Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this romantic comedy based on a popular novel has melodramatic twists that turn into a series of lies and betrayals that are portrayed as humorous. There's especially strong language for a romcom (one "f--k" and many uses of the words "s--t," "a--hole," and more) and a lot of scenes that take place while characters get sloshed at bars. Love scenes include kissing and loud sex noises, but nothing graphic is shown. Some of the movie's messages about love and friendship are pretty iffy, and the characters are sometimes unlikeable ... but in the end, as with all romcoms, everyone winds up with "the one."
Sexual
Content
Couples make out and are then shown bare-shouldered in bed with a sheet covering them. In one scene, a couple makes love really loudly, and an entire house of people can hear them (viewers don't see anything). A woman comes on very aggressively to an uninterested guy who pretends to be gay to escape her advances (he touches another man's bottom and caresses him for her benefit). A womanizing man hits on many women and is sometimes slapped in the face. The girlfriends discuss whether a man is circumcised or not.
Violence
A character hits her friend in the nose with a badminton racket; a woman slaps an aggressively flirtatious man.
Language
Heavier language than in some comparable romcoms, including one "f--k," several uses of "s--t," and "s--t head," plus "bitch," "ass," "ass face," "prick," "a--hole," "dick," "crap," "damn," "oh my God," "goddamn," "hell," "stupid," and more.
Social
Behavior
Many of the messages in this movie are questionable: that it's not as bad to cheat if one party isn't married yet, that best friends should be willing to sacrifice everything at every moment for their friend, that it's OK to lie about being gay so someone will stop hitting on you, that love justifies betrayal. Even if everyone winds up happy at the end of the movie, their choices throughout make the messages slightly confusing.
Consumerism
Darcy sports two prominently shown Chanel purses, and BlackBerrys get a close-up. Other brands include Heineken, Diet Pepsi and Land Rover, and the New York City restaurant Shake Shack is shown several times.
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
The characters spend a lot of time at bars drinking and getting drunk (shots, champagne, wine, cocktails, vodka, and more). In one scene a guy asks Rachel to share a joint, and she eventually agrees.
