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Small Engine Repair | 2021 | R | – 5.8.10
Why is “Small Engine Repair” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “pervasive language, crude sexual content, strong violence, a sexual assault, and drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a near sex scene, scenes of sexual abuse, many references to sexual encounters and date rape, a sequence of a murder and dismemberment of the body with blood and matter shown, several fight scenes, a scene of three adult men beating their young boys, several arguments and 281 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
Three lifelong friends (John Pollono, Shea Whigham and Jon Bernthal) are drawn into life-changing events sparked by a devastating act that spins out of control. Also with Ciara Bravo, Jordana Spiro and Spencer House. Directed by John Pollono. [Running Time: 1:43]
Small Engine Repair SEX/NUDITY 5
– A man poses for a photo with his genitals forced into a bound young man’s mouth (we see indiscernible flesh).
► A man and woman kiss passionately on the woman’s front porch, they go to her bedroom, he lies back on the bed, she straddles him and they kiss; she puts his hand in her pants and his watch gets snagged on her public hair (we do not see anything); they struggle to remove his watch (we do not see flesh) and they are interrupted.
► A young man talks about getting a teen girl “hammered,” trying to have sex with her and later coaxing her to send him nude photos of herself (we see a picture of the teen shirtless with her arms across her breasts and cleavage, bare shoulders and abdomen are shown). A man pulls down his pants (we see his bare buttocks) and moves his bare buttocks toward another man’s head; the other man jumps out of the way when he realizes what’s happening. A teenage girl wears a low-cut sweater that reveals cleavage. A woman wears a low-cut seater that reveals cleavage.
► A man flirts with two women at a bar. Two men ogle two women at a bar and make remarks about one of the women’s breasts. Two men ask a woman if she has had her breasts augmented (using crude terms) and she opens her jacket and adjusts her breasts in her bra, asking if the men want to see them. A woman says that a man is going to hire strippers as an apology for an argument between three men. Two men talk about seeing one man’s grandmother’s pubic hair when they were children. A young man talks about a law colleague of his father’s having been dismissed from his job at his firm because he posted photos of him kissing another man at a gay resort.
Small Engine Repair VIOLENCE/GORE 8
– A young man is placed in a chair, bound and gagged, and he is wheeled into a room covered with plastic tarps and a man shoots him in the head (blood sprays on the plastic); three men dismember the young man’s body and we see saws and blades cutting flesh and bone and severed body parts are placed in a large basin that is shown filling with bloody water while a powder is sprinkled over it. A young man turns to leave a machine shop and a man slams the back of his head with a wrench (we see the young man on the floor with blood pooling under his head).
► A man yells and punches a wall, three boys find a man in a kitchen and they see him crying; the man yells at one of the boys (it’s his son), grabs him and slams him against the fridge and then slaps him across the face several times; another boy grabs the man’s arm and the man throws the boy to the floor, where the boy’s father slaps him across the face a few times and the third boy’s father swings at him but the boy ducks and runs away (the man hits the wall). A man grabs a young man by the throat and chokes him until others pull him away. Two men argue and mock each other in front of two women at a bar and one man slaps the other man hard in the face; other men in the bar mock the man that was slapped and a bar fight starts with punching and slamming into the bar; a few women fight and shove each other and one man hits another man repeatedly in the head and face until his teen daughter yells for him to stop (a few people have bloody faces and noses) and the man yells at the two men that started the fight and leaves the bar angrily. A man shoves another man and he falls back onto some machinery (he holds his ribs but we do not see injuries). A woman kicks a young man in the crotch and punches him in the face several times. A man slaps another man in the face a few times in different scenes. A woman stumbles out of her car and seems inebriated (she is not driving).
► Men watch an MMA match on TV and yell when one man punches the other man. Two men swing a third man back and forth readying to throw him over a barrel that is on fire (they are interrupted). Three men burn clothes and other items that are stained with blood.
► We hear that a teen girl took a bottle of pills trying to kill herself and we see her on the floor unconscious with foam at her mouth; we then see the teen in a hospital bed on a ventilator and in a coma and people talk about brain damage. A young man yells, cries, and pleads with a man not to kill him. Three men and a woman argue about a plan to kill a young man. A man becomes enraged and throws a table over spilling food and dishes onto the floor. A young man talks about coaxing a teen girl to send him nude photos of herself and that he then shared them with all his friends and they all mocked her over a part of her anatomy; we hear that she was mocked relentlessly. A man yells at his teen daughter and tells her that she will turn out to be just like her mother. A husband and his estranged wife argue bitterly in several scenes. A teen girl argues with her father about going to college. A man revs his motorcycle engine several times while another man is trying to talk to him. A man yells at another man when he spills his beer and tells him to stop drinking so much. A man says that another man will always, “Get wasted and start something” when they go out together. A man reaches for his young daughter and she cries. A man asks a young man what it feels like to have a father he’s not ashamed of. A teen girl says that her father quit smoking after she showed him pictures of cancer-riddled lungs.
► Three men urinate and we see two of the three men’s bare buttocks. A man pulls down his pants and moves his bare buttocks toward another man’s head; the other man jumps out of the way when he realizes what’s happening. A man burps after drinking in a few scenes. A man has a cast on his arm and stitches on his face.
Small Engine Repair LANGUAGE 10
– About 281 F-words and its derivatives, 1 obscene hand gesture, 22 sexual references, 31 scatological terms, 29 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, 5 derogatory terms for gay people, a man’s nickname is Paki and it is not clear if it is a reference to him being Pakistani, but it is not clear, soft, un-hirable, pretty boy, piece of garbage, pancake, name-calling (“Manchvegas,” oppressed [anatomical term deleted], chick, disgusting, devil, out of your mind, homophobic, half-dumb girls, stupid, toxic, Captain [anatomical term deleted] sucker, Chihuahua, wicked, mania, dumb, retard, Leprechaun, Paki), exclamations (whatever, knock it the [F-word deleted] off, sick and tired, take it easy man), 4 religious profanities (GD), 19 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ, Merry [F-word deleted] Christmas, I Swear To God, For Christ’s Sake, Holy [F-word deleted], Holy [scatological term deleted], Jesus Christ, Jesus, God, Oh My God). | profanity glossary |
Small Engine Repair SUBSTANCE USE
– Three men smoke marijuana from a large glass pipe, a young man smokes marijuana from a glass pipe, we hear that a teen girl took a bottle of pills trying to kill herself and we see her on the floor unconscious with foam at her mouth, and a young man sells three men “Molly.” Men drink beer and liquor at a dinner and one man spills his beer on the table, a man accuses another man of “getting wasted,” three men reminisce about stealing a bottle of whiskey and drinking it when they were young boys, people drink in a bar, three men guzzle beer from cans, a woman stumbles out of her car and seems inebriated (she is not driving), three men and a young man drink shots of whiskey, and three men drink shots of whiskey. A teen girl takes a drag from a man’s cigarette on a front porch and the man continues to smoke, two women and a teen girl smoke outside a bar, a man smokes at a dinner table, a man says that he quit smoking, a teen girl says that she quit smoking, men smoke in a machine shop and outside in several scenes, and a woman smokes in a car.
Small Engine Repair DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Cyberbullying, social media, suicide attempts, life choices, wealth, sadness, disappointment, hope, single parenting, anger issues, single parenting, lymphoma, divorce, estranged families, drug addiction, alcoholism, date rape.
Small Engine Repair MESSAGE
– Traumatic events can cause one to lose sight of what might be effective ways of dealing with a situation.
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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We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.
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Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.
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