpowder and threatens to blow it and himself up (he does not).
 We see many men (prisoners), chained and forced to pull heavy ropes attached to a huge sailing ship (the men are dirty and scruffy and some are shown with bloody cuts and abrasions on their faces).
 A man pulls teeth from a woman's mouth; we see her held down and the man approaches her mouth with a tool (we see her with swollen cheeks and a bit of blood on her mouth later).
 A man and a young girl run from an officer on horseback; they run through narrow passages and up and over a stone wall. A man chases a man carrying a wounded man through streets and sewers (we see both men covered with sewer muck). A man lifts up a woman's skirt using his cane and touches her clothed breasts (cleavage and shoulders are visible); the woman scratches his face (we see bloody scratches) and spits on him and the man calls for the police (the woman is taken away by another man).
 A man steals silver from a church, runs away and is dragged back by police officers that hit him in the head (we see blood on his head). People with sticks beat a man repeatedly. Children throw rocks at a man; he yells at them and they scatter. A woman working in a sewing factory is thrown out onto the street and she yells for help. A man is shown on his knees with his hands tied behind his back and a heavy rope around his neck. A man punches another man in the face (we see blood on his mouth).
 A woman is shown feverish and delirious in a hospital bed, she imagines seeing her young daughter and she then dies. A man imagines seeing a woman who passed away years ago coming for him as an angel before he dies. A man is shown dead in a chair.
 A man and a woman distract customers in their drinking establishment and steal their wallets and hats. A woman threatens a young girl and forces her to work and fetch water. A woman pulls a man's ear and yells at him. A man calls a young woman into the house and appears frightened.
 A man asks for food and shelter and people turn him away repeatedly. We see many poor, dirty, starving people on streets and one woman appears to be holding a lifeless infant wrapped in a cloth; the people have sores on their faces and are missing teeth and one man walks with a crutch and is missing a leg below the knee. A woman is shown having her hair cut off for money. We see a young girl, bare foot and in the snow. We see scars on a man's wrists from handcuffs. We see a man with a bandaged arm and using a cane from bullet wounds.
 A man is shown trapped under a heavy cart and another man lifts it and frees him. A man lifts a downed mast and drags it on his shoulder. Furniture and other items are thrown out of windows and to the street where barricades are built.
 A man tells a young girl that her mother is dead. We hear that a man is dead. We hear that a man was imprisoned for stealing bread to feed his starving nephew. A man tells several young men that opposing forces "intend to starve you out and attack at morning." A man says that he was born inside a jail and that he is "from the gutter too." A character repeats "everyone is equal when they are dead." A man and a woman try to blackmail a man for 500 francs. A woman grieves over her dead father. Several women in a sewing factory argue over a letter and when confronted by management one of the women says that another woman "Earns her keep sleeping around," that she has a child and that her husband left her.
 A man urinates into a man's drinking mug and passes it back to him (we see the stream). A cat's tail is chopped off (we see the butcher knife come down and the tail separates) and a rat is cut in half (we see blood and gore) and both are thrown into a meat grinder by a man and a woman; they also dump various other objects, including a fake leg, and we see ground meat extruding. A man spits on another man. A young woman spits on a man's face and he slaps her in the face. We see women mopping up blood left on a street after a battle. A man and a woman are shown being carried out of a party by guards and placed on the street.
 A man pulls of another man's fake leg off and we see a bowl filled with fake eyes in a drinking establishment. People beg outside a carriage.
 We see several men unconscious from drinking and one man seems to have vomit on his beard. A man's teeth are blackened and he has scars on his head. A man eats ravenously.

LANGUAGE 4 - 6 sexual references, 1 scatological term, 1 anatomical term, 6 mild obscenities, name-calling (thief, Lucifer, worms, maggots, snake in the grass, devil), exclamations (bloody), 3 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A woman drinks from a vial (it is not clear what it contains), several men are shown unconscious from drink and one man is shown lapping up alcohol from a bowl, people are shown drinking wine and alcohol in a few drinking establishment scenes, a remark is made about letting the wine go to your brains, a man drinks a beer, men are shown drinking alcohol and smoking pipes at a barricade, and a woman drinks champagne. A man smokes a pipe, and several men smoke pipes in drinking establishment scenes and in a meeting room.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - The French Revolution, redemption, mercy, kindness, parole freedom, crime, survival, generosity, greed, honesty, cruelty, honor, obsession, disgrace, martyrdom, hate, shame, sin, life changes, hope, liberty, dreams, right and wrong, misjudgments, shame, desire, despair, rebellion, suffering, noble works, grief, guilt, death of loved ones, sacrifice, falling from grace, love, secrets, revenge, friendship, suicide, separation, happiness, trust, inequality, danger, yearning for truth, fear, jealousy.

MESSAGE - Redemption is possible through good deeds and caring for others.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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