Little Black Book parents guide

Little Black Book Parent Guide

Overall C

Stacy Holt (Brittany Murphy), an associate producer for a trashy daytime talk show, feels the connection with her live-in boyfriend (Ron Livingston) seems to be missing something. So she decides to sneak a quick peek in DerekÕs Palm Pilot. But when she finds is the names and numbers of past lovers, she ends up with a whole lot more information than is good for her active imagination.

Release date August 5, 2004

Violence B
Sexual Content C+
Profanity C+
Substance Use C+

Why is Little Black Book rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Little Black Book PG-13 for sexual content/humor and language

Run Time: 111 minutes

Parent Movie Review

There’s an old saying that goes “let sleeping dogs lie.” In this case, the saying may also apply to past relationships.

For Stacy Holt (Brittany Murphy), an associate producer for a trashy daytime talk show, the connection with her live-in boyfriend seems to be missing something. Granted, Derek (Ron Livingston) is a busy hockey scout who spends a lot of time on the road for the New Jersey Devils. But that’s not all that’s bugging her. It’s his general lack of commitment—and a taped cardboard box in the closet marked PRIVATE.

After Stacy voices her concerns to Barb (Holly Hunter), the recently jilted coworker baits the worried girl into doing some fact-finding behind the scenes. When the opportunity presents itself, Stacy takes a quick peek in Derek’s Palm Pilot. What she finds is the names, numbers and addresses of past lovers she knew nothing about, and a whole lot more.

Pretending to do research for an upcoming Kippie Kann (Kathy Bates) show, Stacy sets up interviews with each of Derek’s exes. During their discussions, she cleverly discovers some very current tidbits about their relationships with her lover.

Unfortunately, the situation becomes complicated when Stacy forms a real bond with one of the women (Julianne Nicholson). Afraid to jeopardize their budding friendship, she is now the one who omits telling the truth.

Written by Melissa Carter, the screenplay seems to understand females’ therapeutic need to wallow in a really sad song during times of distress. That awareness, along with moments of comedy and the turn of events when Stacy meets the exes gives some entertainment value to this film.

However, for family viewing, the messages around being honest with others and yourself may prove to be too subtle. Instead, suspicions raised about former girlfriends may result in an increase of Palm-peeking episodes, rather than encouraging open communication between couples.

Nor does it persuade girls to open up with one another, because many of the women in the story are portrayed as sneaky, self-absorbed and sometimes even outright ruthless in their interactions with one another. Frank sexual discussions and repeated profanities are also employed in the script.

Male audience members, on other hand, might only be encouraged to update the security measures on their Little Black Books. Or make better use of the delete function.

Starring Brittany Murphy, Holly Hunter, Ron LIvingston. Running time: 111 minutes. Theatrical release August 5, 2004. Updated

Little Black Book Parents' Guide

Barb says, ?Omissions are betrayals?. Is not revealing something as dishonest as telling a lie? Do you think Derek purposefully withheld information from Stacy or did he just not feel like it was relevant? Who else failed to disclose the truth?

Reality shows often attempt to show the worst in people or sensationalize the truth. What did Ira and Stacy discover about the motives of their coworkers at the television station? How did their quest for ratings during ?sweeps week? up the ante?

Because Stacy and Derek are only living together and not married, do you think her commitment expectations are unrealistic?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Little Black Book movie is January 3, 2005. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:

Keeping the truth hidden can be done for many reasons. In A Walk in the Clouds, a returning soldier pretends to be the husband of an unwed, pregnant girl in order to protect her from her father. When a man is mistaken for a long lost son in The Majestic, he hesitates to tell the truth about who he is to avoid upsetting the joyful father. A young girl who has a reputation for keeping other people’s confidences discovers it’s a heavy burden in Little Secrets.