Parental guidance under 8 (violence, themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes, and violence. |
Children over 8 | OK without parental guidance. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Fred Claus |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes and violence, Infrequent coarse language |
Length: | 115 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
The moment his baby brother was born Fred Claus (Vince Vaughn) vowed to be the best big brother the world had ever known. However, as the boys grew up and Fred was consistently outshone by Nick (Paul Giamatti), his aspiration diminished. No matter how hard he tried to gain his parents’ (Kathy Bates and Trevor Peacock) praise or affection it was never enough. While Nick grew up to become Santa Claus, Fred became what he believed his parents thought him to be - bad and unworthy of love.
Wanda (Rachel Weisz), the woman Fred would do anything for, is about to end their relationship and Fred desperately needs $50,000 and winds up in trouble with the law. In a desperate, last ditch effort to get his life back on track, Fred agrees to go up to the North Pole and visit his brother for the first time since Nick became Santa Claus.
Fred is there to do a job, get some money and get out as fast as he possibly can. Nick desperately wants to reconnect with his long lost brother, but at the same time is trying to keep his ‘Santa gig’ afloat. There is an efficiency expert (Kevin Spacey) in town who wants to shut him and the whole Christmas season down forever. While it initially appears that Fred is ruining Santa’s chances, Nick learns some of the most valuable lessons of his life and Fred gets a chance to show that he too can shine.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Sibling rivalry; Family breakdown
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children over 8 are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Children over 13 are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film
Well known brands of toys are shown in Santa’s workshop
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Fred Claus is a comedy featuring some good performances and funny special effects. The plot is predictable but will likely be enjoyed by families wanting a Christmas film.
The main message from this movie is that the world is what you make of it and that it all begins with what you make of yourself.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of family and the roles and responsibilities that members have in relation to each other.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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