AMERICAN REUNION (2012)

AMERICAN REUNION is a comedy about a group of friends who return home for a high school reunion. It was classified '15' for strong language, sex references, crude humour and drug use.

There are several uses of strong language, exceeding the infrequent use of strong language that may be permitted at '12A'/'12'. However, the uses are allowable at '15' where the BBFC's Guidelines state 'There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, 'fuck')'. There are frequent strong comic sex references throughout. These include a scene in which it is implied that a man is masturbating to online pornographic images on his laptop. The man is subsequently interrupted and inadvertently slams the computer shut on his penis, although his penis is not shown. There is no strong detail in the pornographic images the man is viewing, although they are accompanied by crude verbal references to sexual activity. There is another scene in which a man appears to perform oral sex on a woman, after which there is some sight of fluid around his mouth. There is also some male and female nudity, including a scene in which a man's buttocks are exposed whilst he is having sex with a woman. The context throughout is comic rather than intended to be sexually arousing. Although these scenes are too explicit for '12A'/'12', they lack any strong detail. The Guidelines at '15' state 'Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour'. AMERICAN REUNION also contains some scenes of crude humour, notably a scene in which man gains revenge on a group of older teenage boys by defecating in their drinks cooler. This is followed by one of the unaware teenagers placing his hand in the cooler and getting excrement on his fingers. The crudity of this scene is more appropriately classified at '15'. In terms of drug use, there is a scene in which a man smokes marijuana out of a water bong and has a negative reaction, a scene in which a woman takes two ecstasy pills and behaves foolishly, and a scene in which two older adults who have apparently smoked marijuana are interrupted by the arrival of the police. The Guidelines at '15' state 'Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse'. The scenes in question all suggest the downsides of drug use and the film as a whole does not endorse such behaviour.

AMERICAN REUNION also includes some moderate comic violence, moderate and mild bad language ('pricks', 'bitch', 'shit', 'hell', 'assholes', 'douches', 'pissing', 'Christ', 'moron', 'screwed', 'bullshit', 'pussy'), and a scene in which a Jewish man watches a video of himself as an adolescent boy. The video shows his adolescent male friend grabbing his prayer shawl and referring to it as a 'Jew scarf'. However, such discriminatory language and actions are not endorsed by the film.