Kirby Dick's This Film Is Not Yet Rated is an informative, entertaining, and hilarious look at the MPAA's controversial system of rating movies. Without standards or regulations, made up of secret members hired and fired by only one person, the shadowy 9-member MPAA rating board determines--seemingly willy-nilly--the audience's perceptions of a film before entering the theater, through its rating of G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17. The last of that list is the focus of this film, as an NC-17 rating can severely hinder the exposure of a film to even adult audiences since many theater chains will not show it, Blockbuster will not stock it, and Walmart will not sell it.
The film has three parts. The first is an explanation of the system, or rather the lack thereof. It consists mainly of interviews with filmmakers who have had their films rated NC-17 or were required to recut it so as not to receive that rating. These discussions were fascinating and enlightening. The second follows private investigators hired by Kirby Dick to discover who exactly the board members are. They succeed, and also find out the members of the appeals board. This was by far my least favorite part, with heinous footage, banal dialogue, and uninteresting occurrences wasting our time. If it weren't for the third part, I would say that this part should have been cut out completely. The third details Dick's run-in with the rating system regarding this film (which is rated NC-17 for its depiction of other NC-17 movies). It was by far the funniest part, although I did really enjoy the intro credits and explanation of what each rating would allow regarding language, sex, and violence. Dick's several phone interviews with the head of the board, Joan Groves, show her animated head moving in both recorded and re-enacted phone conversations. I was cracking up the entire time. Think of this movie as a Michael Moore-style documentary for movie fans, except with worse pacing, worse footage, worse editing, and less important topics.IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0493459/