There’s little that would make bank manager Owen more excited on the day he gets married to his fiancée, Parker. But finally getting to meet her parents for the first time makes the cut.
They’ve allegedly been living with the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon, so it hasn’t been easy for them to visit. But they’ve promised that they’ll be attending the wedding, making Owen ecstatic—and Parker nervous.
“They can be a lot,” she says simply.
And, yeah, when Owen meets them a couple days before the wedding, they’re a bit … intense. Like, “Take you skydiving and refuse to pull the cord until you convince her dad why he should let you marry his daughter” intense.
But there’s nothing that Owen would call a deal-breaker. After all, Owen has issues with his parents, too, so he can’t expect everything to be perfect on Parker’s side.
But then, his bank is robbed by the Ghost Bandits. They’re a masked duo that’s earned the title for most notorious bank robbers in American history.
And they just so happen to have the same mannerisms as his soon-to-be in-laws.
It doesn’t take long for Owen to put the puzzle pieces together that his in-laws robbed him. And when he does, he immediately wants to tell the police about it, regardless of how it might affect his relationship with his fiancée. To that end, Owen speaks with Parker to reveal his suspicions to her.
And when some other baddies take Parker hostage, Owen immediately volunteers to take her place (though they reject his offer). He goes to great lengths to save her. And while many of his actions are morally dubious, no one can deny his love for her.
Owen’s determination helps Parker’s parents to realize that he’s a good match for their daughter. And despite their significant flaws, Parker’s parents do genuinely care about her and want what’s best for their daughter—even though their crime spree puts her in real danger.
Owen pretends to pray to God in order to speak into a wire that he’s wearing. But when the situation worsens, he actually begs God to save them. When a getaway car smashes through a cemetery, one of the criminals crosses himself and says, “Lord forgive us, Mary and Joseph.” Someone sarcastically remarks that the “prodigal son” has returned.
Someone jokes about Owen using a “spell or potion” to make Parker like him. Owen jokes that his employees should “pray to the banking gods” to have an uneventful day. Parker’s father, Billie, calls Owen’s Yanomami accent so terrible that “it’s an affront to the Yanomami people and their god.”
Parker runs a yoga studio. An EMT talks about flatlining Owen so he can talk to a deceased relative who died.
There are many sexual jokes in The Out-Laws. Quite a few of them are so awkwardly added into scenes that they even break the flow of the script.
For instance, while at dinner, Owen’s cousin talks about sending Owen to the afterlife in order to talk to a deceased relative who accidentally died during autoerotic asphyxiation. We hear multiple other joking references to masturbation. We’re told of another bank manager who lost a testicle by sitting down too hard. The same manager is seen watching dogs mate.
Owen’s mother admits that she engaged in an orgy, causing Owen to doubt who his father is—and the talk about the event goes on for some time. Different women make many sexual allusions throughout the film, including one who frequently talks about a man’s genitals.
We often hear references to all kinds of sex. Owen and Parker kiss many times, and they have implied sex (the two likely already live together). Later, Parker makes a crude reference to the male anatomy and sex, and Owen sings about getting to have sex with her, oblivious to the presence of Parker’s parents. A couple of women wear dresses that expose cleavage. A cake is called “Better-Than-Sex Red Velvet,” which the baker knows because she’s compared them. A song references oral sex.
Billie kisses Owen on the lips in a greeting, and Owen later kisses him back in greeting—though the latter instance causes Parker’s father to lament that Owen used tongue. When Owen tries to pull a parachute cord, Billie screams that Owen’s grabbed his genitals instead. Three women slap Owen on the rear despite his obvious dislike of it.
There’s more: We hear a reference to a sex doll. Owen’s parents mistakenly believe that Parker is a stripper, a gag that turns up multiple times. Someone asks Parker if she got a tattoo in order to get bigger tips while she strips. Owen asks Parker to look at his clothed rear. At a wedding, an announcer yells, “Everyone’s getting pregnant tonight.”
More than a half-dozen people are shot and killed. Several mortal shots to the head include blood splatter. Buildings and cars get shot up. A man insinuates that Owen will be raped in prison if he ends up there. A man has a heart attack and is then resuscitated.
A dog tries to attack Owen, but he punts the small animal across a lawn before it hits the wall of a home (it continues its chase moments later, apparently fine). Other dogs continue to attack Owen.
People are thrown to the ground, and fist fights occur. Someone is thrown through a window. A glass jar is broken on a man’s head. Cars crash into one another and careen through a cemetery, pulverizing any grave they run into. A man’s arm catches fire.
We hear upwards of 65 f-words, including four that are preceded by “mother.” The s-word is used nearly 40 times. We also hear the c-word used once. “P-ssy,” “d-ck” and “c-ck” are all used a minimum of three times each, too. And words such as “a–,” “b–ch,” “d–n” and “h—” are used throughout. “Crap” and “t-t” are both used once. Someone uses a crude hand gesture.
Additionally, God’s name is used in vain nearly 40 times, including three times where it’s combined with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is used in vain 11 times.
Song lyrics reference lighting a blunt. Parker mentions that she’s taken a weed gummy. A man smokes. An EMT offers morphine to Owen for enjoyment. Someone says that she looks like a “meth head.” A woman is injected with a substance.
Characters drink beer, champagne and liquor. Owen gets intoxicated and later deals with the hangover.
A woman sends a dirty diaper through a bank tube. Lactation is used as the subject of a comedic gag. Owen vomits on a couple occasions, and a detective later reviews a recording of one of the instances. A blubbering Owen blows his nose, and we see a large mucus on the tissue and in his nostrils.
Speaking of nostrils, we watch a large bug crawl up one of Owen’s. Two bank employees frequently belittle and bully others. Owen lies to Parker and accuses someone of racism to make the lie sound better. We hear jokes about the Holocaust Museum. A man admits to stealing toilet paper. A song is very degrading to women.
And, of course, people rob banks.
We’ve all heard about the overbearing in-law. But The Out-Laws is pretty overbearing in its problematic content, too.
Owen fumbles through a couple of bank heists and deadly situations. And yet, it’s arguably that very fumbling that comedically keeps his head dodging all the bullets that are landing in the skulls of those around him.
Those scenes get interspersed with characters swearing as if they just learned those profanities, and/or making as many sexual remarks to one another as possible like some unseen timer is about to run out. And while the occasional gag doesn’t rely on any sort of potty humor or reference to someone’s genitals, plenty of others do.
Those are all problems that’ll make the interest rate in this banker’s story plummet for families looking for a clean movie.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
