Taken Off Guard

We recently, as a family, went to see a movie at the theater. We assumed it would be family friendly since the theme was very "innocent" but we were sadly mistaken. About 30 min. into the film, my husband and I were feeling very uncomfortable. We have always been pretty particular about what we let our children see, and even though they are getting old enough now to discern for themselves, we still have a young teenage son and don't think it wise to allow a lot of sensuality and sexual innuendo. This particular film was filled with alot of both early on. So, anyway, we made the tough decision to leave the theater. I made the mistake of not screening the film prior to seeing it; which is what we always do, but, again, I was going on the theme and history of these types of films.

There are two really good internet sites that do an awesome job of reviewing films and videos and you can look at them and get a play by play on just about anything released at the box office. The first site is Screen It and this is one that is very specific about all the elements of the movie; violence, language, sexuality and nudity, alcohol and tobacco use, etc.. and then they rate each movie at the end of the review on whether it is family friendly or not. This site will ask you at the beginning if you want to join for a fee to receive new reviews. You don't have to join to read reviews but be aware that new movies are not available for non-subscribers immediately and you have to wait a week or two for them to post. That is the plus side of joining, I guess. I am not a member but still use this site frequently for movies that have been out more than two weeks. The second site is Plugged In and it is a part of the Focus on the Family web site. It is not quite as specific as Screen It but it definitely gives you a very good idea of what you are going to see. I should've looked at this site before going to the movies this time. The reviewer definitely confirmed what we had seen and said there was quite a bit more of the same throughout the movie. He says that there are some great parts to the movie; action scenes, etc.. but, and I'm quoting, "we mustn't abandon a level-headed concern for the content". Oh well, we're out 25 bucks for a movie we didn't get to see, but wiser for it. And, we have had some really good discussions with our kids since then and gotten to hear their insight and feedback.