Big Bad Love

MPAA Rating: R

Entertainment: +1

Content: -3 1/2

Leon Barlow (Arliss Howard) is a struggling writer in Mississippi. Sending off manuscripts by the dozen, he papers his walls with the rejection letters. His best friend Monroe (Paul LeMat) gets him jobs to pay the rent and secretly pays his child support. Despite their divorce, Leon and Marilyn (Debra Winger) maintain a civil relationship and as long as the child support gets paid, Leon gets to have his children for the weekend. But his son is getting older and his daughter's asthma seems to be getting worse. Monroe weaves bits and pieces of his life into rambling verbal images that create almost poetic stories for his manuscripts. No relationship seems as strong as his BIG BAD LOVE for writing. And when tragedies occur, Leon's solice is writing. Definitely one for the arthouse crowds.

Many of Leon's rambling narratives include sexual images. One ongoing discussion concerns an exposing incident and comments about the person's sexual perversions, as well as the nature of his exposure. Much of Monroe and Leon's activities involve consuming beer and alcohol to excess, although Leon seems to suffer some affects from the act. Crude and obscene language peppers the dialogue as well. Sexual content, obscenities and strong profanities, as well as frequent drunkenness make BIG BAD LOVE a poor choice.

Preview Reviewer: Paul Bicking
Distributor: IFC Films, 2 Park Ave., 11th Fl., New York, NY 10016

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: Many times Mild 15, moderate 8

Obscene Language: Many times F-word 8, s-word 11, other 10

Profanity: Many times Regular 8 (G 2, GD 4, JC, C, By G); exclamatory 2 (OG, OMG)

Violence: Few times (man punched, images of car wreck, bloody cut on head)

Sex: Implied few times (graphic motion and sounds, couple in field)

Nudity: Few times (brief breast nudity, male rear)

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: Many times (discussion about 'flasher' and size, comment about woman's motion, man invites ex to house, imagines sensual images of female letter writer)

Drugs: Many times - frequent beer/ alcohol drinking, marijuana smoking, cigarettes, drunken behavior

Other: Friend shows loyalty, man and ex-wife care for children, urination sounds, Police stop man for DWI and let go, spiritual comments at funeral heard as 'platitudes and blah', man vomiting, man does community service

Running Time: 110 minutes
Intended Audience: Adults

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