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The Dilemma | 2011 | PG-13 | - 6.5.5
Two best friends and business partners (Vince Vaughn and Kevin James) attempt to produce an electric muscle car, but when one of the men witnesses the other man's wife (Winona Ryder) kissing a younger man, he starts agonizing over how to tell his friend. Growing increasingly paranoid and keeping a close eye on his friend, his friend's wife and his own girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly), he starts giving the impression of suffering from an addiction. Also with Channing Tatum, Queen Latifah, Chelcie Ross, Amy Morton and Clint Howard. Directed by Ron Howard. [1:58]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - One scene shows a man taking photos from a balcony into an apartment where a married woman and single man have met for sex: the man and the woman remove each other's shirts (we see the man's bare chest, arms, shoulders and abdomen covered in various tattoos and we see her bra, cleavage, and thong underwear), they embrace, and stumble and slam into a glass wall while kissing passionately; sex is implied.
► A married woman and a single man walk through a large greenhouse, kissing several times. Several scenes show married and dating couples kissing briefly. A man and a woman lie on the floor, kissing several times briefly, with a close up of their faces, and he asks, "Is a clock ticking?" (implying wanting a baby) and she replies that it is not and both say, "I love you." At a car show, one man embraces and kisses another man on one cheek and the second man backs up and walks away.
► A married woman tells a man that if he exposes her love affair to her husband, she will accuse him of making sexual advances toward her. One man tells a woman, "Sometimes I love your boyfriend," joking about best-friendships; he goes on to say, "Never trust a man who dances," suggesting men who dance are gay. One man tells another that salesmanship is not doing a trick (implying a sexual favor) on a Japanese businessman. A woman forgives a man for his prior relationship with one of her girlfriends. Two car designers talk about people losing their virginity in the back of a muscle car, but not in a tiny electric car. A man admits to his friend that he had sex with his friend's wife long before the married couple met. We hear that a woman is having an extramarital affair. A woman complains that her husband has not had sex with her in six months. A man in a massage parlor is led by a woman to an unseen woman in the back while telling him how happy he will be when he leaves. A wife screams about her husband using a massage parlor for sex, leaving her alone at night. We hear that a man frequents a massage parlor instead of having sex with his wife. A wife confronts her husband about having "happy endings" (implying sexual climax) at the massage parlor. A woman yells at her brother, thinking he's accused her husband of infidelity and we later hear that the man was, in fact, having an affair. Two men make a sales presentation and a female car-manufacturing executive speaks to them several times about the sexual excitement of a new car design (such as referring to "gets my lady stuff going" and "exciting engine vibrations"); one of the two men tells her that he was disturbed by the metaphors, but loves her as a friend and coworker and she says, "I wanna bang your brain, I wanna have sex with your words." In a meeting a man calls electric cars "gay" several times and equates them with cute baby animals.
► Several female models at a car show wear low-cut, tight dresses that reveal bare arms, cleavage and bare legs. At a hockey game we see a dozen cheerleaders in extremely short skirts that reveal full thighs and legs. A few party scenes feature women in low-cut dresses with bare arms and cleavage, and one strapless dress reveals cleavage, bare back and arms. One scene features a woman in a see-through blouse over an opaque camisole with thin straps. A bedroom scene shows a woman face down in bed, covered by a sheet that exposes part of her side. We briefly see a cartoon on a PC that depicts two women in bras and panties, one watching a man as he kisses another similarly clad woman.
► Two men dance together briefly at a club, using football moves. During a dance scene and a hockey game scene, two men do several pelvic thrusts.
VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A man runs to his balcony and pulls another man who is standing there with a camera into his apartment and beats him with his fists: the second man retaliates and they fight with punches, kicks, and each man throwing the other into walls, an aquarium is broken and fish flop around on the floor before they die, guitars are bashed, a skateboard is driven into a bathroom door (nearly hitting one man) and the fight moves outside, where one man uses a bat to break the windows, hood, and mirrors of the other man's car; the other man has a lighter and an aerosol can, sprays fire into the air, and one man throws the other man to the ground and kicks him several times.
► Two men have a fistfight: one man's lip is bloodied and he is kicked in the groin, but they regain their composure, one apologizes, and they walk into a conference room to make a presentation. One man at a party sees another man with a hand on his girlfriend's waist, rushes over and slams him to a wall; he is told the man is not only a cousin, but gay and his partner is present, and the first man nervously says his behavior was a joke between men meeting for the first time.
► After an argument two men end in a fistfight where we see bloodied noses and mouths and hear grunts. We see a man with facial bruises, cuts, and dried blood in his lips, all of which he explains to friends is the result of "bar fights."
► A man falls off a hill in a huge greenhouse and into a poisonous plant as someone yells at him (we see the man in a drug store and then at home with welts, blisters, and dark red rashes on his face and arm).
► Several scenes feature married couples, two male friends, and an unmarried man and a woman arguing. A man shouts, "Don't kill the messenger!" during several arguments. A man's best male friend argues with him about not proposing to his girlfriend. A group intervention for a man for addictive gambling reveals that he has not been gambling and leads to arguments and several people crying and walking out of the meeting. A man at a party shakes hands with and embraces another man, whispering into his ear that if he exposes his infidelity again, he'll kill him.
► A man tells his friends a story about another man killing his wife in a crossbow accident. An automobile exec tells a man, "I know sometimes you want to choke the hell out of somebody, but that's just passion for the job." A man in his auto design shop says he has a bleeding ulcer as he drinks ulcer medication form a bottle; he shouts and complains of stomach and head pains, work deadlines, inadequate healthcare and changes in the auto industry. Several scenes include discussions about gambling as an addiction with mentions of a woman not trusting her fiancé to go to Las Vegas because he was a gambler, having a gambling relapse, and his failure to report to Gambler's Anonymous sponsors.
► A man answers his front door while holding a gun but does not fire. An electric engine overheats and creates a cloud of smoke as a man shouts about deadlines. A hockey game features roaring crowds and two instances of opposing players slamming one another into the sideboards.
► We see a close up of large fish on a cutting board in a restaurant kitchen.
LANGUAGE 5 - At least 1 F-word, 2 obscene hand gestures, 12 sexual references, 15 scatological references, 15 anatomical references, 26 mild obscenities, name-calling (homosexual, gay, crazy, lazy, fat, alligator, beaner, liar, chef, Helen Keller, Sybil, Floyd Mayweather, sick, twisted, princess, failure, slob, loser, boy, gay, Mr. Moral Guy, pervert, enabler, scumbag, creepy, garbage), 29 stereotypical references that include men, women, gamblers, salesmen, football, homosexuals, Jewish doctors, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Chinese, Native Americans, muscle car owners, electric cars, rock musicians, overweight youth, 7 religious profanities, 8 religious exclamations.
SUBSTANCE USE - A man attacks another man on his balcony and says he just took an Oxycontin pill and will feel no pain in a fight (we see no medications), and a man drinks medication from an unlabeled bottle and complains about a bleeding ulcer. Several people sip wine at restaurants, three bar scenes show people sitting at a bar drinking beer from glasses and bottles, a party features dozens of people drinking wine, and a man speaks three times of having a drunken college night and party 20 years ago.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Friendship, marriage, infidelity, relationships, gambling, trust and honesty, homosexuality, competition, hard work, priorities.
MESSAGE - You can't change other people, only yourself, and only with honesty.
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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