Air | 2023 | R | – 1.3.10

Why is “Air” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language throughout.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a partial cover of a pornographic magazine on a newsstand, a man threatening another man with many brutal acts of violence, newspaper headlines that highlight the struggles of a professional athlete including the death of his father, many arguments and heated negotiations, and about 60 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Inspired by true events, the movie details the deal negotiated between a floundering Nike basketball division and Michael Jordan at the beginning of his career. With Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Chris Messina, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Damian Delano Young, Chris Tucker, Matthew Maher and Gustaf Skarsgård. Directed by Affleck. [Running Time: 1:52]

Air SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man makes a suggestive hand gesture while arguing with another man over the phone.
► A nude male statue revealing bare chest, abdomen, genitals and legs is shown. A woman wears a low-cut sweater that reveals cleavage in a couple of scenes. A man urinates in a urinal as another man sits on a toilet (behind a closed stall door and we only see his bare knees and partial thighs). We see the cover of a Playboy magazine on a newsstand and the cover photo is partially covered by a brown paper cover.

Air VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A man yells violent threats at another man over the phone with descriptions of what he will do to him. A man slams a phone down several times after an angry conversation. Several newspaper headlines of the struggles of a professional athlete are shown; one reads that the man’s father was found shot to death.
► A man makes a pitch for a sneaker company endorsement to a young man’s mother and she tells him that her son is not interested in his company.
► A man says that the Nike slogan “Just Do It,” was taken from a man on death row being put to death and using that line as his last words. A man says that a sneaker company’s CEO was a member of the Hitler Youth. A man says that he has no friends, only clients. A man talks about blowing out his knee. A man talks about his mother having trouble baring children. A comment is made about the decision to bomb Pearl Harbor.
► A man urinates in a urinal as another man sits on a toilet (behind a closed stall door); we hear the toilets flush.

Air LANGUAGE 10

 – About 58 F-words and its derivatives, 6 sexual references, 1 suggestive hand gesture, 16 scatological terms, 9 anatomical terms, 19 mild obscenities, name-calling (fat middle-aged white guy, awful, terrible, subversive, irresponsible, ridiculous, miserable, ineffectual, presumptuous, sick in the head, dumbest man, disaster, debacle, risky, slow, killer, stupid), exclamations (oh come on, here we go, you’re kidding me), 1 religious profanity (GD), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. oh God, God, Jesus Christ, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

Air SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man pours a glass of liquor and takes a drink in his office, two men drink beers in a bar, and a man drinks a beer in a restaurant.

Air DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Michael Jordan, Nike, breaking the rules, NBA basketball, gambling, the 1980s, obsession, personal ambition, sacrifice, single parenting, humility, desperation, profit, Buddhism, greed, precedent, immortality, betrayal, sport shoe business, vision, failure, midlife crises.

Air MESSAGE

 – Be accountable and take risks to succeed, but you’ll be remembered for the rules you broke.