Documentary filmmaker Kirby Dick launches an incendiary, full-frontal assault on the Motion Picture Association of America's Classification and Ratings Administration (a.k.a. the MPAA's CARA). This is the entity that assigns ratings to movies -- the familiar G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 designations. This secret, unregulated organization wields considerable power over the film industry and operates, the filmmaker asserts, on a highly subjective and prejudicial basis.

This is a must watch documentary for all the movie buffs who are curious about the procedure behind the rating of the films they see, what do these ratings mean and who decides the rating. This is an expose about the MPAA, the motion picture association of America. It has many startling revelations like America is the only movie making country where the names of the movie raters are kept secret. There are the interviews of many directors whose movies were slapped with ratings for ridiculous reasons. There is a parallel track wherein the documentary maker hires a private investigator to find out about the raters. Should be seen to understand the power which the major movie studios hold and the difficulties faced by the independent movie makers. Is a terrible indictment of Jack Valenti, the head of the MPAA for 38 years. 3.5 out of 5 for this informative piece of cinema.

I made sure to read both side of the arguments for and against this movie before posting my own personal review and I must say, it's obvious that people have a hug problem with their own bodies. You will read a series of arguments saying that this movie is asking to have our children of six or seven years of age walk into a theater and watch hardcore pornography. What they fail to realize is how much an NC-17 rating destroys a film's budget.This movie makes an extremely valid argument that despite our supposed first amendment rights here in the United States, we have a secondary form of censorship. That is to say, the financial form. Taking a look at the MPAA's rating system they immediately uncover the moral duplicity involved in rating a film. From the difference between an adolescent male masturbating into an apple pie, and a fully clothed female masturbating to curb a homosexual desire.Our constant filtration of simple sexual acts that most humans figure out by their thirteenth birthday (with the rest realized by their seventeenth) is pointed out. The filmmakers interviewed are all victims of this biased rating system allowing them to voice the reasons behind certain scenes in their movies.I suggest this movie to anyone who would like to see how our First Amendment is held up.

This is the kind of documentary that gives documentaries a bad name. Billing itself as a film about the dangers of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), once you start watching the film it becomes clear that it is actually a movie about the brave Kirby Dick and his private detectives trying to unmask an evil shadowy organization whose sole purpose is hampering free expression and telling you what you can and cannot see.Opening with interviews with a variety of filmmakers whose films were originally given the NC-17 rating (which basically means Walmart refuses to sell them), the film starts out somewhat strongly. But the film never moves beyond that. The interviews devolve into piles of bad testimonials and unsubstantiated accusations. The film quickly goes downhill, as Kirby Dick takes it upon himself to hire private investigators to discover the identity of the MPAA raters. This is followed by scene after scene of them sitting in a car spying on the rater's. It quickly becomes apparent that the meat of the film isn't really informing us about the MPAA, and is instead Kirby Dick trying to "beat" the system. This comes to a head when he SEARCHES THROUGH A PERSON'S GARBAGE TRYING TO CONFIRM THEY ARE A RATER.In the end, the film provides no context, only the most basic overview of the topic, and no suggestions for how to better the system. It is an empty documentary, never going beyond trying to make people angry and willing to use overt manipulation to do it.