Why We Rated This Appropriate for Ages 8 and UP

What to watch out for

• Messages

• Violence:

  Lots of comic violence with guns filled with cream. Instead of being shot with bullets, kids are "killed" with the help of semiautomatic "splurge guns." Scenes with these guns include a massacre at a speakeasy and pies in the face. Bugsy ge... More

  Lots of comic violence with guns filled with cream. Instead of being shot with bullets, kids are "killed" with the help of semiautomatic "splurge guns." Scenes with these guns include a massacre at a speakeasy and pies in the face. Bugsy gets beaten up and robbed. Leroy boxes and punches someone out in the ring. Close

• Sex:

  Lots of tween girls wearing sexy outfits, but no sexual behavior. Tallulah kisses Bugsy on the forehead.

• Consumerism:

  Not an issue.

• Drugs:

  Only if you count bootleg root beer.

• Language:

  One use of "hell."

What Parents Need to Know

About Bugsy Malone

Parents need to know that while all the violence here involves cream pies and cream-loaded "splurge guns," there's still menace behind it and characters do "die" of their cream-filled wounds. There are cream massacres and cream-pie hits. There's also a great deal of sexualization of tween girls, with young girls saying that they watch their figures and dancing suggestively. Jodie Foster's character sings about how the men in the audience "don't have to be lonely."

Families Can Talk About

Families can talk about what it means to act like an adult. Kids: How would you act if you were suddenly told you had to be a grown-up? Girls: What do you think about the characters who say they need to watch their weight? Parents: See our tips on talking to kids about body image.