Parental Guidance (2012)

I love this movie so much

What makes it different from others?

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I'm a Progressive, but this was just upper class flakiness gone too far and too wrong.I tried really hard, because I love the lead actors, to find some tiny redeeming quality in them to like. But they, and their weirdly pretentiously named children (HarpER, TurnER, and (B)(P)arkER{?} were just obnoxious, selfish, sheltered, and unlikable.I just don't care enough to comment further. The only reason I"m posting a review is that I really liked the credits. The inclusion of family photos with the names of the producers, etc. was a very clever and enjoyable experience.But if one has to endure a bad film and get to the final credits to find something positive to say about a film, well, that speaks for itself, doesn't it?

This movie brings together the modern feel good holistic parenting as compared to the dictatorship parenting of yesteryear. In it, the grandparents are asked to come care for the grandkids after the parents are converting a business trip to a mini-vacation. What is really good is the paring of Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as the grandparents. I was reminded of how funny Crystal can be. Lot of gag bits but humorous to see how the family dynamic plays out. It reminds you that parenting is trial and error and there is no real way to mess up the children's lives. This movie is fun and should be perfect for any family who has a challenge for teaching intergenerational lessons.

Where to start with this movie, as a family movie this fails, simply because if you watch this with your kids they will be bored to tears as my 11yr old and his 10 year old friend were. This movie isn't really for adults as it always stays very child friendly at all times, adults acting as if they would if a child were in the room in every scene. This movie is based around family relationships, its quite mellow dramatic, lots of old time stories, tears and make ups. I perhaps see elderly people liking this movie. Please do not force your kids to watch this, they wont forgive you for it. The story is nice and the acting is good, im just not sure who this its aimed at. Its not at kids thats for sure.

A smooth Bette Midler and a even more smoother Billy Crystal try to take you attention of their faces for a few moments in Parental Guidance where they play Grandparents who have to look after their grandchildren when the parents go off for a few days business holiday.Crystal is a broadcaster who has been fired for being old hat and comes up with corny one liners. Marisa Tomei is the helicopter mother who hovers over her kids to almost to the point of suffocation and at turns spoiling them. She is rather apprehensive about leaving her children with her parents and for a lot of the film refuses to join her husband who has gone on the trip before her.The kids of varying ages are spoilt brats who simply have not had much fun in their lives and have issues. One having an imaginary kangaroo, other having communication issues with the daughter about to enter puberty and not enjoying her music with the constant practise and no social life.However the film comes across as a sit com style clichéd family relationship film you have many times before. The kids get hyper by eating sugary food, getting into scrapes much to the irritation of their parents.However hen watching this movie you do actually wonder if Midler and Crystal are actually Tomei's parents as she is so uptight it seems someone else must have raised her. In that case why were they invited to look after her kids?The film gives you a few brief laughs but mostly will leave you bored because of the familiarity of the story. Maybe the screenplay needed a face-lift more than its two stars.