Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this mature war drama features some pretty graphic violence, including shootings, explosions, and angry fistfights, all of which result in bloody injuries, broken bodies, and deaths. These images appear both in present-time and in traumatic flashbacks. There are some sexual allusions and rowdy slang; other language includes frequent use of "f--k" and other obscenities.
Sexual
Content
A video of a sergeant's girlfriend is sensuous (not explicit); his buddy comments on her "t-tties." When Steve is drunk, he strips to his underwear and passes out. Scantily dressed women appear at a distance; someone calls them "hookers" (and they look the stereotypical part).
Violence
A shooting at a checkpoint leads to an ambush, which includes more shooting, explosions, and bloody bodies. Images of body bags and wounded men on gurneys; flashbacks throughout the film cut to bloody, loud fighting. At home in Texas, two men fight (punching and wrestling). Drunken men shoot at bottles and a snake. A soldier hallucinates that his friend is drowned in a pool. Two friends argue over one giving his fiancée a black eye. A man hits his guards and escapes custody. Brandon describes a soldier's violent death. A soldier is beaten by three robbers; he then beats them and scares them with a gun, leaving with a very bloody cut over his eye. Rico is injured in Iraq: At the hospital, he's scarred, blind, and missing an arm and a leg. A character shoots himself off screen. Two friends fight in a cemetery, sputtering, falling, and bruising.
Language
Pervasive language includes "f--k" (in both dialogue and song lyrics), plus "s--t" (with "bull-"), "damn," "ass," "hell," and "busting my balls." Racist use of the term "hajji" to refer to Iraqis.
Social
Behavior
Characters break the law, get roaring drunk, and fight. In Iraq, soldiers are ambushed, shoot at civilians, save friends, and make mistakes.
Consumerism
Honda motorcycle, beer brands.
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Heavy drinking (beer, tequila) and cigarette smoking at a welcome home celebration. A very drunk Steve digs a trench and wields his gun, and a drunk Tommy crashes his car. Soldiers, including Brandon, smoke cigarettes repeatedly and shoot at beer bottles and other objects while drunk. More drinking in a bar.
