Green Book | 2018 | PG-13 | – 4.5.5

Why is “Green Book” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes kissing and implications of sex, male nudity, a few fist fights leaving bloody wounds, threats of violence including derogatory racist terms, and a couple of F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Inspired by a true story about a working-class Italian-American bouncer (Viggo Mortensen), who becomes the driver of a prominent African-American classically trained pianist (Mahershala Ali) while on a tour of musical venues and racism through the 1960’s southern states. Also with Linda Cardellini. Directed by Peter Farrelly. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in Italian and Russian with English subtitles. [Running Time: 2:09]

Green Book SEX/NUDITY 4

 – Two police officers stand in a pool shower room in a YMCA near two nude men (both are seated on the floor and one is handcuffed to a radiator) and it is implied that they were caught having sex (they are both fully nude but no genitals or buttocks are visible). A woman selling cigarettes in a club wears a skimpy outfit that reveals cleavage, bare back and legs to the hips. A man is shown wearing a tank T-shirt and boxer shorts that reveal his bare legs to the mid-thighs and upper chest in several scenes. Women wear low-cut evening gowns that reveal cleavage and bare upper backs in a few scenes.
► A husband and his wife kiss and hug in a few scenes. A man wearing a tank T-shirt and boxer shorts climbs into bed with his sleeping wife and holds her.
► A man recites romantic love letters for another man, to write to his wife. Two men talk about the size of women’s breasts.

Green Book VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 - Four white men hold an African-American man against a bar and we see that he has been punched in the face (blood and a bruise are seen on his face) and another man enters the bar and argues with the attackers, one draws a knife, the other man reaches to his back as if he has a gun and the barman draws a shotgun and tells them to leave (they back out slowly); the beaten man stumbles out of the bar with help and is obviously drunk. Two pairs of men punch each other in a club and a man punches one of the men, drags him out to the street, throws him on the sidewalk and then punches him several times (we hear a crunch and see blood splatter on the attacker's face). Two men argue about a piano and one slaps the other across the side of the head. Police pull a car over and ask the driver to get out; the officer tells the men that they are in a "sunset town," where African-Americans are not allowed out after sunset, and he makes a crude racial remark about the man's name and the man punches the officer causing another officer to draw his gun; we then see the driver and his passenger in a jail cell. An African-American man due to perform in a club is told that he cannot dine there, another man shoves the man telling him that, the African-American man storms out and says he will not play for them and the other man chases him yelling. A man shoots a gun in the air twice causing two men hiding behind a car to run away (they were apparently planning to rob the man).
► A man talks about Nat King Cole having been pulled off a stage and badly beaten during a performance. A man yells at a woman for losing his hat in a club and threatens to burn the place down. A man yells at another man on the side of a road in the rain. A man says, "I wanted to kill that broad." Several men yell at a TV during a baseball game and tell another man that they are there to protect his wife from two African-American men repairing their plumbing. Two men argue about one man having paid police to let the other go after being caught in a compromising position. A man tells another man that he wants to hire him and that they will be away for 8 weeks and that he should be able to "handle trouble." A man talks to another man after he was in a fight and says, "You almost split the guy's face open." A man is told to use a book ("The Green Book") to determine where an African-American man is permitted to stay while traveling in the southern states. A man describes "Orpheus" and that it involves demons in the bowels of Hell. A man talks to another man about his manner of speaking and suggests that he can help him improve. A man picks up a piece of mineral off the ground at a gas station (it had fallen off a display) and puts it in his pocket; another man confronts him about stealing it and tells him to return it or pay for it (he returns it). A man forces another man to pick a cup off the road after throwing it out of a car window. A man talks about his traveling taking a toll on his marriage. A man complains about getting grease on his blanket and another man mocks him. A man reprimands another man for using a racist term.
► African-American men and women are shown working in a field and they stop as an African-American man gets out of a car that is being driven by a white man and they watch in disbelief. A salesperson in a suit shop refuses to let an African-American man try on a suit and tells him he must buy it first (the man leaves the store). An African-American man is directed to an outhouse rather than the inside facilities after performing for people gathered there. White women stare at an African-American man as he walks on the sidewalk.
► A man dumps a garbage can on a sidewalk and uses it to cover a fire hydrant so he can park his car there. A man throws away two drinking glasses that were used by two African-American men. A group of men gamble with dice outside a gathering. We see elephant tusks mounted and on display in a man's apartment.
► A man eats a lot of food throughout the movie and is usually very sloppy, throwing garbage on the seat of a car and spitting out chicken bones. A man is served a small sandwich that he eats and spits back out into a napkin and places it back on the tray; he spits some more out on the ground. Two men bet on which man can eat the most hotdogs in an hour and we see the men forcing large numbers of hotdogs into their mouths (we hear they ate 24 and 25 each). A man picks up a whole pizza, folds it in half and begins eating it.
► A man asks a very drunk man, "Are you gonna throw up again?" (we do not see or hear any vomiting).

Green Book LANGUAGE 5

 - About 2 F-words, 1 sexual reference, 2 obscene hand gestures, 25 scatological terms, 26 anatomical terms, 19 mild obscenities, 26 derogatory terms for African-American people (one term is shown several times in the title of a book), 3 derogatory terms for Italian people, 2 derogatory term for Jewish people, 2 derogatory terms for women, 1 derogatory term for Asian people, 2 derogatory terms for German people, several insults/obscenities are spoken in Italian and not translated, name-calling (fool, fat Jew, bastard, ungrateful, prejudiced hillbilly, silly, bozos, fancy pants, liar, stupid, sacks of coal, eggplants, Fat Paulie, Tony Lip, Yankees, sneaks, back woods, Mr. Big Shot, unreliable, rat, demons, naughty, you people), exclamations (shut-up, ah jeez, are you out of your mind), 15 religious profanities (GD), 7 religious exclamations (e.g. I Swear To God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Honest To God, What On God's Green Earth). | profanity glossary |

Green Book SUBSTANCE USE

 - People in a club scene are shown drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, two men and two women are shown drinking and smoking while sitting poolside, several men drink beer and smoke cigarettes in a bar, people in a bar drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, men drink beer from bottles in a home, a man says that he's going to drink for 2 months, men are shown with glasses of wine on their table while eating, a man asks for a bottle of Cutty Sark to be in his room every night (implying that he drinks the whole bottle), a man says another man drinks too much, a man drinks whiskey alone on a hotel balcony, a man drinks a glass of whiskey alone in a hotel room, people are shown drinking at a musical performance (liquor and champagne), two men drink whiskey in a hotel lobby, a man drinks a glass of whiskey, three women are shown with glasses of wine on a table in front of them, three men drink vodka, and several people drink wine with a meal. A woman carrying a tray of cigarettes walks through a club selling boxes to customers, several men smoke on a sidewalk outside a club, two men smoke on a sidewalk, a man smokes in a car with the windows up and another man in the car asks him to put the cigarette out (he does), a man smokes in his hotel room, a man smokes while eating in a restaurant, drivers wait outside a gathering and smoke cigarettes, and a man smokes a cigarette in a diner.

Green Book DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - Racism, the 1960's South, segregation, friendship, loneliness, not fitting in, respect, dignity, courage.

Green Book MESSAGE

 - It takes courage to change people's hearts. Friendship can arise from unexpected circumstances if we get rid of our prejudices.