Eat Wheaties parents guide

Eat Wheaties Parent Guide

This is an unusual comedy, replacing laugh out loud gotcha jokes with wry smiles and gentle laughter.

Overall A-

Digital on Demand: Sid Straw is chairing the planning committee for his college reunion and is reaching out to the alumni - including movie star Elizabeth Banks. But Sid is a bit overzealous...

Release date April 30, 2021

Violence A
Sexual Content B
Profanity B-
Substance Use B

Why is Eat Wheaties rated Not Rated? The MPAA rated Eat Wheaties Not Rated

Run Time: 88 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Sid Straw (Tony Hale) has a pretty good life with a stable job, his own place, and a nice car. He’s even been invited to co-chair the committee responsible for his college reunion, which is especially exciting for Sid as he went to school with actress Elizabeth Banks! While working on the reunion, Sid signs up for Facebook and starts reaching out to old classmates, including Elizabeth. But Sid’s enthusiasm quickly ruffles some feathers at her agency, and Sid finds himself on the wrong end of a restraining order, one which could preclude him from attending the reunion. As things spiral out of control, Sid increasingly wonders if he’ll ever figure his life out…

With movies that haven’t been rated by the MPAA you can get a real grab bag of content issues. Here, there are hardly any. Brief social drinking and incredibly infrequent profanity are about all parents have to worry about. If it were up to me, I’d say this movie comes in at a PG-13 level, but it’s not far off from a PG. That said, the subject matter is probably a little dry for younger viewers, so this is more likely to appeal to teens.

One of the first things you’ll notice is that Eat Wheaties isn’t exactly a laugh-out-loud comedy. If you’re looking for a real side-splitter, you might want to keep looking – but if you do, you’ll be missing out. Eat Wheaties is one of the most endearing, kind-hearted little pictures I’ve seen in….forever, I think. Characters are, for the most part, well-intentioned people trying their best to treat others kindly. You don’t see that too often.

Of course, that does come at the cost of some of the movie’s humor. As W.C. Fields said, “Comedy is merely tragedy happening to someone else”, and if you limit how tragic you’re willing to be, you cut off some of the more conventional avenues for the genre. Not to say that this isn’t funny, which would be unfair, but it’s a different kind of funny. Instead of guffawing over pies in the face or playing “gotcha” with people’s flaws, this is a movie that prompts wry smiles or gentle laughter over the relatable foibles of its characters. For my money, at this point in a seemingly interminable pandemic, on a roller coaster of ineffective half-measures and (in my area) poor governance, a little kindness seems to be just the thing – and I don’t even like Wheaties.

Directed by Scott Abramovitch. Starring Tony Hale, Elisha Cuthbert, and Alan Tudyk. Running time: 88 minutes. Theatrical release April 30, 2021. Updated

Watch the trailer for Eat Wheaties

Eat Wheaties
Rating & Content Info

Why is Eat Wheaties rated Not Rated? Eat Wheaties is rated Not Rated by the MPAA

Violence: None.
Sexual Content: A couple are shown clothed and cuddling in bed. There is one sexual joke.
Profanity: There is one use of scatological profanity and infrequent use of mild profanities and terms of deity. There is also a scene briefly showing a crude hand gesture.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are briefly seen drinking socially.

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Eat Wheaties Parents' Guide

What are some legitimate problems with being a celebrity in the digital age? What are some of the more dangerous aspects of being a public figure? What do you think we can do to make people’s lives safer?

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Eat Wheaties is a modern adaptation of Michael Kun’s The Locklear Letters.

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