Father Stu
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 18+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Stu is a rough boxer who wants to be an actor. He meets a woman at church and joins the Church for her. After a bad crash, he feels called to be a priest. The one age is 18, set by the OSV News A-III classification; Common Sense Media says 16+ and the MPAA rating is R. His faith grows through illness, but a swearing stranger he thinks was Jesus, a broken vow and heavy profanity mean parents should guide the viewing.
For parents
One age: 18, set by the OSV News A-III classification (Common Sense Media says 16+, MPAA R; the PG-13 re-cut Father Stu: Reborn drops the f-words). Plugged In logs more than 40 f-words and at least 45 s-words in the R cut, plus misuse of God's and Jesus's names. Bearded man: Stu meets a stranger in a bar whom he later believes was Jesus, and the man swears and makes a crude joke about Stu's anatomy. The film never confirms it, but tell children Jesus does not speak this way. Statue: a drunk Stu hits a statue of Jesus and throws bottles at it. Carmen, a devout Catholic, breaks her vow to wait for marriage by getting into Stu's hospital bed; the camera cuts away, and Stu later confesses it. Stu's father is found passed out holding a gun, which hints at suicide. Also bloody boxing, a graphic motorcycle crash, heavy drinking and a drunk drive, porn references, and crude anatomy jokes. Talk about it: Why is sex outside marriage a sin even for good people like Carmen, and why did Stu go to confession? What does it mean to offer suffering to Christ? Why is it wrong to make Jesus crude or funny?