Today’s Prayer Focus

Stealing Harvard

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA)

for crude and sexual humor, language and drug references.

Moral Rating:	not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:	Teens Adults
Genre:	Comedy
Length:	1 hr. 23 min.
Year of Release:	2002
USA Release:

Tom Green and Jason Lee in “Stealing Harvard”

Featuring	Tom Green, Jason Lee, Leslie Mann, Megan Mullally, Dennis Farina
Director	Bruce McCulloch
Producer	Susan Cavan, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer
Distributor	TriStar Pictures, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “John (Jason Lee) leads a simple and happy life. He has a beautiful fiancée and an assistant managerposition at his future father-in-law's company. Everything seems perfect, until John's favorite niece surprises him with her acceptance to Harvard University and he's reminded of a long forgotten oath he made to foot the bill! Desperate, John turns to his hare-brained and half-witted best friend Duff (Tom Green) for advice. Thinking far outside of the box, Duff convinces John that they must temporarily lead a life of crime to raise the needed cash! From the director of Superstar, and co-starring Megan Mullally (Emmy Award® winning Best Supporting Actress for TV's ‘Will & Grace’) and Dennis Farina (Snatch, Big Trouble), Stealing Harvard is an outrageous comedy of errors proving that getting into college is the easy part!”

Negative—This movie was horrible. You can see the 10 Commandments ALL being broken before your very eyes. We walked out of the theater, but wished that we would have left sooner rather then later. There was stealing, lying, premarital sex, hatred, violence, homosexuality (though not outright—close enough). The relationships within the movie the actors had with one another were all selfish and prideful. They tried to portray the importance of keeping one’s promise, however no one should break God’s law in the process. This movie definitely does not honor God in any way.
My Ratings: [Extremely Offensive / 1]

Phil, age 26

Negative—There is nothing redeeming about this movie. It should be rated R for language and sexual content. Its story line is childish. I wonder how adults can make this stuff and are willing to associate their names with it.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 1]

David Leksell, age 51

Comments from young people

Positive—This movie was a pretty good one. if you don’t mind some slight sexual references. It is a great movie to go to if you are in the mood for a lot of laughs. Tom Green is not at all “sick” like he is in his TV series and his other movies. He has a great sense of humor that will leave you laughing for hours. I wouldn’t suggest this movie to anyone under the age of 14.
My Ratings: [Average / 3½]

Scott Houston, age 15

Negative—I personally thought this movie was a waste of time. Not only was it morally inappropriate, but the story line lacked any real plot. This movie has many unnecessary sex scenes and a lot of bad language (what movies don’t have that these days.) I went to this movie expecting at least a little entertainment, but it was so pointless that I ended up talking to my friends more than I was watching the movie. If you absolutely have to see this movie, wait until you can rent it, its not worth the money to see it at the movie theater.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 1]

Brittany, age 13

Movie Critics

…discerning moviegoers will agree STEALING HARVARD should be rated R and spurned at the box office…

Preview Family Movie and TV Review

…Sexually related dialog is present, while a couple is seen having sex in various scenes (usually for laughs, but including some movement, sounds and non-explicit nudity)…

ScreenIt!

…Three different men (in three scenes) dress like a woman, and we see them lying in bed with a man… A dog thrusts on a man’s leg and there is a veiled suggestion that they may have been involved in a sex act…

Kids-in-Mind