Parental
Guidance can be seen as a sit-down family movie on a beautiful Saturday
morning or a struggling sitcom trying to get off a Friday time slot. Don’t go
rushing to the cinema expecting a masterpiece—just be patient for the DVD
release. The movie is predictable, sloppy, and at times outright outrageous to
be taken seriously. Parental Guidance also suffers from a lack of
creativity, as some scenes and elements can be said to be taken from other
family-oriented movies like Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), which, in my
opinion, is just lame.
The movie is
directed by Race to Witch Mountain (2009) director Andy Fickman, and
it stars Billy Crystal and Bette Midler (who were the only reason I got up to
go see the movie—and due to the box office performance of the movie, I guess
some people also fell for it, thinking their presence was a recipe for a good
movie). Both Crystal and Midler play married grandparents who are called upon
to babysit their grandkids for a few days. Ironically, you’d expect Marisa
Tomei, who plays Crystal and Midler’s daughter, to shine alongside the two
classic actors, but she fell short.
The movie plot,
as I said, is about two grandparents called upon by their daughter Alice
(Marisa Tomei) to come babysit her kids as she and her husband plan a getaway
together. Artie and Diane (Crystal and Midler) show up to find out their
grandkids are raised in the most awkward way, as their parents practically
allow them to do what they want, never saying no to them or correcting them.
Diane (Midler)
wants to connect with her grandkids, as she and Artie seem to be left out of
their grandkids’ lives, so she begs Artie to be at his best. But Artie, who is
still chasing a dream, selfishly ignores Diane’s warning and almost wrecks what
was left of the family bond.
As far as acting
goes, Crystal and Midler were head and shoulders above everybody else. They
were a fun couple and wonderful to see on screen—they did their portrayals
pretty well. But their counterparts in the movie were just below standard.
Parental
Guidance had a bad rating from critics, holding a 19% rating on Rotten
Tomatoes, although 66% of the audience enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing Billy
Crystal and Bette Midler, but that’s not a good enough reason for me to suggest
anyone go watch this movie. As I said, wait for the DVD release and have fun
watching it together with your family because, for me, this movie should have
been a TV movie or a B movie.
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