SPRUNG

"SPRUNG"
(1997) (Tisha Campbell, Rusty Cundieff) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	None	Moderate	None	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	None	None	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	None	None	Mild	Minor

QUICK TAKE:: Romantic Comedy: The friends of two lovers try to break up the romance they believe is progressing too quickly.

PLOT:: Clyde (JOE TORRY), a womanizing restaurant manager, and Montel (RUSTY CUNDIEFF), a novice photographer, have been friends for years. Likewise, Brandy (TISHA CAMPBELL), a romantically jaded law clerk, and Adina (PAULA JAI PARKER), a flamboyant gold digger, have also been friends for a long time. When the four meet at a party, Clyde and Adina sleep together right away. Brandy and Montel, however, don't immediately get along, but eventually find themselves falling into a quick moving romance -- they've been "sprung." Upset that their friends are never around anymore and thinking that the romance is proceeding too quickly, Clyde and Adina set out to separate the couple no matter the costs, or the effort.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Preteens won't, but teens who are fans of any of the cast or are looking for a slightly wacky romantic comedy, just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For some strong sexuality and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: TISHA CAMPBELL plays a woman who's initially mean to Montel (she's romantically jaded), but she soon warms up to him. She does smoke pot in one scene.
RUSTY CUNDIEFF plays a reserved young man who's understanding of a woman's emotional needs wins over Brandy. He's very drunk in two scenes.
JOE TORRY plays a womanizing character who sees women only as sexual objects, and sleeps with Adina after they've just met.
PAULA JAI PARKER plays a flamboyant "gold digger" who's only interested in men she thinks are rich. She also smokes pot in one scene and sleeps with Clyde after having just met him.; RUSTY CUNDIEFF plays a reserved young man who's understanding of a woman's emotional needs wins over Brandy. He's very drunk in two scenes.
JOE TORRY plays a womanizing character who sees women only as sexual objects, and sleeps with Adina after they've just met.
PAULA JAI PARKER plays a flamboyant "gold digger" who's only interested in men she thinks are rich. She also smokes pot in one scene and sleeps with Clyde after having just met him.; JOE TORRY plays a womanizing character who sees women only as sexual objects, and sleeps with Adina after they've just met.
PAULA JAI PARKER plays a flamboyant "gold digger" who's only interested in men she thinks are rich. She also smokes pot in one scene and sleeps with Clyde after having just met him.; PAULA JAI PARKER plays a flamboyant "gold digger" who's only interested in men she thinks are rich. She also smokes pot in one scene and sleeps with Clyde after having just met him.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 3 out of 10: This is something of a strange production that combines two genres -- an old-fashioned romance and a hip hop sex comedy -- into one movie. Those two don't normally mix that well together and this movie doesn't break that rule. They do prove, however, to be moderately entertaining when separately considered. Of course that's not a great way to make a movie, and this one suffers from its split personality. The goofy, over the top part is funny at times, such as when Adina sees men with a visual display the way a female Schwarzenegger would in a "Terminator" movie -- labeling them as "wimps" and "losers" and tallying up the cost of their clothing. Otherwise, it's just plain odd, such as after Clyde is punched, animated stars fly around his head with cartoon sounds. Try to explain that one in film class. Thankfully, most of that disappears as the story progresses, but the characters also have this split identity problem. At times they're serious romantic characters, and at others they are caricatures and exaggerated ones at that. When the characters feel fresh and original, you really want the film to work. Cundieff and Campbell have a certain chemistry together and their "serious" romantic comedy scenes are charming and work rather well. Torry and Parker have their moments, but their frequent overacting undermines their efforts. It's too bad writer/director/actor Cundieff couldn't make up his mind and go with one genre or the other. Both have promise, but combined they just don't work. Although the movie has its nice moments, it doesn't work very well as a collective whole as it can't balance the old-fashioned romance and sex comedy together. We give "Sprung" a 3 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: While there's no full nudity, there are many sexual encounters that include movement (exaggerated at times) and sexual sounds. While little of it's played out to be erotic, many parents might be troubled by some of those scenes. In addition, women are occasionally seen in skimpy outfits and the Adina character often shows a great deal of her ample cleavage. Beyond that, the two women smoke pot in one scene, and Montel is rather drunk in another. Other than that and the fact that the two "friends" try to undermine a romance, the other categories are rather void of large quantities of objectionable material. Since teens will want to see this movie, we suggest that you examine the content before allowing them to do so.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: People have beer and mixed drinks at a party.
Adina drinks a shot of liquor at a party.
Several women have drinks in a bar.
Montel, seen as an old man, drinks a beer.
Brandy and Adina share a joint (marijuana).
Montel and Clyde are in a bar and have been drinking quite a bit. Empty shot glasses are in front of them as are two beers. Later, Montel is very drunk.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Clyde is a womanizer and knowing that certain women go for wealthy men, he acts like he's one by borrowing a friend's sports car and dropping other not so subtle hints.
Adina is a "gold digger" and won't give the time of day to anyone she doesn't think is rich.
At the beginning, Brandy has a bad attitude toward Montel thinking everything he does or says is used for trying to pick her up.
Clyde and Adina decide to work together to break up Montel and Brandy's relationship. They tell them exaggerated stories about how bad marriage is, and then finally set up Montel, who's drunk, to end up going home with a hooker.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: None.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Shotgun: A man comes out of a house and points a shotgun at Clyde, telling him to back off.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Balls" and "Nuts" (testicles), "Is your G-string too tight, or were you just born evil?" "Fool," "Freakazoid," "Bitch" (toward a woman), "Son of a dog," "Whore," "Nigger" (to a black person by a black person), "Skeezer," "Sucker," "Pisses me off," "Tripping," "Dumbo," "Heifer," and "Shut up."
Clyde tries to impress the ladies by borrowing a friend's Porsche and using a discarded ATM receipt showing a high balance that he acts like is his.
Adina throws a bucket of water onto Clyde after she realizes she's been "played" (used for sex).
Clyde jumps onto the roof of a car that Adina's driving away, and he holds on as she speeds down the road.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 8 "f" words (4 with the prefix "mother," and 2 used sexually), 24 "s" words (with one more seen written), 4 slang terms for male genitals (the "d" word), 2 slang terms for female genitals ("hootchie" and "poontang"), 1 slang term for breasts (the "t" word), 24 damns, 23 "ass" words, 16 hells, and 4 uses of "Oh my God," and 1 use each of "God damn," "Sweet Jesus," and "Oh God," as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: Adina often wears outfits that show a lot of her cleavage.
Adina aggressively adjusts her breasts and gyrates in front of a mirror, looking at herself.
Clyde talks about seeing lots of "booty" (female buttocks) at a party and then visualizes seeing women dancing in skimpy thong bikinis where bare butt cheeks are seen. Later, he sees two women in leather "teddies."
Adina looks at a guy's crotch and we see her thoughts written on the screen as "Bulge -- average."
Clyde tells Adina that they "can make love in front of the fireplace" while describing his fictitious home. He then starts kissing her and fondling her body and says he would pour champagne over her body and then get drunk licking it off "your neck...your breasts...your thighs" and he proceeds to kiss her on all of those parts.
Clyde and Adina then have sex under the sheets where he is on top of her. Movement is seen and sounds are heard, but no nudity is seen. She's then seen on top of him, with more movement. FYI, the scene is played to be funny instead of erotic with very exaggerated movement and facial gestures.
After they've had sex, Clyde comments to his penis, "Long, dark and strong. Ramrod, you're the man." Later though, she mentions that his "stroke" wasn't any good.
Commenting on Brandy's bad attitude toward him, Montel asks her, "Is your G-string too tight, or were you just born evil?"
Adina, dressed and acting like a prim and proper young lady, arranges for a police line-up where Clyde and several other men must open their robes, grab themselves (dressed just in their underwear), and say, "Girl, I know you want these nuts." One of the men wears underwear that has an elephant's head on it. Another gay man is wearing women's panties and says, "Girl I want you and I know you want me." When Clyde refuses to repeat the line, the police chief says, "Do it number five, or I'll get number four (the gay man) to help you." Adina then takes this one step further by saying that the man was rubbing himself in a circular motion and, "Was doing something to his self." The police chief then says, "Grab your d*ck, and make yourself feel good...in a rubbing motion, and read the line again like your doing something to yourself." Clyde complies and the gay man says, "Hell, if she don't want 'em, swing those jingle bells over to me."
An older woman on a dance floor tells her husband, "C'mon, make me want you."
Brandy, thinking that Montel's trying to make a move on her, tells him, "I guess you can make love for hours." He replies that he can do it for days, but is referring to emotional as well as physical love.
Brandy and Montel make out in his studio and she's seen in her bra and then her underwear as she disrobes. He runs his hands over her, and undoes her bra (seen from behind her), and she's then seen on top of him having sex (seen from the waste up with movement -- but no nudity.)
When Montel tells Clyde how he "loves women," he points to his crotch and says, "I might use down here to reinforce what's coming from here (his heart) and here (his head)."
Montel and Brandy move in together.
Clyde tells Adina (about their sexual encounter), "Do you know how many women I had to think about just to keep myself at attention?" (erection reference) She then tells him that the only reason she encouraged him (with aroused sounds) was so that "you eventually might find the hole. But you never did."
Clyde tells Montel an exaggerated story (that we see) about a man who came home and found his wife in bed with many men (no movement or nudity -- just implications of group sex).
Clyde warns Montel about women getting fat after getting married. We then see Brandy as a very large woman having sex on top of Montel with lots of exaggerated movement.
Adina tells Brandy, "Once they have a regular source of sex, they just let themselves go."
There's a little bit of innuendo as Brandy and Montel lick on their popsicles. He says he'll be right back and she says (licking on the erect piece of ice), "For some of this?"
A woman tells Brandy that after she's married she'll be looking up the word foreplay in the dictionary and we later hear someone say, "After you're married, all of the f*cking stops."
Adina refers to white men she's dated as having "real thick ones," but she's referring to wallets and not penis size like Brandy thinks.
Montel, who's drunk, visualizes a brief montage of him and an attractive woman having sex after she asks, "Can you give me a ride?" (He's thinking sexually). Some movement is seen, but no nudity. This woman turns out to be a hooker, and she later comes out wearing just a bra and gartered panties and tries to seduce Montel. She unbuttons his shirt and pants, but nothing comes of this. Brandy, however, comes to the motel and mistakes the woman's crying sounds for those of sex.
Clyde and Adina listen for sounds of Montel and Brandy making up. Not hearing anything Clyde says, "My boy's up there wearing it out" (sexual reference).
Clyde and Adina take off some of their clothes as they become aroused (no nudity). He then carries her into the bedroom with her legs wrapped around his waist saying, "Do it. Do it."

SMOKING: None, other than Adina and Brandy smoking pot (see "Alcohol/Drugs").

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Sabotaging other people's relationships.
Having sex with people you've just met.

VIOLENCE: Adina punches Clyde in the face after she finds out he's not rich and used her only for sex.
A man points a shotgun at Clyde after he tries to follow Adina into a house.
Brandy knocks down a hotel door after she thinks that Montel is having sex with a woman.
Brandy pushes other women out of the way as she races to catch a thrown wedding bouquet.

Reviewed May 12, 1997

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