SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: BACKSTAGE

"BACKSTAGE"
(2000) (Jay-Z, DMX) (R)

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

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

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

QUICK TAKE:: Documentary: A backstage look at the lives of various rappers and hip-hop artists during their 1999 Northern American tour.

PLOT:: This documentary takes a backstage look at the lives of various rap and hip-hop artists during the 1999 "Hard Knock Life Tour" that included fifty-four stops in cities across North America. Among the artists representing Roc-A-Fella Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group is Grammy award winner Jay-Z, the man behind the tour, as well as fellow rap artists DMX, Method Man, Redman, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Ja Rule, DJ Clue and Amil.
As the tour makes its way from city to city, we see various bits of concert footage as well as how the artists react to varying behind the scenes incidents and material including groupies, clashing egos and just goofing around.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of rap/hip-hop music and/or any of the artists appearing here, they probably will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong language, nudity and drug content.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: While some of the performers presented here are successful recording artists and/or businessmen, some parents might object to the "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" and/or criminal thug attitudes that many of them exude, as well as the language they use and subject matter of their various songs.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a quick summary of the content found in this R-rated documentary. Profanity is rated as extreme due to at least 170 uses of the "f" word (some of which occur in various rap songs), while plenty of other expletives and colorful phrases are also present.

Female nudity occurs in the form of several completely nude women (full frontal), while others show their bare breasts. Other brief, nonsexual nudity is also present. Various groupies are seen and one is seen preparing to have oral sex with a man in a bathroom stall. Some drug use is seen and several people seem high, while others drink and smoke.

Various people have varying degrees of bad attitudes and some parents might not like the role model image some of the rappers (and their thug/gangster type personas) might have on their kids. Some brief, possible violence is present, but it's hard to say whether those involved were just goofing around or really struggling or hitting each other. Should this summary not appease any concerns you might have about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone in your home who may wish to see it, we suggest that you read through our detailed content listings.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: A man mentions that they smoke and drink all day.
A man appears to be smoking a joint.
People have champagne backstage.
A guy drinks some liquor and spits it out at the camera.
Some men smoke pot and appear to be high.
A man talks about "smoking weed" with another person.
Various men drink beer.
Various people drink in various scenes.
One artist pours what looks like beer onto a willing woman's chest as she stands in the front row at a concert.
Some men show bags of what looks like marijuana and we then see some men smoking pot.

BLOOD/GORE: A man shows some phlegm that he's spit out into an ashtray.
A man has some blood on his hands and spits out some blood from his mouth.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Many of the rappers are portrayed/portray themselves as the "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll" or criminal/thug type people (who are profane and live fast and furious).
One artist talks about a friend of his being murdered over a $300 dice game.
Some of the guys talk about disgusting things they've done in the past, like licking potato chips or putting peanuts up their nose and then putting them back in the bag for others to eat (one man even mentions dipping his penis into a beverage that was then given to some woman).
Some viewers might not like that fact that some people in the film work for a company named "Murder Inc." and that some refer to women as "bitches."

FRIGHTENING SCENES: None.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Machine guns/Handguns: Seen in clips from old movies that are randomly edited into the documentary.
Paintball guns: Used by various people while playing paintball.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Get the f*ck out of here," "F*ck you all," "(That's) f*cked up," "He don't give a f*ck about you," "F*ck you," "We don't give a f*ck," "Shut the f*ck up," "You can suck my d*ck" (nonsexual), "Bullsh*t," "Kick some sh*t," "I'm sick of that/this sh*t," "Nigger(s)" (said many times), "Broke ass," "Chicks" (women), "Bitch(es)," "Nuts" (crazy), "Nuts" (testicles), "Long ass," "Dumb ass," "Fat ass" and "Horny."
Some kids may want to imitate the rappers not only in rapping, but also in the way they dress, behave and speak.
Various people give "the finger" for a photograph, while one man has his finger up his nose in an exaggerated fashion since he knows the camera is on him.
One of the artists talks about throwing hot water onto a woman as she stood at his door, of the person across the way then doing the same to her, then of him throwing ice water on her (all represented by an animated cartoon).
Various people have tattoos.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): None.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): Many of the lyrics of the various rap songs sung in this film could not be understood, although many uses of the "f" word and others could be heard, as well as something about the use of K-Y Jelly.

PROFANITY: At least 170 "f" words (34 used with "mother," 1 used sexually), 92 "s" words, 5 slang terms for/using male genitals ("d*ck" and "pr*ck"), 1 possible slang term for/using female genitals (what sounded like "p*ssy"), 36 asses (4 used with "hole"), 2 damns, 1 hell, 2 uses of "Oh my God" and 1 use of "G-damn" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A woman in the audience at one concert shows a great deal of cleavage.
A man mentions that they smoke and drink all day and "f*ck all night."
The documentary briefly shows some groupies following the artists and we briefly see part of a young woman's bare butt as she shows off her tattoo on it (and she then shows one on the front of her body, down toward her crotch, but we don't see anything explicit).
We briefly see what looked like part of a man's bare butt.
One of the men jokes about his pubic hair being black and greasy (we don't see it).
One of the men jokes about what his "nuts" (testicles) are thinking, and so the camera briefly focuses on his clothed crotch.
A woman gives a clothed lap dance to one of the rappers. He then plays around with her top until we see her bare breasts.
Another woman shows her bare breasts to a rapper and he feels/examines them to see if they're real.
We see a man go into a bathroom stall followed by a woman. He then sits down and lowers his pants and she moves her head down toward his crotch (we don't see anything explicit but oral sex is implied).
We see full frontal nudity of two women as they stand nude in front of various men.
We see some cartoon characters depicting scantily clad women.
A man briefly mentions something about being "horny."
We briefly see a man's bare butt after his pants have come down.

SMOKING: Various people smoke cigarettes while a few smoke cigars.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Rap artists and the tough guy and/or thug image that many of them present as well as the language and occasional drugs they use.
What it must be like to participate in a concert tour over many weeks and travel to many cities in close quarters with others.

VIOLENCE: We see an artist hitting on another man, but we don't know if they're kidding around or not, which also holds true for the sight of some people struggling with each as they come out of a bus.
Someone appears to be throwing a chair at a crowd.
One of the artists overturns something in their hotel room in anger.

Reviewed August 30, 2000 / Posted September 6, 2000

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