"Once's" R rating

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I somehow missed hearing that the MPAA gave Once an R rating for "a handful of swear words." I'm staggered, open-mouthed, agog. This has to be one of the most moronic calls in that organization's history, and that's obviously saying something.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 2, 2007 at 5:12 AM

comment #1

Jayne Gacey says ...

HOMIE 1: Let's hit up that Irish folk musical, dawg.

HOMIE 2: Naw man, it's rated R. My peeps would be mad. Let's see Pirates instead.

HOMIE 1: True dat.

Posted by Jayne Gacey at June 2, 2007 5:32 AM

comment #2

rickyroma says ...

Screenit.com reports 39 'fucks.' An R for profanity seems pretty standard.

Posted by rickyroma at June 2, 2007 6:03 AM

comment #3

le corbeau says ...

In which case it's not a moronic call, it's a moronic policy.

Posted by le corbeau at June 2, 2007 6:07 AM

comment #4

EDouglas says ...

I've probably posted here at least two or three times and written about it in my column at least twice, including this:

http://www.comingsoon.net/blog/2007/05/the_battle_cry_51807_1.php

Too bad that more people didn't notice and say something *before* the movie opened. It hasn't affected its platform release but it will as it tries to expand into areas less open to indie fare.

Posted by EDouglas at June 2, 2007 6:13 AM

comment #5

JD says ...

So you're telling me Once got the same rating as a movie with this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51YrX-DDLxA

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Hostel 2 snuck through with an R without being gutted (no pun intended), but giving prohibitive ratings for swearing is idiotic. When I was 10-years-old, me and my friends swore like sailors on the playground. Nobody was gonna offend us with the word "fuck." Maybe we were the exception, but I don't think so.

Posted by JD at June 2, 2007 7:35 AM

comment #6

nemo says ...

Shouldn't "fuck" and "shit" count for less in an Irish movie since the Irish pronounce them "fook" and "shite"? Half the American audience doesn't have any idea what they're saying.

Posted by nemo at June 2, 2007 9:16 AM

comment #7

Ogami Itto says ...

"When I was 10-years-old, me and my friends swore like sailors on the playground. Nobody was gonna offend us with the word "fuck." Maybe we were the exception, but I don't think so."

I'm 35 and when I was 10, my friends and I were doing far worse than swearing like sailors. It was more like we were behaving like sailors -- drunken ones at that. I blame HBO.

Posted by Ogami Itto at June 2, 2007 10:41 AM

comment #8

J. Huff says ...

Still not as bad as Everyone Says I Love You, rated R for two counts of "motherfucker" said in far background, in a rap concert, without it even being exactly possible to tell who is saying (or rapping) it. Now that movie is a PG or PG-13 without it...talk about ridiculous.

Posted by J. Huff at June 2, 2007 12:39 PM

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

J: From what I hear, Allen prefers his films are R, since he doesn't want younge raudiences to see them anyway. Hence why you don't see Johansson's funbags in Match Point, but still have to be 17 or accompanied by an adult to catch it.

Posted by D.Z. at June 2, 2007 1:19 PM

comment #10

Reedyb says ...

I think they were probably just smoking cigarettes.

Posted by Reedyb at June 2, 2007 6:46 PM

comment #11

Hallick says ...

If the MPAA were in the business of rating grade school kids instead of movies, based on nothing but language alone, the letter "G" wouldn't be anywhere within a million miles of that lot.

Posted by Hallick at June 2, 2007 10:01 PM

comment #12

malibugigolo says ...

The first post, Jayne Gacey:

Never do that again. Never.

Posted by malibugigolo at June 3, 2007 9:28 AM

comment #13

Matthew Lucas says ...

The same thing happened to Altman's "Gosford Park," which only had four or so uses of the word "fuck," usually in the background.

The ratings system is ridiculous.

Posted by Matthew Lucas at June 3, 2007 3:21 PM

comment #14

Cadavra says ...

Don't blame the ratings people entirely; blame the whack-jobs who write letters. The former head of NATO once told me they even got several complaints about the language in APOLLO 13, f'Chrissake. No doubt much of this is organized by profssional victims like Brent Bozell and his band of yahoos, but a lot of middle America still finds such words offensive and will continue to keep up the pressure. (Not defending, just explaining.)

Posted by Cadavra at June 3, 2007 10:22 PM

comment #15

Joe M. says ...

But here's the big question... does Bruce Willis get to exclaim, "Yippee-kiy-yay, Motherfucker!" in "Live Free or Die Hard"? He starts to say it in the trailer, but they do that cute-sey editing thing and cut it off before it gets to the actual curse part. But is the whole line- a character trademark, after all- in the movie? Doesn't a PG-13 permit one "fuck" if it isn't said in a sexual context? The trailer is one thing, but it'll really be lame if the line is cut short in the movie, too.

Posted by Joe M. at June 5, 2007 8:27 AM

comment #16

Cadavra says ...

Since one non-sexual use is permitted, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that he does get to say it, most likely at the film's climax when it's guaranteed to generate the biggest cheers.

Posted by Cadavra at June 5, 2007 12:12 PM

comment #17