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Shaft | 2019 | R | – 6.7.10
Why is “Shaft” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “pervasive language, violence, sexual content, some drug material and brief nudity.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few kisses and many references to sex, as well as a topless woman and cleavage revealing outfits; a murder by forced overdose, and several gunfights ending in death and bloody wounds; references to drug trafficking and drug addiction; and over 100 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”
Shaft, the no-nonsense, leather-clad PI (Samuel L. Jackson) is back (previously seen in the 2000 movie also titled Shaft) and his estranged son (Jessie T. Usher), a data analyst for the FBI, needs his help to uncover the truth behind his best friend’s death. Also with Regina Hall, Richard Roundtree and Method Man. Directed by Tim Story. [Running Time: 1:51]
Shaft SEX/NUDITY 6
– A woman opens a door to a man and she is wearing a jacket that hangs open to reveal her bare breasts and abdomen covered with glitter; we then see a man and his beard is covered with glitter (sex is implied). A man and woman kiss and he pushes her head down toward his lap (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► A woman wearing a bra and open robe (cleavage and bare abdomen are seen) offers a man oral sex for money; he declines. Two women in a club cling on a man and caress him as they giggle and flirt. Two women stand on either side of a man at a bar and another woman addresses them with the names of STDs and then makes a remark about them having sex with the man.
► Women wear low-cut tops and dresses that reveal cleavage in several scenes. A woman wears pants that are slit up the legs to the thighs and we see bare flesh through the slits. Women in a club wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage and bare backs. Cocktail servers in a club wear skimpy outfits that reveal cleavage, bare legs to the hips.
► A man and a woman kiss and embrace. A man and woman kiss goodbye. A woman kisses a man on the cheek. A preteen boy receives a box of condoms from his estranged father for Christmas. Men and women dance in a club. Two women buy two drinks for two men in a club.
► Three people drink shots that are named “buttery nipple.” Two men talk about what they think women want: one man says that women want a “manly man,” and that “men don’t apologize.” A man talks about being able to get HD porn on his computer. A man talks about the size of his genitals. A man talks about setting another man up in a “baby sugar sandwich” (the names of two women are Sugar and Baby). A man says that his problems include his 7-year-old daughter wanting him to call her Frank. A man makes several suggestive remarks about a group calling itself “Brothers Watching Brothers,” implying something sexual.
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Shaft VIOLENCE/GORE 7
– A man and a woman kiss in a car and he pushes her head toward his lap; she pulls away and yells at him as armed men outside the car open fire on them, the man inside the car returns fire, the gunmen are struck (blood spurts) and he approaches another man in another car, shoots out of the window, pulls him out and slams him on the ground and then shoots him (blood is seen on his shirt). Three armed men enter a crowded restaurant and open fire; the patrons fall to the floor, hiding and screaming as another man shoots back at them hitting one man with blood spurting, another man is shot and falls down a flight of stairs, a man takes aim at another man and a woman throws a bottle at him hitting the wall and the other man shoots him several times (blood splatters). Armed men enter a restaurant and open fire and another man shoots back at them: several men are struck and blood spurts as they fall to the floor, one man is grazed on the face (we see a bloody gash), one gunman grabs a woman and threatens her and the other man shoots him in the arm (blood sprays) and then shoots him a couple more times (blood sprays) and a man is shot and crashes backward through a window. Three men argue about a drug smuggling operation and one man shoots another in the chest (we see blood on the wound). Men with guns shoot into an elevator as the doors open and a man falls out dead (we don’t see blood). A man shoots at a man as he runs through a warehouse and outside where another man with a gun holds a woman around the throat and presses the gun to her head and then takes her away in a van.
► A woman punches a man in the face and he punches her back; another man attacks the man and they fight with one man head-butting the other, and one man is slammed to the floor and stabs the other man in the leg with a shard of glass and then shoots him (blood sprays and the other man is shown with blood on his face). A man holds a gun on another man who throws a knife into his shoulder (we see the knife sticking out of his shoulder with blood on his clothes) and shoots him causing the man to fall back through a high-rise window; he falls a great distance hitting a ledge on the way down and then slamming into a car below and the other man is shown with blood dripping from his hand before he passes out. A man with an automatic weapon shoots at two men in a car (they are unharmed) and we see the body of the car riddled with bullet holes. Two men prepare to fight, one draws a knife and the other shoots him (we see blood).
► A man takes a gun out of the trunk of his car and goes into a building where he finds a man threatening another man; the first man hits the man doing the threatening in the head and he falls to the floor, and then shoots the wall behind another man who also falls to the floor, and the first man then shoots both men in a leg each (we see bloody wounds) and steps on the groin of one of the men while asking for information. A man holds two guns to the heads of two men until they identify themselves. A man shoots the windshield of a truck causing it to stop abruptly and a man running away from the first man slams into the side of the truck; he falls to the ground and the man with the gun approaches him and twists his arm and hand breaking a couple of his fingers and then his wrist (we hear crunching and see the fingers bent unnaturally). After a gunfight outside a car we see a young child in the back seat of the car (he is unharmed). Two men swing on ropes and crash through a high-rise apartment window as a third man crashes into the window and it doesn’t break; the men are shot at by people inside the apartment and several people are struck (blood sprays).
► A man shoves another man on the dance floor in a club, they argue and tussle and fight with punches and kicks and one man holds the other in a chokehold until he falls unconscious. Two men in a drug house draw guns on a man, they argue and another man hits him in the head (we see a bruise later). A man points a gun at a woman, then shoots her computer and telephone. A man points a gun at another man and yells at him after he admits to throwing guns out an open window. A man holds a gun to the back of the head of another man who identifies himself as the first man’s son. A man kicks an office door open, two men enter the office and a woman inside picks up a baseball bat and then punches one of the men in the face (he falls to the floor yelling). A woman attacks two men holding her captive and tries to runs away; she runs into three other men and stops. A man punches another man in the face knocking him out. An man is arrested by armed FBI agents and people gathered outside yell and protest. A man pulls a gun while standing at an apartment door scaring another man from a neighboring apartment. A man has a large closet filled with weapons.
► A man shoves another man against a dumpster and threatens him (we don’t see any injuries). A woman punches her adult son in the arm. Grade school bullies pick on a boy and one slaps something out of his hand; another boy shoves the bully to the ground (we see no injuries). A man walks across streets in front of cars in several scenes and the cars screech to a halt. We hear that a man died and we see crime scene photos of him dead with a hypodermic needle on the ground next to him; we see a funeral with attendees grieving.
► A man working for the FBI looks up a man’s driver’s license and initiates a suspension. A man yells and struggles with a seat belt in a car as another man speeds through streets. A man yells at another man and lists the number of laws that he broke and the human rights violations. A man says, “I’m about to kill you.” A woman yells at a man in a car. A man’s boss yells at him over the phone and fires him later.
► A man vomits on a woman in a club after drinking and fighting (we see goo leave the man’s mouth and splatter on a woman who yells at him). A man drinks some coconut water and gags, spitting it (or vomiting) into a backpack (we do not see goo).
Shaft LANGUAGE 10
– About 118 F-words and its derivatives, 1 obscene hand gesture, 29 sexual references (a couple of songs include sexually suggestive lyrics), 77 scatological terms, 39 anatomical terms, 36 mild obscenities, 9 derogatory terms for African-Americans, name-calling (white boy, annoying, ghetto rose, Don Lemon, bi-curious, stupid, rat, misogynistic, hot shot, bozo, punk henchman, shady, insane, sociopath, dead junkie vet), exclamations (my gosh, jeez, shut-up), 7 religious profanities (GD), 9 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Jesus, Allah, For Christ’s Sake). | profanity glossary |
Shaft SUBSTANCE USE
– We see people taking drugs (snorting cocaine and injecting presumably heroine) and showing the effects of using (scratching and sleeping) in a drug house, a man asks another man if he is using, a man finds a pouch of a powdered drug in a dead man’s wallet, we see many packets of drugs inside the tires of vehicles in a garage, a man buys a shipment of drugs from another man, and we see newspaper headlines about heroine seizures. People in a bar scene are shown drinking alcohol, a man pours a brandy for himself and another man who does not drink from it, a man drinks a glass of brandy in an office, and a woman drinks wine in a restaurant. A man smokes a cigar in a club.
Shaft DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Abandonment, estranged fathers, parenting, misogyny, PTSD, drug addiction, drug trafficking, murder, jealousy, fear of women, terrorism, veterans issues, FBI, Islamophobia, heroine epidemic, rehab.
Shaft MESSAGE
– Family working together is a powerful weapon.
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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