Love Stinks (1999)

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: Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated comedy. Profanity is extreme with at least 19 "f" words being used, along with plenty of other profanities and colorful phrases and dialogue, some of which is sexually graphic in nature. Beyond such talk, several sexual encounters with movement and sounds are also present, and the two main actresses show a great deal of cleavage throughout the entire picture. Regarding that, some viewers make take offense at the way women are portrayed -- as sexpots and/or manipulative, mean spirited and self-serving bitches, and such characters as presented here obviously have extreme cases of bad attitudes, as do the two participants in the domestic war. That provides for some moments (replacing hair conditioner with hair remover, throwing and dangling a cat off a pier) that may prove to be imitative fodder for some kids. Beyond some violence that includes a character shooting another in the rear end with a gun, some drinking (including one character briefly seen drunk), and a few moments of scatological humor, however, the film's remaining categories don't have much, if anything, in the way of major objectionable content. Nonetheless, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness, we suggest that you take a closer look at the more detailed content listings.

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: After meeting and falling for a beautiful woman who's determined to get married no matter what it takes, a TV sitcom writer soon finds her turning his life into a living hell when he refuses to propose.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Stewart (TV's "3rd Rock From the Sun"), the attractive and shapely actresses and the basic concept may entice some teens, but this one doesn't seem like a big draw for most kids.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For language and sexual content.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: FRENCH STEWART plays a TV sitcom writer who quickly woos and beds Chelsea, but is reluctant to get married. After facing her wrath and various tactics to ruin his life, he begins to seek his own revenge on her, hoping to drive her from his home and life. Along the way he also uses strong profanity.
BRIDGETTE WILSON plays a spoiled woman whose obsession with getting married, coupled with Seth's reluctance to propose, causes her to set out to ruin his life, no matter what that may take. As such, she's very mean spirited, also uses strong profanity, shows exorbitant amounts of cleavage, and ends up shooting him in the butt (all of that beyond her sleeping with him on their first date).
BILL BELLAMY plays Seth's best friend who sides with him regarding Chelsea's actions.
TYRA BANKS plays Chelsea's best friend who sides with her and similarly shows lots of cleavage throughout the film.; BRIDGETTE WILSON plays a spoiled woman whose obsession with getting married, coupled with Seth's reluctance to propose, causes her to set out to ruin his life, no matter what that may take. As such, she's very mean spirited, also uses strong profanity, shows exorbitant amounts of cleavage, and ends up shooting him in the butt (all of that beyond her sleeping with him on their first date).
BILL BELLAMY plays Seth's best friend who sides with him regarding Chelsea's actions.
TYRA BANKS plays Chelsea's best friend who sides with her and similarly shows lots of cleavage throughout the film.; BILL BELLAMY plays Seth's best friend who sides with him regarding Chelsea's actions.
TYRA BANKS plays Chelsea's best friend who sides with her and similarly shows lots of cleavage throughout the film.; TYRA BANKS plays Chelsea's best friend who sides with her and similarly shows lots of cleavage throughout the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Moderate: We see champagne being poured at a reception.
People have drinks at a wedding rehearsal and then champagne after the actual wedding.
Seth orders a rum and Coke and a vodka cranberry for himself and Chelsea while others also have drinks and beer.
Seth, Chelsea, Larry, Holly, Jesse and his date all have wine with dinner.

Chelsea pours herself a drink and Seth then drinks straight from the bottle.
Seth jokes that his mom became an alcoholic.
Seth has a drink.
We see Seth with a tropical drink at a resort.
People have drinks at an outdoor bar.
Larry and Seth have beer.
A comment in made about Seth finding a mini-bar and getting "wasted" and we then see him lying on his bed with one of those miniature liquor bottles (and appearing intoxicated).
In the TV sitcom, Rebecca has a drink.

BLOOD/GORE: Mild: We see a needle going into Seth's arm (no blood but a puncture) for an allergy shot.
We hear Seth purposefully farting many times in bed (with Chelsea reacting to the smell).
Seth learns that Chelsea has order the "super colonic volcano," a massive enema applied by a female staffer who holds a large prod that she then inserts into Seth (not seen, but we do see his reaction). We then hear more farting sounds and hear the staffer tell him that he's clinching, but then asks, "Have you done this before?"
Seth belches.
Blood squirts from Seth's butt cheek after he's shot there.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Extreme: Some viewers -- especially women -- may be offended by the film's portrayal of women as sex objects (thus the plentiful and blatant cleavage) or greedy, manipulative bitches.

Chelsea has both for trying to manipulate Seth into proposing and then turning his life upside down and into a living hell when he doesn't. She also doesn't like the gifts he gets her (when they're not an engagement ring).
Some may see Seth as having both for not proposing after going out with her for a year or so.
At Larry and Holly's wedding, both Seth and Chelsea dump their respective dates so that they can see each other.
Some viewers may not like threatening and intended comical comments about harming Chelsea's cat (Seth makes cat sounds and reactions from getting hit by imaginary lawn darts) and then actually throws the cat over the edge of a pier (but attached to a bungee chord like rope) where it dangles and occasionally touches the water (and is obviously scared).
Seth's agent defies their professional relationship and arrives to go out on a date with Chelsea, only because he thinks he's going to have sex with her.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Minor: Some viewers may find a scene where Seth threatens and eventually throws Chelsea's cat off a pier and attached to a bungee chord-like rope where it dangles just above the water's surface, as unsettling or tense (although it's supposed to be played for laughs).
The same holds true for a scene where Chelsea grabs a gun and fires at Seth.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Moderate: Handgun: Grabbed by Chelsea and used to shoot Seth in the butt.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Moderate: Phrases: "Blow job" (oral sex), "Laid" and "Bang" (for sex), "I sh*t you not," "Holy sh*t," "Disgusting sack of sh*t," "D*ck head," "Suck my d*ck" (nonsexual), "Skank ho,'" "Freakin,'" "Big dope," "Bimbo," "Schmuck," "Bitch," "Chick," "Pissed me off," "You suck," "Scum bag," "Bitch on wheels," "Take a dump," "Shut up," "Bite me" and "Moron."
Seth purposefully farts in bed several times to get back at Chelsea.
Seth throws Chelsea's cat off the edge of a peer (to make her think it's gone into the water), but has it attached to a bungee chord-like rope where it dangles just above the water's surface.
Seth discovers that Chelsea put hair remover in his conditioner bottle and thus discovers his hair falling out in clumps.
After Seth cusses in front of a judge during a meeting, his lawyer falsely states that he suffers from Turret's syndrome (thus giving him an excuse to cuss).

JUMP SCENES: None: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): Minor: A brief bit of suspenseful music occurs in one scene.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): Mild: A song has the lyric "Let's get it on" and another mentions "sex machine" and includes the word "damn."

PROFANITY: Extreme: At least 19 "f" words (1 used sexually as are the words "bang" and "screw"), 18 "s" words, 7 slang terms for male genitals ("d*ck," "pr*ck" and "c*ck"), 10 asses (2 used with "hole"), 5 hells, 3 damns, 1 S.O.B., and 9 uses each of "Oh my God" and "God," 8 of "Oh God," 3 of "My God," and 1 use each of "G-damn," "What in God's name," "Oh Jesus," "For the love of God," "For Christ's sakes" and "Good God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Extreme: Both Chelsea and Holly show tremendous amounts of cleavage in the various low-cut or skimpy outfits they wear throughout most of the film (including lingerie and Holly's wedding dress that shows part of the side of her bare breasts). Others, including Rebecca, also show cleavage.
As Larry (who's black) takes Seth into the cramped bathroom on an airline (to talk him out of marrying Chelsea) and Seth's face ends up at Larry's crotch, the groom-to-be says, "Larry, you're my best friend. But if I see Mr. Chocolate, I'm going to scream."
While dancing on their wedding day, Larry spanks Holly's butt. Later, he removes Holly's garter with his teeth while we see a great deal of her upper thigh.
In the bathroom, Chelsea asks Holly about Seth, "I wonder if he's got a big c*ck?" Holly then tells her to make him wait at least three dates until they have sex.

Talking about Seth's poorly decorated home, Chelsea tells him, "Tell me what you want and I'll make it happen." He replies, "I can think of one thing I want." They then start passionately making out, but she tells him that she never sleeps with a man until they have three dinners together.
After they have their three meals in one night, she tells him, "You can have the wildest night of sex in your life, or some nice throw pillows." We then hear lots of sexual and bed squeaking sounds and then see (through some sheer curtains) Chelsea and Seth having sex in her showroom on a bed (with both of them sitting up but her facing away from Seth who's blindfolded) with movement, but no nudity. They stop when her boss walks in on them where we clearly see them but she now has a sheet wrapped up around her front.
We see a scene from Seth's sitcom being taped where Jesse and Rebecca are making out on a sofa, but she stops him and gives him the same line about not having sex until they've had three meals together.
Chelsea announces that she's moving in with Seth since she spends the night at his house every night anyway.
Holly tells Chelsea (about Seth), "Screw his brains out."
We see Seth nuzzling Chelsea's neck in bed while she just lies there, facing away from him. He asks, "Don't you want to make love?" She unenthusiastically replies, "Okay. Go ahead.
Chelsea tells Seth, "I never want to make love to another man," causing him to reply, "I never want to make love to another man either."

Seth jokes that his mom become a lesbian and in response his father became a transvestite.
On the TV sitcom, we that Jesse's in a hospital bed, eagerly awaiting his sponge bath from his buxom nurse. When Rebecca shows up, he suggests that both give him a sponge bath.
Chelsea asks Holly about Seth and another woman, "Do you think he's doing her?"
Seth comments about pretending to fight so that he and Chelsea can have pretend make up sex.
Seth tells others about Chelsea, "The sex is f*cking outstanding, as in outstanding f*cking."
Jesse makes a comment about women that "you get better blow jobs if they're toothless" but then adds that he's only heard that.
Among the ways that Chelsea tells Seth she'll make up being mean to him is breakfast in bed and a "blow job."
In a scene from the sitcom, Jesse comments that having Rebecca's mother moving in with them isn't exactly what he meant by a "threesome" (and says that it would be "you, me, and another woman").
Chelsea mentions that she has a date and is ready to go "buck wild."
Seth's agent arrives to go out on a date with Chelsea, and tells Seth, "C'mon, you know I hardly ever get laid for free. I just want to bang her a couple of times." Seth then tells Chelsea, "He just wants to bang you because he never gets laid. Seth then tells his agent that when Chelsea gets into his pants, she'll just be looking for his wallet and then adds, "When she plays with your d*ck, that's just to distract you."

We see Chelsea having sex on top of Seth on the beach at night with related sounds and some movement until they're done (but don't see any nudity -- they're both in robes).
Seth states that he's given up on women and is now gay.

SMOKING: None: None.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Mild: The way in which women are portrayed in the film (sexpots and/or manipulative bitches).

VIOLENCE: Moderate: Larry helps Seth get up from his airline seat, causing him to accidentally bang his head on the overhead compartment.
A musclebound man pushes Seth, who's holding onto Chelsea, into a pool.
Seth uses chloroform (or something similar) to knock out and then kidnap Chelsea.
Chelsea knees a security guard in the crotch, grabs his gun and shoots Seth in the butt (after hitting a vase next to him).