SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: ANGER MANAGEMENT

"ANGER MANAGEMENT"
(2003) (Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	Minor	Heavy	Minor	Mild

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

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Extreme	Moderate	Minor	Moderate	Moderate

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A mild-mannered man finds his life turned upside down and his mood increasingly volatile when he's sentenced to work with an unorthodox anger management specialist.

PLOT:

Dave Buznik (ADAM SANDLER) is a mild-mannered executive assistant at a pet products company who lets his boss, Frank Head (KURT FULLER), take credit for his work, has a problem showing public affection for his girlfriend, Linda (MARISA TOMEI), and won't stand up to her former boyfriend, Andrew (ALLEN COVERT), who keeps hitting on her.

Thus, he's shocked when he's charged for assaulting a flight attendant during an airline trip where he allegedly lost control of his temper. Accordingly, and despite the efforts of Dave's lawyer, Sam (KEVIN NEALON), Judge Daniels (LYNEE THIGPEN) sentences him to twenty-hours of sessions with anger management therapist Dr. Buddy Rydell (JACK NICHOLSON).

At a group gathering, Dave meets Buddy's other patients including Lou (LUIS GUZMAN), Chuck (JOHN TURTURRO) and porn stars Stacy (KRISTA ALLEN) and Gina (JANUARY JONES). When Chuck gets Dave involved in a barroom brawl, Judge Daniels wants to sentence Dave to a year in prison, but Buddy intervenes and moves in with him for 30 days of intensive therapy.

From that point on, and as Buddy makes Dave go through a series of unorthodox therapeutic sessions, including an encounter with a "she-male," Galaxia (WOODY HARRELSON), the formerly mild-mannered man becomes increasingly irritated and angry as his entire life is turned upside down.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of someone in the cast or want to see an Adam Sandler style comedy, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: On appeal (from the original R rating) for crude sexual content and language.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: ADAM SANDLER plays a mild-mannered executive assistant whose life is turned upside down when he's wrongly accused of violence and sentenced to anger management therapy. As it proceeds, he gets progressively irritated and angrier. He also uses profanity, some of it briefly strong.
JACK NICHOLSON plays an unorthodox anger management therapist who agrees to work with Dave but subjects him to all sorts of humiliation in the name of therapy.
MARISA TOMEI plays Dave's girlfriend, a poetry teacher who wants to help Dave but is tired of his fear of commitment and public displays of affection issues.
ALLEN COVERT plays her former boyfriend who's proud of his manhood and keeps hitting on her.
JOHN TURTURRO plays another anger management patient who's paranoid, picks fights with others, smokes and uses profanity.
KRISTA ALLEN and JANUARY JONES play adult film stars and lesbian lovers who are in Dave's class.
LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; JACK NICHOLSON plays an unorthodox anger management therapist who agrees to work with Dave but subjects him to all sorts of humiliation in the name of therapy.
MARISA TOMEI plays Dave's girlfriend, a poetry teacher who wants to help Dave but is tired of his fear of commitment and public displays of affection issues.
ALLEN COVERT plays her former boyfriend who's proud of his manhood and keeps hitting on her.
JOHN TURTURRO plays another anger management patient who's paranoid, picks fights with others, smokes and uses profanity.
KRISTA ALLEN and JANUARY JONES play adult film stars and lesbian lovers who are in Dave's class.
LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; MARISA TOMEI plays Dave's girlfriend, a poetry teacher who wants to help Dave but is tired of his fear of commitment and public displays of affection issues.
ALLEN COVERT plays her former boyfriend who's proud of his manhood and keeps hitting on her.
JOHN TURTURRO plays another anger management patient who's paranoid, picks fights with others, smokes and uses profanity.
KRISTA ALLEN and JANUARY JONES play adult film stars and lesbian lovers who are in Dave's class.
LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; ALLEN COVERT plays her former boyfriend who's proud of his manhood and keeps hitting on her.
JOHN TURTURRO plays another anger management patient who's paranoid, picks fights with others, smokes and uses profanity.
KRISTA ALLEN and JANUARY JONES play adult film stars and lesbian lovers who are in Dave's class.
LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; JOHN TURTURRO plays another anger management patient who's paranoid, picks fights with others, smokes and uses profanity.
KRISTA ALLEN and JANUARY JONES play adult film stars and lesbian lovers who are in Dave's class.
LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; KRISTA ALLEN and JANUARY JONES play adult film stars and lesbian lovers who are in Dave's class.
LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; LUIS GUZMAN plays another patient who's gay.
LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; LYNEE THIGPEN plays the judge who sentences Dave to anger management therapy.
KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; KURT FULLER plays Dave's mean boss who doesn't give him credit for his ideas.
WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; WOODY HARRELSON plays a "she-male" (transvestite or transsexual) who briefly comes on to Dave.
KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.; KEVIN NEALON plays Dave's inept lawyer.

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 brief summary of the content found in this comedy that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and many colorful phrases are also uttered. Various instances of genital-size or sexually related dialogue and humor are present, two women make out and claim to be adult film star lovers, a she-male comes on to a straight man, and a woman strips down to her bra and panties in hopes of having sex with that same man. Several women are seen in revealing attire and a man's bare butt cheeks are seen.

Violence consists of various fights and hitting or striking others, some property damage and some threatening with handguns that turn out to be water pistols. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, some smoke and/or drink (with one stating he's drunk, but that may be an act), some crude humor occurs and some imitative behavior is present.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: People drink in a bar.
Buddy lists alcohol and various drugs that Dave can't use while under his program (not that he used them before, but Buddy makes such a list anyway).
Some people drink in a bar and we later see that Dave and a woman he met have had several drinks each.
Linda and Buddy have wine. He then holds what look like glasses of brandy and then orders some from a bartender.
Stacy and Gina joke about "getting wasted tonight."
Buddy comes home, appears drunk and states that both he and Linda drank a lot.
Some people have what look like beer at a ballgame.
Lou, Chuck and another man drink beer.

BLOOD/GORE: Chuck admits that he "took a dump" on his neighbor's porch (not seen).
We see Dave and Andrew standing at urinals, but don't see anything explicit.
We hear a loud farting sound from Buddy in bed.
A female coworker catches Dave in the women's bathroom (on the phone). He then tries to explain his presence by saying that the seats are cleaner and the woman says not after she's through with them.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Not everything is ultimately what it initially seems, but we'll list the behavior as it appears.
In a flashback, we see the neighborhood bully giving a kid a "wedgie" and then pulling down young Dave's pants in front of a girl to humiliate him. We also hear that the bully's sister is "losing her mind" and see her sitting in a straight jacket, rocking and looking demented (for goofy, comic effect).
We hear that Dave's boss takes his ideas but gives him no credit for them. We then see him being mean to him.
A man has taken Dave's seat on a plane and won't move.
Andrew won't accept the fact that he and Linda are no longer a couple (from the past) and that she's now seeing Dave (he keeps trying to move in on her).
Chuck is rude to a waitress and then picks a fight with a guy in the bar that he thinks was making fun of him.
Trying to prove that a blind man isn't blind, Dave's lawyer throws a tennis ball that hits the blind man in the face.
A joke comes from Buddy telling Dave to retard his anger and Dave replying, "It's retarded. I'm retarded."
Dave drives through a red light while late for work.
Various things that Buddy does to or involving Dave could be seen as him having a bad attitude, but it's all part of his therapy management.
Dave lies to Buddy (in hopes of making him leave for a few days) about Buddy's mom being really sick.
Some viewers might not like the comedy of a scene where Buddy takes Dave to confront a former bully who's now a Buddhist monk. Buddy eventually gets Dave and the monk so mad at him (including for joking about Buddha) and each other (joking that Dave had sex with the bully's mentally handicapped younger sister in the past) that they get into a big fight.
Buddy convinces Linda to dump Dave and then ends up going out with her (but does so for reasons beyond the obvious). Later, he admits that they kissed several times while drunk.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: A man pulls a gun on Buddy and threatens to shoot him, but it turns out to be a water pistol.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns: Aimed by people at others in two scenes, but they turn out to be water pistols.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Get the f*ck out of her," "Bullsh*t," "Holy sh*t," "Dipsh*t," "Crazy sh*t," "Jerk," "The hell with this," "Took a dump" (defecate), "Freaks out," "Crazy skank," "Bitch," "Who gives a crap," "Nuts" and "Balls" (testicles), "You're going to die, bitch" (quoted from a letter), "Put a sock in it," "Don't get cute, wise ass," "Chicks" and "Babe" (women/woman), "Happy now, ass-wipe?" "Nuts" (crazy), "What the hell is your problem?" "Shut your pie hole," "Move your ass," "Burn in Hell," "You guys are freaks," "Up my ass," "Bite me," "You sick bastard," "Porker," "You sick, demented man," "Jeez," "Pissed off," "You suck," "Losers," "Piece of crap," "Numb nuts" and "What the hell is this?"
A kid gives another kid an underwear wedgie and then pulls down young Dave's pants and underwear to embarrass him.
Some women wear midriff-revealing tops.
Buddy occasionally takes flash Polaroid shots of Dave to awaken him.
Dave drives through a red light while late for work.
Buddy pulls on the emergency brake while Dave drives across a bridge, causing the car to come to a screeching halt.
Buddy gives Andrew "the finger."

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A tiny bit of comedic suspenseful music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 1 "f" word, 17 "s" words, 8 slang terms for or using male genitals ("d*ck," "wieners," "peepee," "banana," "sausage" and "winky"), 2 slang terms for breasts ("t*ts" and "boobs"), 8 asses, 6 hells, 4 craps, 2 S.O.B.s, 1 damn, 5 uses of "Oh my God" and 3 of "Oh God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: In a flashback, we see the neighborhood bully giving a kid a "wedgie" and then pulling down young Dave's pants and underwear in front of a girl to humiliate him. She laughs while looking at his crotch, as does another person who holds their fingers apart by only about an inch. Someone also jokes and asks if he has any mustard for that "cocktail frank."
A woman shows a great deal of cleavage and Buddy asks Dave what's his position on breast implants.
A basketball coach is upset when he learns that he's at an anger management session and not a "sexaholics" one.
Stacy and Gina show cleavage and then explain why they're in the anger management class. One states that they're in the adult film industry and are lovers. The story goes that one day Gina was having sex with a guy and Stacy saw her kissing the guy on the mouth that "violates our threesome code of ethics." The two women then start passionately making out, which turns on most of the guys in the class who enthusiastically watch.
Lou tells Chuck, "At least I didn't make my aunt pregnant."
Dave reluctantly stands next to Andrew at a urinal and glances over at his crotch (which we don't see). Dave looks shocked and Andrew proudly says, "Oh yeah." Dave says congratulations to him, while a fishing video playing above them states, "That is a big one." Later, Dave sarcastically states that he guesses that Linda (who used to date Andrew) likes foot-long hot dogs (when talking about baseball). He then states that he saw a glance of his "thing" and then wonders if he grew up near a nuclear power plant. He then asks if that used to scare Linda, but she says she never saw it since she didn't sleep with him. She then asks if it's huge and he says that it's actually petite, like it belongs on a baby and he probably got a lot of snickers in the locker room. She says that Dave must then feel pretty good about himself and he says that he's in the top 18 of 20 men.
Chuck says that a waitress in a bar reminds him of "chicks back in the war" who would "licky, licky then fry your banana."
Buddy gives Dave some ground rules, including that if he can't give up masturbation, "Do so without the use of any pornographic images depicting quote unquote angry sex." Since Dave only has one bed and no couch, the two end up in bed together (not sexually related) and Buddy announces that he sleeps in the nude. He then whisks off his clothes under the covers but we don't see anything.
Buddy notices the large bulge in Andrew's pants, as does a nearby cat. Later, Buddy states that there's quite a basket on him and questions whether Dave wants Linda hanging around with a guy "who looks as though he could satisfy a blue whale"
Buddy wants Dave to undress for a relaxation technique. Dave doesn't want to, Buddy asks if he's a homophobe and Dave replies that he's a "Pull out my penis in front of you a-phobe."
Buddy takes Dave downtown to see some hookers, one of whom, Galaxia, is obviously a guy in drag (transsexual or what not). Buddy then pays Galaxia to get into the backseat with Dave (who's not happy with this development) and he/she adjusts his/her own breasts. Galaxia then states that he/she's from a little German town called "Lichen-ze-d*ckin." Dave then makes a comment about "Girls-without-wieners-ville." A comment is then made that Galaxia is a guy and he/she says he/she's not, but then apparently exposes his/her penis (which Dave sees) while rubbing his/her own breasts. After Galaxia gets rough with him, Dave says, "I'm not having sex with a she-male."
Later, Dave's lawyer says that Buddy didn't force him (Dave) to have sex with anyone.
Buddy spots a woman in a bar and the camera goes up her clothed body to represent his point of view checking her out. Buddy then wants Dave to flirt with her (despite Dave having a girlfriend). He reluctantly does so (after Buddy says he'll otherwise be passed around the cell block by the inmates), but she blows him off. Buddy then wants Dave to go back with confidence and repeat the following line to her, "I'm sorry I was so rude before. It's difficult for me to express myself when I'm on the verge of exploding in my pants." Dave doesn't want to, but Buddy says that if the line doesn't work, he'll release him from the therapy program. Thus, Dave does that and sheepishly repeats the line and she likes it. After a bit of talking, she runs her hand up his clothed thigh.
The two of them then later go back to her place (when Buddy abandons him) and she quickly starts talking about how she's fat (she's not) and that she went out with a guy in the past who wouldn't sleep with her because "when he saw me without my clothes on, I looked like a porker." Dave says she's not, she then quickly disrobes and we see her in a small Red Sox themed bra and panties (showing lots of cleavage and skin). She then starts to take off her bra, but he tells her not to and she gets upset when he says he has a girlfriend. She then gets angrier and says something about him stifling his vomit long enough to "have sex with me."
Buddy tells a former bully and current Buddhist monk that Dave used to have sex with the bully's mentally handicapped sister, including "pulling out his winky and tell her it was a strawberry ice cream cone." The monk then asks Dave, "Did you get it on?" with his sister. Dave then decides to taunt the bully by saying that she "moaned like a wildebeest." After a brief fight, he then ends up giving the monk a wedgie (lifting his underwear) and we see the monk's bare butt cheeks during this.
Buddy comments on assuming that Dave was a premature ejaculator and Dave says he hasn't had that problem for eight months.
Upon hearing that Dave and Linda are taking a "break," Lou says it doesn't seem she's taking a break from "the old sausage" (penis).
Dave goes on a date with Stacy and Gina to try to make Linda jealous and those two women wear scanty and revealing attire. He then asks them about penis size and one says, "I like 'em when they're really big" while the other says, "I think it's better when they're enormous." Later, some middle-aged woman recognizes the two porn stars (the joke being that she watches their videos). Gina then suggestively sucks on Stacy's finger in the restaurant.
Dave shows his boss some ad layouts that show the boss and a cat in various sexual situations (nothing explicit, but with the boss pinching the cat's various nipples, etc.).
Dave angrily tells Andrew that he's the biggest "d*ck" in the world, and Andrew smugly replies that it's not the biggest in the world, but it's definitely the biggest in the room.

SMOKING: Chuck smokes around 5 times, while Lou smokes once.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: Buddy briefly worries about his mother when Dave lies about her being gravely ill.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Anger and dealing with it.
Several characters are gay and one is an apparent transsexual/transvestite.
Dealing with bullies.
Commitment issues.

VIOLENCE: All that's listed here is played for laughs.
A sky marshal zaps Dave on a flight when he thinks Dave has gotten out of control.
Chuck nearly punches Dave in the face (coming up inches short) while filled with anger.
Chuck picks a fight with a guy in the bar that he thinks was making fun of him and slaps the guy on the head. The guy tries to punch Chuck who ducks out of the way and then punches this guy in the gut and face. Dave then tries to intervene, but a blind man repeatedly hits him on the back with his cane. Dave then struggles with that guy over the cane and ends up hitting a waitress in the face with it.
Trying to prove that a blind man isn't blind, Dave's lawyer throws a tennis ball that hits the blind man in the face.
Buddy violently throws a plate of breakfast food against a wall to prove a point.
A she-male, Galaxia, repeatedly whacks Dave in the backseat of a car.
After finding a car blocking in his truck in a parking ramp, Buddy takes a baseball bat, smashes the driver's door window, gets back into his truck and then bumps the car backwards. It eventually falls from the ramp and lands on the street several stories below.
An upset woman throws food at Dave.
A former bully turned Buddhist monk gets mad at Dave and shoves him with one hand and then two. The monk then punches Dave in the face. Dave then rushes at the monk, picks him up and drives him down onto the ground. The monk then head-butts Dave, pins him to the ground and twists his clothed nipples. Dave then hits him in the crotch and the monk tries to hit him with a rake. Dave then gives him a severe wedgie before Buddy pulls out a gun and aims it at the monk (it turns out to be a water pistol).
While angry in general, Dave throws some small piece of office equipment that accidentally hits a co-worker on the head.
Mad at Buddy for kissing Linda, Dave lunges at him, grabs him by the neck and then drives him back over a chair. Later, we see Buddy in a neck brace (but then see that he was faking that later part).
After punching and knocking out Andrew, Dave takes one of his boss' golf clubs and violently uses it to strike the man's desk lamp.
Various cops and security guards try to tackle Dave on a baseball field, but he eludes or throws them to the ground (and they also run into each other). A singer then knocks Dave to the ground to retrieve his microphone.
A man pulls a gun on Buddy and threatens to shoot him, but it turns out to be a water pistol. Even so, Chuck then lands on that man after jumping from a tree.

Reviewed April 7, 2003 / Posted April 11, 2003

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