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Black and Blue | 2019 | R | – 1.6.5
Why is “Black and Blue” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a reference to a husband and his wife having a date night and an implication of sex; many bloody gunshot deaths, and many scenes of peril when a police officer is chased by gang members, as well as other police officers with the intent to kill her; and at least 5 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”
An idealistic army veteran (Naomie Harris) joins the police force in New Orleans wanting to protect her neighborhood and quickly learns that crossing her brothers in blue comes with serious repercussions. Also with Mike Colter, Frank Grillo, Reid Scott, Tyrese Gibson, Nafessa Williams and Beau Knapp. Directed by Deon Taylor. [Running Time: 1:48]
Black and Blue SEX/NUDITY 1
– A man talks about having a “date night” with his wife and that he got a hotel room and a babysitter for their kids. A man says that his wife is in the other room “soaping up” for their date night.
► A man kisses a woman on the forehead.
► A woman takes off her shirt to glue a bloody bullet wound closed and we see her sports bra, cleavage and partial abdomen and side.
Black and Blue VIOLENCE/GORE 6
– Many people with guns shoot into apartments and we see several people struck with some blood splatter, people are thrown over balconies when struck and we see a body with a pool of blood under its head, a man is shot in the back and falls dead and another is shot under the chin and blood sprays out of the top of his head. A woman with a board that has nails sticking out of it hits a man a couple of times, he holds her around the neck and squeezes, she bites him, gets away, charges him and pushes him over a balcony and they both crash on the hood of a car breaking the windshield; they both cough (the man spits blood but they are alive) and she hits him repeatedly with a metal bar as many people watch and film the action; we then hear a gunshot and see that someone has been shot and has a bloody wound.
► A police officer drives to an abandoned power plant and goes inside leaving his partner in the car, the partner hears two gunshots and she goes into the building, where she sees two men dead on the ground and another man is shot several times; when she is seen she is shot and falls through a weak board in the floor to the ground below (we see blood on her side). Two men fight with punches and one man manages to shoot the other man twice in the abdomen (we see a blood smear on the wall as the man slumps to the floor and dies).
► Two men in a car speed toward a police officer, she shoots one (he falls out of the car as blood splatters) and shoots the other when he gets out of the car (blood splatters again). A man pulls a man with a gun off the top of a wall and slams him onto a car where they struggle and the gun discharges shooting the first man in the leg (we see blood). Two men argue outside what looks like a bar, one man punches the other in the face (there’s no blood) and a police officer pushes him against a wall and grills him about why they are fighting until another man creeps up behind her and is grabbed by another officer and slammed onto the hood of the cruiser a few times; the officer draws his weapon and the first officer tells him to stop, handcuffs the man and pulls a handgun out of the man’s belt and hands it to the other officer. A man and a woman argue in a car, the woman finds a handgun in the glove compartment and holds it on the man, hits him with it (we see his bloody face later) and steers the car into the car behind them with police officers that shoot at them; one officer is struck by the car and we see him lying on the ground. A man is grabbed off the street and taken away in a car and we later hear him being beaten (we see him with his hands tied over his head and he has a bloody face). A man holds a gun to a police officer’s head and talks to him about the nightmares he has because of him; he hits him in the head with the gun and leaves. A young boy holds a gun on a sleeping police officer and she draws her gun and tells him to drop the gun; a man takes the gun away from the boy and the boy leaves.
► A woman identified as the person that shot a young man walks through a housing complex and people yell and throw bottles at her; she is grabbed by a man and punched (we see blood on her face) and she is punched again, shoved into a bathtub and held at gunpoint (we see blood in her mouth). Many people with guns move into and through an apartment complex kicking doors down and shooting while looking for a police officer and a man that ran away. A wounded police officer chases a police car, they stop and one officer gets out trying to convince her to come with them as the first officer hears someone calling on the radio and she runs and jumps a fence. A police officer pounds on doors pleading for help and no one will let her in or help her (we see blood on her hand and blood smears on doors). A police officer is chased, shot at, hides and is nearly discovered by men with guns in several scenes. A police car drives behind a woman jogging in the street, they splash her with a puddle of water and tell her to stop and get up against a wall; one officer shoves her against a fence and when they check her identification they realize that she is a police officer and let her go without an apology. A police officer witnesses a man trying to steal a car as she sits in a cruiser watching him; she gets out and approaches him but he runs away. A man alone in a convenience store hears a noise and picks up a baseball bat to go investigate and calls out a threat; he is confronted by a wounded police officer who asks to use his phone as two other officers arrive at the front door and search the store while one holds the first man down and handcuffs him, and then holds a gun to his head.
► A photo of a police officer is shown on many cellphone screens with the words, “This is who killed Zero,” and many people pick up guns and speed in cars searching for the woman in the picture. A man says that he wants a woman dead. Two men yell at each other and argue in several scenes. Two women argue in a few scenes. Several men argue and yell at each other in several scenes. A woman yells at a police officer for talking to her son, they argue briefly and a man joins the conversation before ending it. An injured office radios for backup and is interrupted by another officer telling the dispatch operator to disregard her and that she is just a rookie and is panicking. Many red dots illuminate a woman’s bulletproof vest as officers take aim at her while she holds a gun on a man.
► A man talks about people living in an apartment block and a specific neighborhood being bad people and that the police do not even respond there any longer unless an officer is in trouble. Song lyrics include lines about a person’s “brother being in the cemetery.” A man talks about feeling safe when he is wearing his bulletproof vest and carrying his service pistol. We hear that a woman served two tours in Afghanistan before becoming a police officer. A man says that his brother was killed in the first Iraq war. A man says, “We are just animals to them,” referring to the police. We hear that a police officer was charged with three counts of murder.
► A man goes to an abandoned power plant to see the body of a relative and we see the young man with a bloody bullet wound in his forehead lying on a gurney. A bloody bullet wound is shown on a woman’s side as she glues it closed and winces.
Black and Blue LANGUAGE 5
– About 5 F-words and its derivatives (1 not fully enunciated), 27 scatological terms, 21 anatomical terms, 36 mild obscenities, 4 derogatory terms for African-Americans (in song lyrics), name-calling (slugger, cold, narcs, darlin’, stupid, rat, liar, coward, sick, dog, animals, dumb, fool, scumbag), exclamations (shut your mouth, keep your mouth shut, are you kidding me, shut up), 4 religious profanities (GD), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, Jesus Christ, On God’s Green Earth, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |
Black and Blue SUBSTANCE USE
– We see a champagne glass on a nightstand but do not see anyone drink.
Black and Blue DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Police corruption, drug dealing, New Orleans, Afghanistan, disrespect, lying, body cameras, turf wars, death of a loved one.
Black and Blue MESSAGE
– Bad guys are bad guys no matter who they are and what uniform they wear.
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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