Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this drama (based on the book by the same name) is a thinly veiled take on the scandals of Bill Clinton's presidency. Even though the movie's characters are seeking the highest office in the land, they still cuss like longshoremen. Ethically, they're also in the gutter. The Jack Stanton character, presidential material, is a womanizer who makes no apologies (just perpetual cover-ups) for his personal flaws, yet charms us as much as he's supposed to charm the voters. The character who seems the most principled commits suicide.

Sexual Content

No action, but characters discuss sex and scandal in and out of bed. A man in an office setting shows a female co-worker his penis (out of the frame). One character is a lesbian, another confesses to a homosexual affair.

Violence

A glimpse of the body of a suicide-by-gunshot.

Language

Much gutter language ("f--k," etc.) among the powerful and influential.

Social Behavior

It's an ethical quagmire, but at least the script addresses this. A presidential hopeful is a married womanizer, his wife is an unloving, ambitious schemer, and their staff is full of enablers. The one character with scruples kills herself over it.

Consumerism

Panasonic, Krispy Kreme, and Larry King's show all get plugs.

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Social drinking. Discussions of cocaine use.