Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that The Boss is a sometimes hard-edged comedy about a financial guru (Melissa McCarthy) with a hard-scrabble past who's thrown into jail and has a tough time working her way back to success after she gets out. Michelle Darnell is a pretty bawdy character: She swears at and in front of kids, freely dispenses sexual advice, and can't stay away from her sometimes-violent nemesis. She also has a take-no-prisoners attitude toward business. As such, much of the movie's material -- including frequent sexual innuendo/references, lots of swearing (including "f--k"), cocaine use, and an all-out rumble in which moms and kids rip one another's hair off, shove and toss each other around, and generally beat each other up -- is better suited for older teens and adults. That said, somewhere underneath all the mayhem are messages about redemption, friendship, and money not buying happiness.

Sexual Content

Frequent innuendo/references to sexual conquests (where and how); adults are shown in fully clothed poses that are reminiscent of sexual positions. Some frank talk about a woman's (non-existent) sex life. Kissing.

Violence

In one sequence moms and their pre-teen/teen daughters get involved in an all-out rumble on the streets of Chicago, ripping one another's hair off, shoving and tossing each other onto parked cars, kicking, slapping, punching each other, etc. In another scene, a man slashes a woman's hand in the middle of a sword fight that looks like it can only end if one of them dies. A few screaming matches.

Language

Everything from "f--k" and "s--t" to "ass," all sometimes said by kids. A few characters, including teens, give each other the finger.

Social Behavior

Amid the over-the-top behavior is the notion that sometimes those who seem the most remote and uninterested in forging real friendships are the ones who need it most and who yearn for it but just don't know how to find it. Also, money doesn't buy happiness -- or loyalty.

Consumerism

Characters who are presumably rich are shown with big-ticket items like Louis Vuitton luggage and a Rolls Royce.

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

One scene shows a man snorting cocaine and a woman rubbing it on her teeth. Social drinking.