I’ve Got Issues | 2019 | NR | – 3.4.5

Why is “I’ve Got Issues” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, a kissing scene, a description of male nudity, two suicides by stabbing without gore, a few scenes of the deaths of animals, a few scenes of attempted suicide, several deaths by heart attack, frustrations with inanimate objects, a prison escape, an encounter with white supremacists, many scenes of people feeling despair and hopelessness, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A series of stories about unhappy people in difficult positions, trying to figure out how to change their lives. With Macon Blair, Claire Titelman, Maria Thayer, John Merriman, Randy E. Aguebor, Byron Brown, Courtney Davis, Sam Eidson, Paul Gordon and the voice of Jim Gaffigan. Directed by Steve Collins. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in French with English subtitles and a line of dialog is spoken in German with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:28]

I’ve Got Issues SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A man and woman lie in bed with the man wearing briefs (we see his bare back and legs) and the woman sits up to show her lipstick smeared on her face (sex is implied). Two couples kiss at their weddings. A man and a woman share an ice cream cone and a man watches them eating it. A woman lays her head on the lap of another woman and the second woman touches her hair tenderly.
► A man in a movie tells a woman, “I cannot ejaculate” as he stands wearing briefs and a shirt (we see his bare legs) and looking out of a window; the woman wears a camisole and underwear (we see cleavage and bare legs). A woman asks a man what he would think about moving in together and the man sits silently (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man asks a woman what she would think about starting a family (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man tells a woman that he has met someone “…whose beauty was to die for.” A man carrying a bouquet of flowers runs after a woman as she walks her dog; she stops and he pants and sweats but can’t speak and she walks away.
► A shirtless man enters a room and lies back on another man’s lap as part of a treatment process. A man sits in a wheelchair in a retirement home and he seems to be wearing only an adult diaper (we see his bare chest, abdomen and legs). A man describes a page layout that includes male nudity (we do not see anything).

I’ve Got Issues VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – Two men run through a tall sunflower maze and they both look frightened and lost until they drop to their knees, stab themselves in the chest and fall to the ground presumably dead (we hear crunches; no blood is shown). A man in a retirement home grabs his chest and falls over dead. A man carries a rope with a noose at the end of it through an office, stands on a bench while people in the office watch him, and then the bench breaks under him and he falls on the floor (he seems unharmed); while walking back through the office, he grabs his chest and falls to the floor, seemingly dead from a heart attack (he is revived later). A woman stands on a stool while holding a noose around her neck; she stops before hanging herself. Several people grab their chest sand fall to the ground in different settings and we see them each lying motionless and presumably dead. Several people gather around a man lying dead in a hospital bed; he is revived.
► A movie scene shows a young boy holding a gun while a dog stands nearby and we hear a gunshot off-screen as the boy says, “I am committed to hopelessness,” implying that the boy shot the dog. A man throws a few French fries out of his car window and his dog jumps after them, as another car speeds past; we understand that the dog was struck and killed (we do not see the accident) and we see the man placing the dog’s collar and dish in a garbage can later. A woman puts an empty fishbowl in a garbage can and seems very sad.
► An explosion causing a giant mushroom cloud is seen in a few scenes (there’s no damage or injuries). Something moves in the sky and covers the sun as people watch. A woman testifies in a courtroom about a man that stole her purse and she is eventually led away in handcuffs; we see her on death row, locked up in a cell.
► A man pounds on a soda machine that presumably has taken his money, without a result. A woman gets on a ride at a carnival and as it spins she cries out, “I want to get off,” but the man at the controls has headphones on and does not acknowledge her. A man rolls down a hill and into water where we see him under the surface before he climbs out of the water unharmed. A man is shown trying to push his car up a hill in a couple of scenes. A man locks his keys in his car. A woman’s shoe heel is broken and she limps along a street wearing only one shoe. A copy machine spits out a crumpled piece of paper as a man watches in dismay. A man has a black eye; we do not see what happened. A man throws his television away. A man carrying a bouquet of flowers runs after a woman as she walks her dog; she stops and he pants and sweats but can’t speak and she walks away. Two men do yoga-type poses in quick succession until they collapse on the floor sweating. A man slips on a banana peel and we hear him hit the floor hard (we see him unharmed later). A woman slips and drops a large display of bananas; she screams and the bananas fall to the floor.
► A western movie on a TV shows men on horses shooting at each other (no blood is shown). A movie with Buster Keaton shows a building being taken away by a storm and a man lying inside the building sits up with a water bottle on his head. A movie with Buster Keaton shows a man sitting on the train mechanism that turns the wheels and he is lifted up and down as the train starts to move.
► A woman in a prison cell uses a sharpened spoon to remove bars in a window and climbs out; she climbs a wall and finds several other people at the top of the wall that all climb down the other side as sirens blare. A woman runs out of her house wearing pajamas and encounters a man as he runs out of his house wearing a robe and they run alongside each other and then separate; they each find a drain that flashes inside with a colorful light and they hear a voice telling them that they will “become something new.”
► A man covered with goop sits in a chair and seems not to be moving from the chair; he has everything programmed from his remote controls, including ordering pizza. A sink is shown clogged and filled with dirty water; a man opens the drain and gags before seeing a glowing creature in it that tells him, “You are not living up to your potential.” A woman spills a cup of coffee on a man’s desk and he sends her away dismissively.
► A woman describes her focus of study and a man becomes frustrated, not understanding what she is saying; he exits his office and pounds his head on a wall. A man wearing a KKK hood and robe empties recycling into a dumpster and an African-American man watches him in shock; he asks, “Do you ever think why?” A man in a dream teaches another man a handshake that he says only Black people know and that he will teach him because he is not racist and that he will be his Black friend. A man confesses to killing a police officer. A man confesses to stealing a woman’s purse. A news reporter says, “Everything is very, very bad and getting worse. The world will be ending shortly.” A man moans sorrowfully as another man holds his chin and seems to be making a noise himself (he’s called a “healer”). A man talks about his mother dying. A woman knocks on another woman’s door and the second woman asks her questions, invites her in and asks her to stay with her (she does not know her and the other woman does not speak to her). A man tells another man in an interview that he has an internship available for the “White Male Supremacy Booster Club.” A man describes his partner as “wasting away.” A man asks if anything is bothering another man and the man replies, “I’m at the end of my rope.” A man hires a woman for a job and tells her, “You can never leave.” A man stands in front of an audience and when he begins a performance, everyone leaves the room. People drive past a mail carrier and mock him about his outfit, and another person throws a cup at him splattering him with liquid and causing him to slip on a banana peel and fall on the ground (he is unharmed).
► A man vomits in a garbage can; we hear retching and see no goo. A man gags after drinking a smoothie. The camera spins around uncomfortably during one sequence as a narrator talks about repeating patterns. A man says of another man, “I bet that guy has bad B.O.”

I’ve Got Issues LANGUAGE 5

 – About 3 F-words (one partially mouthed, one derivative not fully enunciated), 3 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, name-calling (sham, rigged, unfair, difficult), exclamations (effed up, I can’t bare it), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh God, Oh My God, God). | profanity glossary |

I’ve Got Issues SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman holds a cigarette in one scene.

I’ve Got Issues DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Humanity, hopelessness, desperation, suicide, death of a pet, trust, morality, freedom, sorrow, joy, causing suffering, racism, time, gilded cage, personhood, new age life coaches.

I’ve Got Issues MESSAGE

 – Nothing is more difficult than change; but you are not alone.