Parents' Guide to

Movie 43

By Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Depraved, unfunny anthology comedy wastes tons of talent.

Movie R 2013 97 minutes
Movie 43 Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 17+

Based on 10 parent reviews

myopinionisbest
myopinionisbest Adult
May 23, 2017
age 14+

The worst movie I've ever seen

Wow, just wow. I'm astonished. I've seen over a thousand movies in my life, and out of all of them, this is the worst. Its worse than The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, After Last Season, and Ren Seeks Help. This is the worst, most pointless, hollow, and lazy excuse for a theatrical feature I've ever seen. There is no vision or creativity here, its literally just a bunch of unrelated 5-minute skits. I could at least give this movie some credit if the skits were funny at all, but they're not. They're all disgusting and repulsive. As I sat through the first skit, I was like "well that sucked, maybe the next one will be better". After the next four, I was like "well maybe one of them will make me laugh". I was wrong. The rest was just a vapid, soulless, agonizing experience. I didn't laugh, chuckle, or even involuntarily smile during this whole movie. The whole product just feels cynically slapped together with no respect for its audience and for the sole purpose of making money. Many of the celebrities they got were either bribed or guilt tripped into being in their skits. This isn't even a real movie; its like a bunch of unfunny YouTube videos mashed together. Think of the 15 worst Smosh videos you've seen, and watch them back to back. That's basically this movie but with more depraved sexually graphic content and random celebrities. You'd have a lot more fun watching YouTube videos for 90 minutes than watching Movie 43. Normally I have no problem with gross and inappropriate content, but only if there's a point. Movies like this are the reason IMDB should allow a 0-star rating. This movie is nothing. This movie deserves nothing. Therefore, I shall give it nothing. 0/10.
BestPicture1996
BestPicture1996 Adult
April 4, 2015
age 18+

As bad as you've heard it is

Even as a film buff I don't consider myself a glutton for punishment. I'm not one of those midnight movie dudes who goes to bad B movies for fun. I see movies because I want to see them or I hear they're good. Well here is the exception. I heard "Movie 43" was capital G garbage, but I wanted to watch just out of sheer curiosity of how revolting people had made it sound! It is truly revolting, a racist, sexist, awful stab at comedy. The only way this was able to me made was the fact that it was a Farrely passion project, and they just waited, waited and guilted tons of hot shots in Hollywood til they agreed to be in this terrible movie. The best way I can suggest this movie is with a big group of friends, and you can laugh at the absurdity in it. Some of these sketches are just ugly and hateful, the worst offender being the Liev Schriber and Naomi Watts homeschooling skit. It made me want to take a lifelong shower.
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What's the Story?

A screenwriter (Dennis Quaid) pitches several story ideas to a Hollywood executive (Greg Kinnear). Among them is one about a woman (Kate Winslet) who goes on a blind date with a man (Hugh Jackman) who has testicles hanging from his neck. In another story, a couple (Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber) homeschools their teen son and tries to offer him the humiliations of high school as well as the lessons. In another, a woman asks her boyfriend to poop on her during sex. Then a company has technical issues with its new "iBabe" line of iPods, and an Internet date turns into a cruel game of "truth or dare." And so it goes. Does the movie ever get made? Who cares?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (10 ):
Kids say (23 ):

This movie's so bad it may acquire legendary status someday; but then again, maybe not. Twelve directors came together for this anthology film, with Peter Farrelly taking the connecting, wraparound sequence as well as the first short. It's one of his worst efforts, sinking too far into so-called shocking, vulgar humor and too little into any kind of emotional connection to real-life experiences. Other directors -- including Brett Ratner, James Gunn, Rusty Cundieff, and Griffin Dunne -- don't fare any better.

The wonderful comic actress Elizabeth Banks makes her directorial debut with her segment -- about a teen girl getting her first period -- but it's frenetic and cruel and doesn't suggest much of a future for this part of her career. MOVIE 43 is the kind of film that makes you wonder which sequences are the most irresponsible and depraved and what these talented people were thinking to get involved with such a project.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Movie 43's sexual situations. Are there any relationships in the movie that could be defined as healthy or positive? What messages does the movie send about sex?

  • Some segments revolve around cruelty to children and teens. Are they funny? Why or why not? Who are they intended to appeal to?

  • In the final sequence, an animated cat is involved in some of the movie's most depraved humor. Does the fact that the cat isn't real affect the impact of those scenes?

Movie Details

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