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The Wood | 1999 | R | - 6.3.10
Three friends reminisce about growing up in Inglewood, California while one is having doubts about going through with his wedding that afternoon. With Taye Diggs, Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, Sean Nelson, Trent Cameron, Duane Finley, Malinda Williams, Patricia Belcher, De'aundre Bonds, La'Myia Good, Telma Hopkins, Tamala Jones, Sanaa Lathan, LisaRaye, Cynthia Martells, Aiysha Sinclair, Elayn Taylor and Basil Wallace. [1:52]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - Lots of sexual innuendo (including many references to erections) and a few kisses. A boy and girl kiss passionately, then she unzips his pants, takes off her skirt and gets into bed while he puts on a condom (we see the condom in his hands, but don't see anything else); they awkwardly and briefly have intercourse with slight movement (there's an interruption after the condom breaks and he has to find another one) and we briefly see the front of his underwear, his bare chest and a bit of her bra. A couple kisses passionately and it's implied that she briefly performs fellatio (we see his pants being unzipped and see them bunched around his ankles). Boys make a bet to see who can have sexual intercourse first, and we see a montage of short scenes during which they try to convince girls to sleep with them: a boy appears to be showing a girl his genitals, a boy has his hand between a girl's spread legs and we see her pleased expression and a boy tells a girl about "blue balls" (no nudity is seen in any of the scenes). A shirtless and apparently sexually frustrated boy pours ice water on his genitals (we only see him from the waist up). A man slaps a woman's clothed buttocks, a boy grabs a girl's clothed buttocks and a boy holds a girl's clothed buttocks as they dance slowly. A boy and girl dancing very closely are moved apart by an adult and a boy passionately kisses and dances with a stuffed animal, pretending it's a girl. Lots of camera shots focusing on girls' legs, clothed buttocks and clothed breasts; also, a couple of discussions about girls' buttocks. A few times it's implied a boy has an erection; in one scene, he holds a folder in front of his clothed groin and in another, the girl he's dancing with feels his erection. We see two men's bare backsides and a nude man covering his genitals as they're all showering. We see some women in cleavage-revealing tops and short skirts/shorts; in one scene, a woman wears a sports bra.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A girl punches and slaps a boy's back after he grabs her buttocks, a man holds another by the back of the neck (it's comical rather than violent) and a man pushes some boys and repeatedly punches another, giving him a slightly bloody lip. A couple of slaps and some scuffling and shoving. A girl makes a menacing "you're dead" slicing gesture across her neck to a boy. A man threatens a storeowner with a gun during a robbery. Police force a group of boys to put their hands behind their heads and stand against a wall while being frisked. We see a man vomit lots of fluid all over the inside of a car and we see wet spots on his shirt (as well as two other men's shirts).
LANGUAGE 10 - 55 F-words and lots of anatomical references (including many slang terms), scatological references, mild obscenities, insults and racial slurs (used among friends, not used maliciously).
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Male friendships, teen sexuality, weddings, marriage, marijuana use, gangs.
MESSAGE - Strong friendships remain intact throughout all stages of life.
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.
Moana 2 - 1.3.1
Gladiator II - 2.7.2
Wicked: Part I - 3.4.2
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. - 1.5.3
Emilia Pérez - 6.6.7
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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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