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Riding In Cars With Boys | 2001 | PG-13 | - 4.4.5

The story of a young, divorced mother (Drew Barrymore) who makes one bad decision after another but blames her young son for keeping her from achieving her dreams. Reportedly based on a true story. Also with Brittany Murphy, James Woods, Steve Zahn and Lorraine Bracco. [2:12]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A young man and woman kiss; he kisses her neck, she wraps her legs around his waist, and he tries to take her into a bedroom but she braces herself by putting her legs against the door jam (her dress flies up exposing her thigh, the top of her stocking and panties). A young man and woman kiss a few times. A young man and woman kiss passionately in the back seat of a car and they apparently have sex; we see him taking the stuffing out of her bra and see her legs (her thighs are bare) go up over the seat as he lies on top of her. A woman wears a full slip while she chooses an outfit, a woman wears a robe which is open and shows her nightgown and some cleavage, and a young woman's dress is unbuttoned and we see the top of her slip. A young woman sits on a young man's lap. Two young women change their clothes in the back seat of a car; we see the tops of their slips and bare shoulders. A young woman stuffs her bra and adjusts herself. A young girl tells her sister that boys "shove their tongues in your mouth" when they kiss, and two young girls talk about kissing and practice puckering. A young girl kisses a young boy to say goodbye. A young girl talks to her father about wanting a bra for Christmas to accentuate her breasts and attract a boy. A young man talks about a young woman having written him poems with romantic and sexual references. We see a baby boy's private parts.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - Two young men shove each other and one punches the other in the head breaking his hand. A young man punches a glass window breaking it and cutting his hand (we see blood trickle). A boy falls through the cover of a pool and into the water; his mother grabs him and pulls him up, drops him and grabs him again. A man is going through drug withdrawal symptoms: we see him vomiting and hear him screaming for help. A woman slaps a young man on the back of the head a few times and yells at him. A young man, who's been drinking, drives his truck into some garbage cans. A woman yells at and hits a man with her purse. A young woman hits a young man in the face and they quarrel, and a man kicks a garbage can. A woman jumps on a man's lap and he yells in pain. A young woman asks her sister to shove her down the stairs hoping that she'll miscarry. A mother tells her daughter that "a boy puts his tongue in your mouth because he wants you to bite it off." A woman stands in a puddle after her water breaks. A baby urinates in his mother's mouth while she changes his diaper (it happens offscreen), and a baby passes gas.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 1 obscene hand gesture (by a boy), 4 scatological terms, 2 anatomical references, 3 mild obscenities, 7 religious exclamations, and some insults.

SUBSTANCE USE - Young people are shown drinking alcohol and smoking in several scenes. A man is addicted to heroin, and the business of preparing marijuana is shown. Two women are shown taking pills which make them high.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Teenage pregnancy, single mothers, searching for the man of your dreams, heroin addiction and detoxification, premarital sex, divorce, the Vietnam war, guilt, forgiving.

MESSAGE - Teens who get pregnant can ruin their lives. If you want to change your life, it's up to you. Motherhood is not a job.

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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