Kicking and Screaming MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -2

Kicking and Screaming is the clever new film about six college graduates and their inability to escape the post-graduate rut. Each is struggling with his own issues, and when all six get together, the dry, witty dialogue is non-stop. Grover (Josh Hamilton) is trying to come to terms with his feelings for his girlfriend, Jane (Olivia d'Arbo). And when she leaves to pursue her master's degree in Europe, Grover must decide how committed he wants to be to their relationship. Meanwhile, Max (Parker Posey) has all the money he possibly needs, and yet, he is extremely depressed. He ends up sleeping with his best friend's girlfriend, which eventually destroys that friendship. Chet (Eric Stoltz) is the perpetual student and Otis is the insecure drunk. Each character plays off the other to create a very frank look at the 20-something generation, which is sure to provoke chuckles from those "who have been there and done that."

Unfortunately, these 20-year-olds are quite free and loose with their bodies and morals. Max and his newly-found 16-year-old girlfriend decide to live together. She tells Max that until she turns 17 the next day, he can only go to "first base." Grover pursues every freshman on campus for sex in an effort to forget Jane. In one scene he is in bed with a girl, whose roommate is also in bed with her boyfriend in the same room. When Grover finds he doesn't have a condom, the other girl gets out of bed and walks around the bed nude from the waist up to find him one. And in yet another scene, Grover's newly separated dad (Elliot Gould) tells him in graphic detail how difficult it is to have sex in the nineties. The lack of morals, combined with a constant flow of obscenities, crudities and nudity make Kicking and Screaming a film to avoid. If viewers aren't being exposed to nudity, they are being subjected to watching these young people getting drunk and uttering vulgar language. It's too bad the film sends a message that young adults have either "been there and done that," or most certainly soon will be there doing that.

Preview Reviewer: Sherry Oswald
Distributor: Trimark Pictures, 2644 30th St., Santa Monica, CA 90405-3009