Let me first say that the idea of this movie and the driving principle behind its intent is one I agree with. The execution was not that great. The biggest problem with this movie is that they mixed filmmakers opinions with the MPAA specifically (which the movie purports to be about) and their opinions of ratings in general, which they liked to call censorship and like to complain about. They try to play this as an exposé on the ratings system as a whole, but really it's about the R rating versus the NC-17 rating and sex versus violence. However, the parts that were on topic were very good in pointing out the inconsistent and ill-defined nature of the Motion Picture Association of America, how they rate films, who rates films, and the appeal process for films' ratings. Their seeking out of raters may have gone a bit too far (good job blurring out the license plate numbers whilst reading them out-loud on screen) when they hired a private investigator, and then plastered their faces on the screen as if these people were the villains (good job pointing out that one of the raters is a Republican whilst not revealing any other raters political persuasion). But it did show falsities in the MPAA's claim of who the raters are. And whilst the movie does well in pointing out the problems with the MPAA, they offer absolutely no solution or possible solution in response to their complaint with the MPAA. I would be interested to know what this film would look like and what these filmmakers would say if there was more structure and less ambiguity with the MPAA and its system but still the same level of "censorship." Now it's time for my rant on this movie. It's hard not to look at this film as Hollywood liberal propaganda. And just because it's art, realistic, can be found on the internet, and/or has been seen before by someone elsewhere, does not excuse it to be seen by the general public of any or all ages in theaters. But at least they interviewed an attorney who specializes in 1st Amendment rights who works solely with filmmakers to come use big words to convince us of the evils of this modern day censorship we call the MPAA. Now, I believe I'm on the conservative side of the spectrum, but I do watch R rated movies on occasion, I have seen even more objectionable material before, my favorite television show right now is "Game of Thrones" on HBO which is full of sex, violence, nudity, and inappropriate language, but that is my choice. I know what is in these forms of entertainment. I believe that some sort of rating system is necessary. It is a tool that people can use to decide what they want to allow themselves and those they hold responsibility over (ie, their children) to watch and let into their lives. I also believe that the MPAA could use some fixing, assuming this film is accurate in its depiction of the system used by the MPAA. If we're going to rate these movies, we need more behind it than a small group of unknown, unqualified individuals that are touted as "regular, everyday parents with children between the ages of 5 and 17." Why not a qualified board containing filmmakers, psychologists, doctors, law enforcement agencies, a variety of religious leaders, and regular parents? If we have a board of 9 everyday people rating all our movies, why can't we get a few people from each of these areas to do it for us, to bring their expertise to the rating system, to develop a more concrete system of why a movie is rated what it is. And perhaps ratings need to be replaced with not necessarily a rating of the content, but a description of the content. But even then, you need a short way of describing that content, which the rating is supposed to provide. I'm not sure what the answer is to the modern day rating system. In all honesty, I'm fine with it, simply because I'll research a film's or show's content before I watch it if I have questions about it. But if the MPAA truly wants to be an effective tool for people and parents, then they need to be more systematic and concrete in their approach. This movie did point that out, it was just surrounded by a lot of unnecessary noise that was used instead of further exploring the problem of the MPAA and a possible solution for it.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493459/
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