What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Sydney and Andrew (both unmarried) sleep together on their second date. Andrew's wife died of cancer, leaving him to raise his daughter alone, which may sadden teens who've lost a parent. There's some minimal cursing, and political rival Robert Rumson is quick to accuse Sydney of being a slut on national television. There's a lot of potential for mean-spirited digs in this film, and some of them are taken, but mostly it's an uplifting romantic comedy in which the president learns to stand up for what he believes in rather than sticking to what makes him popular.
- Families can talk about the similarities between the behaviors of the characters in the movie and kids in high school: the mean-spirited gossip, the flirting, the struggle between being cool and having integrity. Has anyone in your family faced these challenges? How did you decide what to do? What would you have done if you were in Andrew's shoes, or in Sydney's?