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Drowning Mona | 2000 | PG-13 | - 5.5.5

In this black comedy, everyone in a small town becomes a suspect when a much-despised woman not-so-accidentally drives her Yugo off a cliff. With Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Affleck, Peter Dobson, Will Ferrell, William Fichtner, Raymond O'Connor, Marcus Thomas and Yul Vazquez. [1:31]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - Several instances of sexual innuendo (including a reference to fellatio and ménage a trois) and several kisses (including one between two women). A few scenes -- which are more comical than passionate -- take place in a motel room where a man and woman are having an affair: in two scenes they kiss passionately (in one scene she's wearing a leotard and he's shirtless), in another a man puts his head on a woman's lap (it's not implied that oral sex happens) and in another we see a woman wearing a leotard and holding a board game between her knees while a man unzips his pants (we briefly see the front of his underwear) and spins a game piece with his tongue. From a distance we see a man with an unbuttoned shirt and an S&M leather collar around his neck standing outside a motel room with a woman wearing an unbuttoned dress (she appears to be wearing a black negligee). A man squeezes a woman's clothed buttocks (we see this in a close-up) and briefly fondles her clothed breasts. A man flirts with a young teenage girl (it's innocent, with the exception of their age difference). We see a man with lipstick smeared on his lips and cheeks taking pictures of a woman wearing a cleavage-revealing top.

VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - Most of the violence has a humorous rather than a dramatic tone. A woman drives her car off a cliff and into a lake when her brakes fail; we see the car sink, then see it being pulled out (when a door is opened, we see her arm). We see someone fall into a lake and later being drowned by another person; we also see the body floating in the water and being pulled out by a few people. We see a man's arm stump throughout the movie and see four versions of how he lost his hand (all while reaching for a beer): in one scene he reaches into a wood chopper and in the other scenes his hand is chopped off by a women using a cleaver, cut off by a chainsaw and eaten by a fish (all of this is implied, as we never see him actually lose his hand; also, there's no blood or gore, but we do see his pained expression and hear him yelling). Someone holding a gun to their head is tackled; from behind a gravestone obscuring our view, we hear scuffling and two gunshots, but in the end no one is injured. A woman threatens a man with a frying pan and eventually hits him in the face with it (we see this scene again later in the movie). A man punches a woman; we see her twice with a black eye. A man grabs a woman by the throat and pushes her against a car; in another scene, a woman does the same to a man. A man flips a woman off a bed while they're kissing passionately. Several face slaps, a woman slaps a man in the arm, a woman grabs another from behind to restrain her and a man throws another to the ground. A person smashes a car's headlight with a golf club and throws the club at the car as it drives away (we see part of this scene again later in the movie); also, another person kicks and hits the car. A man on a ladder drops gardening shears and we hear a cat screech; in another scene, we see a man chasing a dog with a lawnmower and it's implied that he runs over and kills the dog (we don't see any of it happen). A man puts his hand on a table and quickly stabs the spaces between his fingers with a knife. Several scenes during which a woman screams and verbally threatens people; also, a few other verbal threats are made throughout the movie. A police officer pulls a drunk driver out of a car, then the driver vomits on the officer. A man burps.

LANGUAGE 5 - One F-word and about 4 F-word derivatives, lots of anatomical references, many scatological references, lots of mild obscenities and some name-calling.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Murder, police investigations, small towns, infidelity, hate, revenge, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, marriage, drunk driving.

MESSAGE - Bad people deserve bad things to happen to them.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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