This summer we’ve seen entire cities decimated (“Man of Steel” and “Pacific Rim”), we’ve seen massacres (“The Lone Ranger”) and countless other scenes of violence and destruction. The common thread of all these scenes is that they’ve mostly appeared in films rated PG-13 and aimed at the whole family for maximum profit. Which makes this latest ratings news somewhat troubling.
THR is reporting that Alexander Payne’s black & white drama “Nebraska” has lost its appeal to the MPAA and its R rating— for “some language”— has been upheld. Though we weren’t as taken with the film as others were— read our review from Cannes— it’s still a shame that this Bruce Dern and Will Forte-starring small-scale drama has had its audience effectively shrunk. And surely a black-and-white film has its work cut out in that department already.
This is the latest example of strange ratings decisions from the MPAA— the similarly sweet David Gordon Green indie “Prince Avalanche” also received an R. We’ll see how much the rating will affect “Nebraska” when it opens this November. In the meantime, check out Kirby Dick’s documentary delving into the ratings system, “This Film Is Not Yet Rated” and learn why the whole system is kinda fucked.