Bonneville

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Bonneville's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Bonneville completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 1 September 2008.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Bonneville contains the following information:

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

A synopsis of the story

Arvilla Holden’s (Jessica Lange) husband Bill has recently died and she is finding it hard to come to terms with the loss of the love of her life. To make matters worse, Bill’s daughter from a previous marriage, Francine (Christine Baranski), arrives on the scene demanding her father’s ashes be returned to California and buried next to her mother. Arvilla had promised Bill to scatter his ashes and refuses her request. Francine however, threatens to sell Arvilla’s house, as she says she has a will (old) proving she is the rightful heir to the property, unless Arvilla agrees to her wishes. Reluctantly Arvilla agrees and sets out on a journey across America with her two Mormon buddies Margene (Kathy Bates) and Carol (Joan Allen) and Bill’s ashes in a jar, in Bill’s old Bonneville convertible.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Coping with death

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 some violence in this movie including:

• Carol gets her handbag stolen at a petrol station by a young couple. A fight follows with all three women getting involved.

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.

Children may be disturbed and confused about the idea of someone’s ashes being in a jar and then scattered.

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 may also be disturbed about the idea of what happens to someone after death.

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 are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Coca Cola

Sexual references

None of concern

Nudity and sexual activity

None of concern

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• Some drinking and gambling in a casino.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this film, including:

• “Oh my god”
• “shit’

The movie's message

The main messages from this movie are that we should celebrate life and make the most of the time we have.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• friendship
• love
• commitment

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children what happens to a person after death.