Dec 29,1995
| nudity | Near the beginning of the movie, Robert, the main character, is shown having sex with a "whore". She is laying down topless and he is thrusting into her. Her breasts are shown. In another scene, Robert, as with two women who are in bed with him. The women are blindfolding him and there is no sexual act shown, but the women's breasts are shown. During the wedding night scene, there is a prolonged shot of Robert, nude but for some red feathers in a place where no red feathers grow, being chased throughout the castle on his way to the marriage bed. During the whole scene, the revelers are singing "F*ck her well, f*ck her well" Unfortunately for Robert, he doesn't get to do anything of the sort, because his wife is the King''s mistress and he is merely a beard to throw suspicion away from the king by his other jealous mistress(es?). Later on during the wedding night, Robert tries to slip away from the wedding guests into a bedroom he believes to empty, only to spot the King performing cunnigulous on Robert's new bride. No movement is seen but she's moaning and climaxing Robert throws a party, and as the camera passes over the scene, a woman's bare breast is shown. Later, when Robert meets his one true love, they begin having some sort of foot/crotch sex (must have been popular in the seventeenth century) before getting down to the real thing. Once again, all sex takes place fully clothed. Later, when Robert loses all in a game of three card monte, he stands in front of the table nude, but the tabletop hides any naughty bits which might bother a parent. Considering the adult themes that comprise the story of this film, I would not expect to see anyone young enough to be offended at the brief shot of a bare buttock to be in attendance. |
| violence | Not a lot of violence, per se, but as the lead character is a doctor in the seventeenth century, there are many scenes of death, bloodletting, surgery, etc. Much of the third act of the film takes place during an outbreak of the bubonic plague, and there are many shots of the dead and dying, including one shot of a corpse floating in the Themes, which is lovingly filmed for at least ten seconds. At one point, a "madwoman" relates a story about why she can never fall asleep again: the last time she slept, her young child wandered off and drowned. Nothing is shown, in a flashback or any other way, but the scene is powerfully described and could frighten a younger viewer. (who should not be attending this film at all, IMHO) |
| profanity | If you like profanity, this is the film for you. The "f-bomb" is dropped hundreds of times, and coarse language is the main part and parcel of the film's dialogue. During the wedding scene, the guests chase the naked groom throughout the palace to the marital bed, all the while singing "F*ck her well, f*ck her well." |
| alcohol | Not much, with one notable exception. As this was the seventeenth century, when water and other beverages were unsafe to drink, everyone is shown drinking alcoholic beverages during any cirumstance where they might drink. The main character, Robert, played by the pharmaceutically unlucky Robert Downey Jr., habitually wakes up in a chair, half empty carafe of wine spilling all over him, wondering where he is and why he is in such circumstances. I can recall no instances of anyone smoking or taking any drugs, besides "syrup of roses" and other useless nostrums which were the only medications available to the seventeenth century physician and patient. |
| frightening | When the main character returns to London after a self imposed exile, the plague is in full swing. (odd that it hit only three hundred years after it wiped out the rest of Europe) There are many, many shots of corpses, some of which could be very disturbing. There is a scene where the Main Character's lover describes the death of her child, which is quite intense. Later, it is mirrored when the main character is forced to kill his lover in order to save the child in her womb. It is a scene that would be far too intense for anyone younger than late teenaged years, and then only with some previous preparation beforehand. It would also be ill-advised for any pregnant women to watch this film for the same reason. |
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