Are we there yet?

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Are we there yet?'s classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Are we there yet?'s completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 13 March 05.

Overall comments and recommendations

Are We There Yet is a movie that displays all the worst attributes of adults and children until circumstances prevail that make the characters in the film think about their behaviour. Many children, particularly those in the 8–13 age bracket, will enjoy this movie, but most adults will find it excruciating.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Are we there yet? contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Single mum Suzanne is bringing up her two children Kevin and Lindsay who live in hope that she will get back together again with their father. Consequently, they desperately try to sabotage any attempts Suzanne makes to meet a new man. Nick works in a toy store across the road from Suzanne and is attracted by her beauty. Nick is obsessed with his new four-wheel drive, loves gadgets and hates children. He does his best to impress Suzanne by pretending that he's interested in Kevin and Lindsay, but they are definitely not going to make any attempt to like Nick.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is a lot of violence in this movie all done for laughs with no one getting seriously hurt, such as the following:

• Kevin and Lindsay pelt a would-be suitor with tomatoes and throw marbles in his path so he falls over, whereupon they assault him with glue balls.
• Nick throws a ball at a child who's trying to steal from his shop.
• Airport security guards all jump on Nick because he has a pocket knife on him.
• Nick gets an electric shock trying to jumpstart car in the rain and is thrown backwards.
• Lindsay drives the car and knocks Nick over.
• An axe falls on Nick's groin
• A truck pushes Nick's car off the road and it crashes into a ditch.
• A deer attacks Kevin and Nick.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Most of the material is not particularly scary except for the following:

• Kevin and Lindsay see their father with another woman and a new baby, which upsets them greatly.
• Kevin and Nick are feeding a deer when it gets startled and starts attacking them both; the attack goes on for quite a while.
• Nick leaves a cigarette lighter in the car, which ignites the plastic causing the car to explode.
• Kevin collapses from an asthma attack.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children in this age group would probably not be scared by this movie except for the deer attacking Nick and Kevin and Kevin having an asthma attack.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children in this age group would not be scared by this movie.

Sexual references

There are a few sexual references:

• A few references are made to Suzanne's physique.
• The children call Nick a sex maniac.
• Lindsay quotes her Mum as saying that if a man's not married by the time he's 35 he's “either damaged or gay”.
• Lindsay tells Nick he has intimacy problems.
• It is said that ‘ Vancouver produces more playmates than any other city in the world.'

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity in this movie.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances in this movie.

Coarse language

There is occasional use of damn and bugger.

The movie's message

The take home messages from the movie is that children aren't to blame for their parents' separation and that people are more important than possessions.

The following themes and content could be used by parents to discuss with their children what their own family's values are, and what the real life consequences can be of some actions and attitudes:

• reasons for a father leaving his family and starting a new one with another woman.
• treating people with aggression and disrespect
• defining success by what car you drive
• bribing children to behave well
• laughing at others' misfortunes.