One of the main lessons of this film is how alcohol addiction and dependency can destroy someone's life and potential future. Many scenes show young adults, college-age students, and adults drinking alcohol, getting drunk, and behaving drunkenly. A man shares that he "did a lot of coke and oxy," and checked himself into rehab a few times. Some shots of adults smoking joints, tobacco, and cigars.
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References to Friday Night Lights, 300, Weekend at Bernie's, TMZ, ABC, MSNBC, ESPN, 60 Minutes,Maxim magazine, Sports Illustrated, Twitter, Kayak.com, Versace, Gucci, Rolex, Adidas, musical artists like Drake, Rick Ross, and Justin Timberlake.
Violence & Scariness
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It's mentioned that Johnny Manziel was accused of assault. Some news footage discusses stories of Manziel having to be escorted out of parties for rowdy behavior. A man says that he planned to kill himself at some point and tried to do so, but the "gun just clicked on me" (and didn't go off).
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Listen to those who love you and care about you the most. Take time and do what's best for you. Fame and fortune are not always good things.
Positive Role Models
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Johnny Manziel's family continued to support and love him throughout his struggles on and off the field.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Untold: Johnny Football is about college football hero, Johnny Manziel, and his rise and fall as a potential football star. From Tivy High School in Texas to Texas A&M University, Manziel was one of the most hyped football players ever. He was the first to ever to win the Heisman Trophy as a freshman, and after his sophomore year, he decided to try to be drafted by the NFL. But Manziel was a notorious "party boy" and he loved to drink, and by the time he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, his off-the -field lifestyle was out of control. Now considered one of the biggest flops in NFL history, this documentary gets his side of the story about how and why he had to leave football behind. There are plenty of shots of young adults, college-age students, and adults drinking alcohol, getting drunk, and behaving drunkenly. One of Manziel's chants was "win or lose, we booze." He also mentions being addicted to coke and oxycontin, and how he wanted to get to a point where "killing himself would make sense." An ex-girlfriend accuses him of domestic violence. Strong language includes frequent use of "f--k," "motherf--ker," "f--king," "s--t," "p---y," the "middle finger," "bitch," and "ass." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
Johnny Manziel Movie A terrible message to kids today
It is clear that Johnny Manziel was an entitled spoiled brat with a very enabling codependent father. His father, in the movie blamed Texas A&M for not controlling his son while he attended college there. No, Mr. Manziel, it was your job to teach you so to be a responsible, mature young man. Also the movie never addressed if Johnny is now sober and shows him more recently with a beer. So this young man got rich making a movie about himself doing drugs, being dishonest, lying, breaking rules and womanizing and it never conveys that this behavior has ceased. What will a young person learn from this movie? Be a gifted athlete and act crazy, never change your behavior, be arrogant. make a movie, continue to not work , continue to do drugs (alcohol is a drug) get rich and laugh all the way to the bank. Not a good movie to show young people about living a responsible life. But one can clearly see why this young man's behavior continued for years unchecked.
What's the Story?
In UNTOLD: JOHNNY FOOTBALL, an incredibly gifted and naturally talented football player named Johnny Manziel becomes one of the most hyped football players of all time. But by the time he was drafted in the first round by the Cleveland Browns in 2014, Manziel was already viewed as a huge risk. And after a horrid rookie season, his addiction to drugs and alcohol fully destroyed his potential.
The story of Johnny Manziel is a tragic one. Chronicling Manziel's incredible rise and fall in Untold: Johnny Football, this documentary easily showcases his natural ability and prowess on the football field in high school and college. But Manziel's desire and appetite for alcohol and partying are also easily documented here, with stories and examples of his behavior in abundance. The majority of information and insight comes from people around Manziel (his best friend during high school and college, his coaches, his family) and Manziel himself, innocently sitting in a chair, casually discussing his own fall from grace. Ultimately a story of addiction and a too-late bipolar disorder diagnosis, this tragic tale outlines Manziel's collapse almost systematically but struggles to get to any deeper meaning to Manziel's story. Electing to assume that the lessons of Manziel's life are self-explanatory, this documentary doesn't strive to make any conclusions.
Doing so gives this presentation a reporting vibe rather than one of opinion, which is probably good for some reasons and bad for others. Not choosing to add commentary to Manziel's story allows the documentary to feel observational rather than personal, even while Manziel's family and inner circle do their best to humanize him and explain away the worst of his behavior. But adopting a purely observational take on Manziel also ends up kind of making Manziel seem like he doesn't really care (and also doesn't comment on or show remorse for his behavior that led to his ex-girlfriend accusing him of domestic abuse). In other similar kinds of stories, the recovering person uses their experience to give back in some way, share their story so that others might not go down the same path, but here, Manziel seems indifferent. But again, for many, his story will still speak for itself.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about drug and alcohol misuse in documentaries. What most shocked you in Untold: Johnny Football about Manziel's "partying" behavior?
Do you think the organizations around Manziel (Texas A&M, the Cleveland Browns) could have done more to help Manziel? Why do you think they didn't?
What are the main messages of this documentary?
Why do you think Manziel fell out of love with the game?
Do you think anything could have saved Manziel's career? If so, what?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By JK Sooja
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
