2016-06-30

Screen It! is not attempting to rate the movie as good or bad but to give parents the tools to decide whether it's appropriate for their kids.

This movie has been screened for objectional content in 15 areas. Click for a detailed look.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:
The following is a brief summary of the content found in this G-rated documentary about legendary Cuban musicians and performers. Beyond a few minor, sexually-related comments in song lyrics, some performers holding or smoking cigars, the brief sight and mentioning of liquor and one minor profanity, most of the film's categories have little or nothing in the way of major objectionable content.


QUICK TAKE:
Documentary: Producer and guitarist Ry Cooder examines the lives of several legendary Cuban musicians during a recording session as well as concerts in Amsterdam and New York's Carnegie Hall.
WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?
Unless they're into Cuban music or are interested in alternatives to popular music, it's highly unlikely.
WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G
For apparently not containing any material that would warrant a higher rating.
CAST AS ROLE MODELS:
Other than for some cigar smoking/holding and two brief sexually related song lyrics, there's nothing here that would make these real people seem as bad role models (particularly since many of them are still active in older age and are all talented musicians).
DETAILED CONTENT LISTING:
Click on a category for specific details or scroll through the page for a broader overview.



MODERATE
Smoking

MILD/MINOR/NONE
Alcohol/Drugs | Guns/Weapons | Imitative Behavior | Music (Inappropriate) | Profanity | Sex/Nudity | Tense Family Scenes | Topics To Talk About | Blood/Gore | Disrespectful/Bad Attitude | Frightening/Tense Scenes Jump Scenes | Music (Scary/Tense) Violence |

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: MINOR
(Return to Summary Chart)
  • A performer shows a little shrine in his house and points out a small glass of rum he's left for the figure on it, stating that since he likes rum, he assumes the figure does as well.
  • A performer mentions that he's giving up drinking.
  • As a performer talks while sitting at an empty bar, bottles of liquor are seen on the wall behind him.
  • BLOOD/GORE: NONE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • None.
  • DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: NONE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • None.
  • FRIGHTENING SCENES: NONE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • None.
  • GUNS/WEAPONS: MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • In a Cuba-related photo book we see a picture of a soldier/rebel carrying a machine gun/rifle.
  • Some students thrust their fencing swords.
  • Two performers comment on the pistol seen in a cardboard cutout of John Wayne dressed as a cowboy.
  • IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • Phrases: "Shut up."
  • JUMP SCENES: NONE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): NONE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • None.
  • MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • A song lyric--written in English subtitles--briefly mentions when a woman "shook" a man was "aroused" while another states that when "a woman bends over...it makes you understand" (or something to that effect).
  • PROFANITY: MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • 1 damn (in English subtitles).
  • SEX/NUDITY: MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • A song lyric--written in English subtitles--briefly mentions when a woman "shook" a man was "aroused" while another lyric states that whhen "a woman bends over," it makes you understand (or something to that effect).
  • An older woman walking with a musician shows some cleavage.
  • An older performer comments on "a night of romance" and then says that he has five children and jokingly adds that he's "working on the sixth."
  • SMOKING: MODERATE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • Several performers either smoke or hold cigars at times, as do miscellaneous people (such as a woman on the street with a humongous cigar). Others also smoke cigarettes.
  • One of the older musicians talks about having to light cigars for his grandmother and then comments that one could say he's been smoking for eighty-five years because of that.
  • We see workers rolling cigars in a production facility.
  • A performer mentions that he's giving up smoking.
  • TENSE FAMILY SCENES: MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • A few performers talk about their parents having died in the past.
  • TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: MINOR
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • The effects that Castro-led communism may have had on the musicians and their music (something that's not addressed by the film).
  • That these musicians have continued to perform--successfully--for decades.
  • VIOLENCE: NONE
    (Return to Summary Chart)
  • None.
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