Not recommended under 14; Parental guidance recommended 14 to 15 (Disturbing themes, some violence and coarse language)
This topic contains:
Children under 14 | Not recommended due to disturbing themes, violence and coarse language |
Children 14 to 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to disturbing themes |
Children 15 and over | OK for this age group |
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: | Infinitely Polar Bear |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes and coarse language |
Length: | 80 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
This film is set in Boston in the late 1970’s. Cameron Stuart’s (Mark Ruffalo) life is falling apart. A diagnosed manic-depressive (having bipolar disorder), Cameron gets fired from his latest job and has a breakdown. His wife Maggie (Zoe Saldana) tries to escape with their two daughters Amelie (Imogene Wolodarsky) and Faith (Ashley Aufderheide) but Cameron runs after them dressed only in his underpants and removes the carburettor from the car to prevent them leaving. Amelie and Faith watch from their window as their father is taken away by the police.
Cameron spends some time in a half-way house before he is allowed to return home. Maggie wants the family to be reunited once Cameron is better, but insists they remain separated until then. When Cameron appears to be on the mend, Maggie decides to get an MBA so that she can support the family but this requires her moving to New York. Maggie thinks it will be good for Cameron to have the responsibility of the two girls during the week and she intends to come home at the weekends.
Unfortunately Cameron has problems even looking after himself, and Amelie and Faith have to do a lot of growing up to in order look after themselves and their father.
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.
Manic-depression/bi-polar disorder; difficult childhoods; abandonment; poverty
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 in this age group would also be disturbed the above mentioned scenes and by:
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 in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
None of concern
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:
Infinitely Polar Bear is based on the true story of a childhood affected by bi-polar disorder, as seen from an adult perspective. It does have some light moments, but not enough to relieve the intensity of the story. It is likely to be quite disturbing for children and young teens and is more suited to older teens and adults. Parents are warned not to be misled by the title and picture of a happy family on the advertising posters.
The main messages from this movie are that children are capable of loving their parents despite their faults and that all human beings need to be loved and cared for.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include the importance of family and caring for others in your family.
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
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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