15 Best Single-Use F-Bombs In PG-13 Movies, Ranked

The Motion Picture Association limits PG-13 movies to a single F-bomb, a rule that's been around for years. There are a few examples of PG-13 films with more than one use of the forbidden word if they're not used in a sexual context and jump through plenty of other hoops. Still, since there aren't many with multiple uses of the word — it's effectively a standard of the industry that limits filmmakers to a single F-bomb.

Because of this, most filmmakers who throw an F-bomb into a PG-13 film do so as creatively and humorously as possible. This is true of all kinds of films, from sci-fi and horror to drama and comedy. That said, a movie doesn't necessarily have to be funny to score a brilliant single-use F-bomb — many do so creatively regardless of the genre, and they're almost always amusing.

Of course, even if an F-bomb isn't funny, it's almost always memorable, and it's far more noticeable in a movie utterly devoid of R-rated profanity than something directed by Quentin Tarantino. These PG-13 films feature one brilliantly dropped F-bomb. Whether for comedic reasons, to make a point, or as a pivotal scene dividing one act from another, they're all excellent examples of single-use F-bombs.

The first Chili Palmer movie, "Get Shorty," was a commentary on Hollywood's wheeling and dealing, and the same is true of the sequel. "Be Cool" begins with an incredibly meta-conversation between Palmer (John Travolta) and Tommy Athens (James Woods) as they're driving. They pass a poster for a sequel the studio bullied Palmer into producing, and they talk about it, though everything they say is self-referential to "Be Cool."

Palmer adds some trivia to their conversation: "Do you know that unless you're willing to use the R-rating, you can only say the F-word once?" After Athens expresses surprise, Palmer continues, "You know what I say? F*** that," and concludes the conversation by telling his friend he's done with the movie business, which is an excellent segue into the film's plot.

For most viewers watching the film in 2005, this scene is where they learned about the MPA's rule. This scene also points out the difference between "Be Cool" and "Get Shorty," which is not only rated R but also drops an F-bomb 82 times throughout its runtime, making the sequel vastly different from its predecessor, and this conversation explains a key difference.

In "(500) Days of Summer," Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) falls for Summer (Zooey Deschanel) despite their differing views on love. Tom's all for it, while Summer is about keeping things casual. Despite this, they eventually hook up, and predictably, Tom falls for Summer. This leads to problems in their relationship, mainly because Tom wants something more while Summer intends to keep things casual.

Tom works at a greeting card company as a writer, but his depression over his relationship comes through in his writing, which his boss, Vance (Clark Gregg), addresses after calling him into his office. He shows concern over Tom's work, and after Tom asks for some clarification on what he means, Vance picks up a greeting card and says the following:

"Here's something that you wrote last week: 'Roses are red, violets are blue — f*** you, whore.'" This is clearly not the direction the greeting card company wants to pursue, so Tom moves to the consolations department, where his dour mood might be better suited. This F-bomb injects some levity into an unfunny situation while expressing Tom's mood in a relatable way, fitting perfectly within the film's narrative.

In "The 6th Day," Adam Gibson (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is cloned without his permission, and his situation is complicated when he learns the truth: He's the clone, and the original is still alive. The original Gibson still lives due to an error made by the cloning company, so killers go on the hunt to take out the clone. It's not as confusing as it sounds, and Schwarzenegger plays his usual combat-capable self.

It all leads to a final confrontation with Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn), the CEO of Replacement Technologies, aka the movie's big bad. When Gibson confronts the man behind his creation, they have a brief conversation, which includes the film's F-bomb. Because the movie is about cloning, the F-bomb fits snugly into a cloning sex joke, and Schwarzenegger delivers it perfectly.

Drucker insists that he's only picking up where God left off, leading Gibson to say, "If you really believe that, then you should clone yourself while you're still alive." Drucker asks him if he should do that to understand his perspective, being that of someone who's a clone while his original is alive, and Gibson quickly answers, "No. So you can go f*** yourself."

"Kong: Skull Island" introduces King Kong to a new generation of viewers as the second film in Warner Bros. Pictures' MonsterVerse. The film is set in 1973 and follows a team of scientists and soldiers from the Vietnam War who travel to Skull Island to meet Kong. Like in the first "King Kong" film, they find all kinds of terrifying monsters and gigantic versions of otherwise innocuous creatures.

They also find Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly), a WWII veteran who has been marooned on Skull Island for nearly 30 years. His time on the island granted Marlow a great deal of experience with the native islanders and gigantic species, so he's an invaluable guide. Soon after meeting the group, he warns them of the various terrors of Skull Island, leading to the film's one and only F-bomb.

He tells everyone to keep their eyes open, explicitly pointing to the trees. When asked why the trees are of concern, Marlow explains: "Ants. Big ones. [chirping sound] There's one. Sounds like a bird, but it's a f****** ant." The F-bomb isn't strictly necessary, but it's what a hardened veteran would say in such a situation, so it fits the character perfectly.

In "Bruce Almighty," Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) works as a field reporter for a Buffalo, New York news station, hoping to make an anchor one day. When an opportunity to score a promotion arises, he hops aboard the Maid of the Mist to report on the tour's 156th anniversary at Niagara Falls. At first, Bruce is excited to pay his dues to get the promotion.

Before the team goes live to Bruce, the anchor announces that Evan Baxter (Steve Carell), Bruce's rival at the station, got the job. He even delivers a speech paraphrased from something Bruce said earlier, which Bruce doesn't take well. Instead of giving his report as planned, Bruce launches into a tirade that includes a well-placed F-bomb.

After staring at the camera with a maniacal smile, Bruce starts alright but quickly devolves into a series of snarky jokes poking fun at Baxter and his interviewee. He then asks a series of questions about why he didn't get the job, making everyone uncomfortable, and at the end, he signs off with, "I'm Bruce Nolan for Eyewitness News. Back to you, f****ers!" It's a costly F-bomb, as it gets Bruce fired, but it also pushes the story along.

In the "Vacation" films, Clark Griswold's (Chevy Chase) penchant for losing his temper is a common theme. It happens in the first and second films, and it returns in a big way in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation." The film sees the Griswold family host a horde of in-laws and extended family members for what promises to be a catastrophic celebration of Christmas, and it goes downhill quickly.

After Clark loses his cool upon receiving his Christmas bonus in the form of a Jelly of the Month club membership, a squirrel wreaks havoc throughout the house. When people try to leave, declaring, "It's over," Clark's not having any of that and insists people remain in the house. Instead, he tells them nobody is walking out the door, declaring, "We have a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here."

Before anyone can interject, Clark continues, "We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny f*****' Kaye." Shortly after this, things settle down, but it doesn't take long for everything to blow up again, ending the film with a SWAT raid on the house, which is arguably the only way the Griswold family Christmas could conclude.

Some of the best F-bombs serve as transitional moments in a movie, often moving the story from one act to another. One of the best uses of this kind of F-bomb comes in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." In the film, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his friends are the epitome of '70s machismo — sexist and successful men in a male-dominated industry disinterested in seeing women succeed.

Burgundy falls for Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), but they break up when he bemoans her success. She becomes his co-anchor, leading to workplace shenanigans as they mess with one another, but Corningstone takes it a step further. Burgundy's quirk of reading whatever's written on his teleprompter gives her an idea, and she executes it brilliantly by changing his news copy.

Burgundy reads his teleprompter during a live broadcast, delivering his lines with his usual charm right up to the end. He reads his sign-off phrase with an addendum, saying, "And I'm Ron Burgundy. Go f*** yourself, San Diego." He tells everyone they did a great job while rifling through some paperwork, utterly oblivious to what he's done. Of course, he's fired, which leads to the film's next act.

"The Wedding Singer" is a rom-com, to be sure, but it's so much more than that. It's also about dealing with depression, which centers on Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler). After he's left at the altar by his would-be bride, Hart has something of a breakdown and doesn't enjoy singing at weddings as much as he did before the fiasco.

Hart becomes friends with Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore), who's planning her own wedding. Despite his avoidance of weddings, he helps her utilize his contacts in the industry. This inevitably leads to the duo looking for a wedding singer, as Hart isn't up to the task, and they interview someone they immediately dislike. Before long, they have Hart singing a song he'd recently written.

After insisting it's not good and explaining that it's uneven, having written half before his breakup and half after, he goes on stage and sings. The song is truly uneven and goes from a love song into one dripping with loathing, expressed with the following lyric yelled into the microphone: "But it all was bulls***, it was a godd*mn joke, and when I think of you, Linda, I hope you f****** choke!" From there, it becomes expressively melancholy, ending in tears.

People in the food service industry have to put up with a lot, whether they work in a Michelin Star restaurant or a corner diner. Granted, the latter likely takes more abuse than the former, but ask anyone who's served food, and they'll have plenty to talk about regarding fussy customers. Some servers handle it with a smile, while Marge in the Coen Brothers' "Intolerable Cruelty" chooses the less amiable response.

After arriving to take an order, Wrigley (Paul Adelstein) asks for a salad, requesting "Baby field greens," but Marge misunderstands, thinking he addressed her inappropriately. She asks, "What did you call me?" Realizing the misunderstanding, Wrigley dives back in, asking if Marge has a green salad, and she has the perfect retort, asking, "What the f*** color would it be?"

On the one hand, you can see where she's coming from. Marge's familiarity with salads is limited to the diner menu, while Wrigley is more aligned with something a bit hoity-toity. It's funny but relatable from both sides of the conversation, which makes sense, as the Coen Brothers are masters at writing dialogue and know how to drop an F-bomb as poignantly as possible.

"Catch Me If You Can" tells the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a teenager who leaves home to become an airline pilot, doctor, and lawyer. The only problem with his many jobs is that he skipped all the necessary education and licensing and cashed millions in fraudulent checks along the way, piquing the interest of FBI Agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks).

Hanratty's investigation begins by nearly catching Abagnale at a hotel, but some quick thinking and pretending to be a Secret Service agent enables his escape. Before any of that happens, though, Hanratty drives to the hotel with two colleagues, who joined his team as a sort of punishment. When they explain this to their new boss, Hanratty doesn't take kindly to their insinuation and offers to tell them a joke.

They're happy to listen, so Hanratty tells the following knock-knock joke: "Knock knock," leading to "Who's there," which ends with a simple, "Go f*** yourself." Hanratty smiles and continues driving to the hotel. Ultimately, the F-bomb establishes who Hanratty is and his no-nonsense approach to law enforcement, and it pays off later when he offers to tell his boss a joke.

In "Crazy, Stupid, Love," Emma Stone plays Hannah Weaver, a recent law school graduate upset over her boyfriend's proposal. Instead of proposing marriage, as she believed he would, he offers her a job at his firm — something decidedly less romantic. This sends Hannah back to a bar to find Jacob (Ryan Gossling), a man she previously rejected. Jacob is a womanizer who doesn't fit the profile of Hannah's typical crush, but she wants to push past her boundaries and goes home with him.

Hannah is nervous, to put it mildly, but she attempts to overcome this by interjecting humor wherever possible. Still, she's at the guy's home, so she tries to overcome her hang-ups and sleep with him. This leads to a humorous moment when Hannah insists Jacob remove his shirt. Instead of lessening the tension, it's exponentially increased as Hanna unsurprisingly delivers the film's F-bomb.

After Jacob removes his shirt — remember this is Ryan Gosling — she kind of loses it, responding with, "F***! Seriously? It's like you're photoshopped!" She then walks over and awkwardly feels his abs. It's funny, quirky, and entirely relatable, but despite their obvious chemistry, they don't sleep together that evening.

"Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" is an apt title, as it perfectly describes the film. In the movie, Peter (Vince Vaughn) owns Average Joe's Gym, but manages it horribly. His inability to pay his bills or collect membership dues leads his competitor, White (Ben Stiller), to attempt a takeover so he can demolish it and build a parking structure for his business, Globo Gym.

Peter has only one recourse: Winning a dodgeball tournament. So he gathers his friends, and they train hard. Eventually, they make it to Las Vegas for the annual tournament, offering a $50,000 grand prize, which is enough to save the gym. Of course, White does the same, establishing the Globo Gym Purple Cobras. Ultimately, this leads to a final game between the two teams, but Peter doesn't show.

He arrives at the last minute, leaving the judges to determine whether the game can proceed. Chuck Norris casts the tie-breaking vote, and in the end, Average Joe's is allowed to play. Through some shrewd dealings and bets, Peter wins $5 million and takes over ownership of Globo Gym. White is utterly defeated and regains all of his lost weight. The film ends with one line, and it's exceptional. White looks at a drumstick and mutters, "F*****' Chuck Norris."

The Marvel Cinematic Universe brings everyone's favorite superhero characters to the big screen, and also happens to be the most successful film franchise of all time. After Disney purchased Marvel in 2009, the House of Mouse took over the franchise's production efforts, so R-ratings and F-bombs weren't on anyone's radar. Fortunately, director James Gunn managed to slip the first MCU F-bomb into "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

In the film, the Guardians find themselves on Counter-Earth, which resembles Earth in the 1980s. It's entirely peopled by anthropomorphic animals, and the team splits up to take on the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). Peter (Chris Pratt), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Nebula (Karen Gillan) opt to take a car that looks a lot like an '80s-era Dodge Diplomat.

Being from Earth, Peter knows how to open the door, but Nebula struggles with the handle. It's a push button, but she doesn't get it right away, so while he's in the car, a frustrated Peter talks her through it. After some back and forth, Peter gets irritated, as does Nebula, and after he finally gets her to push the button down, she asks, "Now what," to which Peter says, "Open the f****** door!"

"Ready Player One" is an Easter egg-filled homage to popular culture. While the film differs significantly from the book, it manages to do more with less by adding a plethora of pop culture references in almost every scene. In the movie, Wade (Tye Sheridan) is one of the leading players in the virtual world known as the OASIS. He seeks a golden Easter Egg hidden inside the OASIS by its founder, Ogden Morrow (Simon Pegg).

Opposing him and everyone else are the Sixers, an army of indentured servants working for Innovative Online Industries hoping to find the Easter egg first. Whoever does will win the OASIS and Morrow's fortune, so the stakes are high. This leads to an all-out war inside the OASIS, and during the final battle, players throw out Easter eggs left and right.

One of Wade's friends throws him a weapon to try, which turns out to be Chucky from the "Child's Play" franchise. It immediately tries to kill Wade, but he throws the homicidal doll at a Sixer, who sees it coming. The film cuts to the man in the real world as he says, knowing he's about to die, "It's f****** Chucky!"

While the MCU may be the biggest comic film franchise, it likely wouldn't have come about had Fox's "X-Men" not paved the way. While many people made those films work, it's hard to argue that anyone was more integral to its success than Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). He's appeared in every mutant-related movie since his debut in 2000, and Wolverine is probably the most popular character in the franchise.

When Fox rebooted the mutant movies with 2011's prequel film "X-Men: First Class," fans hoped Wolverine would show. After all, he was alive and well during the film's setting of 1962, so a cameo was, at the very least, a possibility. Fortunately, it happened, but in as funny a way as possible, while Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik (Michael Fassbender) look for mutants to recruit.

They walk into a bar and introduce themselves to a man who just so happens to be Wolverine. He's smoking a cigar and turns his head at their entrance, but after they tell him their names, he simply responds with, "Go f*** yourself" before looking back and ordering another drink. It's a funny and simple yet brilliant way to fit Wolverine into the new series.