Big Mamma's Boy

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about classification and consumer advice lines for Big Mamma's Boy.
• a review of Big Mamma's Boy completed by The Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 August 2011.

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.

ACCM review

This review of the movie Big Mamma's Boy 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

Rocco (Frank Lotito) is 35, single, Italian and a self proclaimed "big mamma’s boy".  Still living at home with his mother (Carmelina Di Guglielmo), Rocco struggles to have an independent life without Mamma’s interference.  Rocco’s father died some years earlier and since then his mother has depended on him.  The mother-son dynamic is set to change when Rocco meets Katie (Holly Valance) through his job in real estate and falls instantly in love.  Katie finds Rocco’s quirky ways endearing but will not put up with his immaturity and inability to stand up to his mother. 

Difficulties emerge as Rocco attempts to move out on his own to prove to Katie that he can live without his mother.  Mamma will not give up her baby without a fight and will do almost anything to keep him at home.  Who will Rocco choose, the love of his life, or his mother?

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.

Possessive parents; Australians of Italian background

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.

Minimal use of violence includes:

• The butcher threatens Rocco by showing him his knife and telling him to be nice to his mother.  The scene has humorous intent.

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.

Nothing of concern

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.

Nothing of concern

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.

Nothing of concern

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Fiat cars

Sexual references

There are frequent sexual references in this movie, many of them objectifying women. Examples include:

• Multiple instances of men using sexual gestures to refer to having sex whilst making comments such as “she’s hot” and “ooh yeah”
• Rocco, as a young child, makes a sexual gesture about his parents having sex
• At Rocco’s work the men discuss a new female colleague.  They talk disparagingly about her work abilities but discuss whether she is “hot” and what they will do if she is.  Rocky then enters his bosses office to complain about the new employee and then asks his boss whether she is “hot”
• Rocco is introduced to his very good looking second cousin.  While talking to her his eyes are fixed on her breasts and he uses the word “breasts” accidently in conversation
• Two men check out a woman’s bottom when she walks past, saying “nice”
• Reference to a woman’s breasts as “melons”

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Rocco is caught having sex with a client in the bedroom of a house he is selling.  Both are in their underwear.  Rather than being reprimanded for his behaviour, Rocco is treated like a hero with his boss congratulating him, asking if the girl was hot and asking for her number.
• Rocco and Katie are seen kissing.  The next scene is the following morning and they are in bed together, apparently naked.
• Rocky and his flat mate Anton are seen naked from behind when his mother turns up at their house unexpectedly. 

Use of substances

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

• Rocco and his work colleagues frequent a pub where all of the patrons are seen drinking

Coarse language

There are coarse language and insults in this movie, including:

• balls
• bullshit
• fricken
• bitch
• shit
• bastard
• poofter
• prostitute
• bang her
• shut up
• dick
• pornstar

The movie's message

Big Mamma’s Boy is a is a humorous look at an adult male still living with his mother and the difficulty he has in finding his own independence and having a real relationship. It is an Australian film, not to be confused with the US made "Big Mommas" films.

The main messages from this movie are about balancing family loyalty and one’s own independence.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Female objectification - How are women and men portrayed throughout this movie?
• The inappropriate workplace behaviour demonstrated by Rocco, his boss and colleagues.
• The picture of Australians of Italian origin presented in the film