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The Opening Act | 2020 | NR | – 5.3.9

content-ratingsWhy is “The Opening Act” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied scene of oral sex, many references to casual sex, a few seduction attempts and a couple of kissing scenes, a man is held at gunpoint briefly, a man is punched in the face leaving a bruise, mocked on a radio show and heckled during stand-up performances, and at least 47 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.


A man (Jimmy O. Yang) whose dream is to make it as a comedian gets his first real gig, and fears that he is a failure and should give it up, until he is given some sage advice from a man (Cedric the Entertainer) who has already made it. Also with Alex Moffat, Bill Burr, Neal Brennan, Debby Ryan, Ken Jeong, Jermaine Fowler, Whitney Cummings, Tom Segura, Roy Wood Jr. and Iliza Shlesinger. Directed by Steve Byrne. A couple of phrases are spoken in Spanish without translation. [Running Time: 1:30]

The Opening Act SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A man takes an inebriated woman home and his taxi leaves him there; the woman tries to seduce the man and he protests (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), the woman’s boyfriend returns home and the woman pulls his pants down to reveal his boxers and bare legs and performs oral sex (we see her moving rhythmically) on him while the other man hides nearby. A man with his back to an audience makes masturbation movements and sounds while telling a joke (there’s no nudity).
 A man tries to convince another man to join him with two women and he declines but joins them later in a dance club, where one of the women tries to kiss him and he pulls away, she grabs his clothed crotch and he becomes upset telling her to stop. A man and a woman kiss on a dance floor. A man and a woman kiss. A man tries to convince another man to join him with two women and the second man says that he has a girlfriend; the two women then leave.
 A man asks another man, “Did Chip start flirting with you?” referring to a club owner. A woman approaches a man in a comedy club and says that he is “The cutest little thing.” A man talks about trying to figure out “sexting.” A man says, “Is this the planet of the 8s?” as two women walk by him in a bar. A man remarks about a joke on breastfeeding (we do not hear the joke). A woman talks about what reduced amount of clothing she recommends as the temperatures are forecast to rise in the area, referring to “no bottoms.”
 A woman holds a cocktail in a phallus-shaped cup. Two women wear low-cut crop tops that reveal cleavage and bare abdomens. A woman wears a low-cut tank that reveals cleavage.

The Opening Act VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A young boy watches a doctor examine his mother; the boy is then shown in his home with other people gathered and it is implied that his mother died.
 A woman holds a gun on a man in a trailer and then puts it down laughing. A man yells at a man on a sidewalk and punches him in the face (he falls to the ground and we see him with a bruised eye later). A man dances with a woman in a club and spins her around several times, slamming her head into a pole accidentally (no injury is shown). A man takes a cab home with a woman (she is very drunk), he walks her to the door of her trailer and the taxi speeds away leaving him there; the woman’s boyfriend returns home and the man climbs out of a window and hides under a car as the boyfriend takes target practice at bottles and a Santa statue nearby.
 A man talks about being tired of having to ask people to come and pay at a club to see him perform. A woman talks about her job as an elementary school teacher and that she showed 9-year-olds how to dissect frogs. A man says, “I can’t possibly hang myself in a cubicle,” when he is frustrated about his job. A DJ on a radio show tells his audience to boo a comedian at a club after a misunderstanding and he says, “Ohio sucks” (he is from Ohio). A comedian tells a story about when she told her mother that she wanted to do comedy and her mother said, “Maybe it’s better if you just die.” A comedian talks about being bullied for being Asian American even though he is not Asian American. A man tells a woman that she is “frugal like an old Chinese woman.” A man tells a woman, “You eat like an 8th grader.” A joke is told about someone drinking “a bucket of human feces.” A man tells another man, “He’s gonna show you things you can’t unsee.” A person is described as screaming “like a hyena.” Comedy show audiences heckle a comedian in a few scenes and he doesn’t know how to respond in a couple of the scenes. A comedian does a few performances that fail and people do not laugh.
 A man straddles a kitchen counter and eats from a large pile of ribs (we see sauce on his hands and face) and he says he’s “Doing a Siberian tiger thing.” A man’s pen leaks on his hand and fingers and he smears some on his cheek. A man’s soup blows up in a microwave oven and we see it splattered with liquid and chunks. A man describes that sometimes men that share a condo ejaculate into a shampoo bottle to “mess with the guys for the following week” and that he should always use his own shampoo.

The Opening Act LANGUAGE 9

 – About 47 F-words, 5 sexual references, 24 scatological terms, 10 anatomical terms, 6 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for African-American people, name-calling (frugal, crazy, cripple, horrible, bummer, little kamikaze, hot Asian chick, weird, bad vibes, hideous, little guy, stinks up the place, no charisma, stink stank stunk, pig), exclamations (hang on, you gotta be kidding me, oh by, who cares, shut-up, creeped out, oh jeez, bummer), 2 religious profanities (GD), 20 religious exclamations (e.g. Thank God, Oh My God, God Bless You, I Swear To God, Christ, Jesus, Oh God, God Willing, My God, Jesus Christ, Holy Cow, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

The Opening Act SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man smokes a marijuana cigarette in a car, a man talks about two other men doing “a lot of coke” (we do not see this), a joke is told about something needing “Viagra,” a man asks another man if he does coke or pills or ecstasy, and a man asks two women in a comedy club if they “like blow.” People in comedy clubs are shown drinking alcohol in many scenes, a man talks about someone having been on a bender, a woman drinks a beer in a trailer, and men in a comedy club drink shots of liquor before their time onstage.

The Opening Act DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Stand-up comedy, insurance sales, improv, being successful in comedy, success, death of parents, casual sex, failure, fear of failure, potential.

The Opening Act MESSAGE

 – Faith in yourself can get you closer to your goals.

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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