Wicker Park parents guide

Wicker Park Parent Guide

Overall C-

Matthew (Josh Hartnett) appears to be an advertising executive living in Chicago's Wicker Park who is about to be married to his fiancee Rebecca (Jessica Pare). But a fleeting glimpse of a blonde at a bar unmasks this facade, and he suddenly reverts to a man obsessed with finding his former girlfriend (Diane Kruger) who disappeared two years earlier.

Release date September 2, 2004

Violence A-
Sexual Content D+
Profanity C-
Substance Use B-

Why is Wicker Park rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Wicker Park PG-13 for sexuality and language.

Parent Movie Review

If you’re into laboratory observations, Wicker Park may be enjoyed most as a psychological study of cute courting rituals, which can only be found in the movies.

This rat’s nest of tangled love begins with Matthew (Josh Hartnett), a guy we’re supposed to believe is an advertising executive living in Chicago’s Wicker Park. He’s just been handed the biggest break of his career, to close a deal in Beijing. But the young man frets about his confidence and fear of flying. Stopping by Bellucci’s, the neighborhood pub du jour, for a quick drink with the client and his fiancee Rebecca (Jessica Pare), Matthew happens to catch a glimpse of a blonde woman.

Convinced it’s his former girlfriend Lisa (Diane Kruger), the chance encounter cracks open an obsession he put to rest two years ago when the professional dancer abruptly disappeared. Crazed at the idea of seeing her again, Matthew lies to his boss and fiancee, and instead of going to China, scours the streets of Wicker Park looking for his lost love.

Before the movie began, the preview audience I shared the theater with, screamed at the sound of Josh Hartnett’s name. An hour later, after being presented with the film’s complex series of flashbacks and non-linear storyline, those screams turned into hushed whispers, with the woman behind me musing out loud, “I’m so confused…”

For me, confusion was secondary to being frustrated with Wicker Park’s revolving door of characters-Matthew, Lisa, Matthew’s womanizing friend Luke (Matthew Lillard) and Luke’s girlfriend Alex (Rose Byrne). Through a series of amazing coincidences, “meet cutes,” staggering examples of poor communication and selfish desires, patrons attending this film will spend good money and time watching what amounts to a group of human subjects finding their way through a complex social maze.

Hartnett’s appeal will be a muscular magnet pulling female adolescents toward this chick flick, but parents may want to offer some repelling forces. The only character in this film that shows an ounce of moral commitment-and I felt empathy for-is poor Rebecca, who leaves Matthew at the airport and pines for his safe arrival from China. However, the “core four” are all comfortable with casual sexual relationships. Even Matthew, with his heart now set on Lisa, is easily enticed into quick sex with another woman after she doffs her top (no explicit nudity is seen).

With three occasions of “fade to black” PG-13 sex between unmarried people (and, for those concerned about such things, nary a word about making such sex “safe”) and a moderate amount of profanities (including a single hushed use of the sexual expletive), this convoluted romance is also a dry watch. The unconventional editing doesn’t enhance the story, but instead attempts to disguise what is actually a yawing yarn about misguided twenty-somethings, whose poor decisions have left them lost in love’s labyrinth.

Starring Josh Hartnett, Jessica Paré, Diane Kruger, Matthew Lillard, Rose Byrne. Theatrical release September 2, 2004. Updated

Wicker Park Parents' Guide

After watching his choices and actions, what can we learn about Matthew’s inner character? Based on his choice to have casual sex with a woman he just met, while claiming to be in love with another woman, and at the same time being engaged to a third, what do you think are the chances of Matthew committing to a quality relationship with one partner?

This movie uses many flashback sequences to tell a story in an unconventional manner. Does this technique, where we suddenly see a past action and understand its significance, reflect the way we experience unfolding events in real life?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Wicker Park movie is December 27, 2004. Here are some details…

Related home video titles:

Another film about lovers searching for one another, yet just missing each other, is On the Line. The Shop Around the Corner and Sleepless in Seattle both feature couples who are looking for their secret pen pals, unaware that they already know one another.