Parental Guidance (2012)

Now days, Billy Crystal doesn't appear in films as often as he used to, but for the right project and cast, he's always willing to remind us of why he's a household name. It doesn't matter if it's a raunchy comedy or a family film, his quirky and unique sense of humor always makes whatever he stars in that much more enjoyable and Parental Guidance is no different. On the surface, this is just another family comedy about Grandma and Grandpa getting in over their heads when they agree to babysit for the weekend. Add Crystal and Bette Midler to that and all of a sudden the film is taken to a whole other level. Everyone knows what to expect from both Crystal and Midler, but the real magic is their chemistry and how they play off each other, especially when you throw three unpredictable kids into the mix. Some of the scenes with the grandparents trying to use the modern technology or the kids taking advantage of the grandparents lack of respect for their parents strict instructions are truly laugh out loud funny. Yes, that's exactly what I said, it's a PG rated family movie, but it has more than a couple of laugh out loud moments. Parental Guidance is a film that the parents and grandparents will want to see for it's terrific cross-generational cast, but the kids will enjoy it too, for both it's old school and modern humor. It's the perfect rainy day weekend family feature film.

Parental Guidance (2012): Dir: Andy Fickman / Cast: Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott, Bailee Madison: Family comedy about limits. In this case Billy Crystal and Bette Midler play grandparents who haven't seen their grandchildren in a while. When given the opportunity they are met with the reality of change. Crystal plays a passionate sports announcer who loses his job. Their daughter is played by Marisa Tomei whose husband is off on a business trip. She is suppose to accompany him but her fear of her parents unable to deal with the children hold her back. The plot is simple and the structure is more or less just a series of screw ups with regards to cultural differences in raising children. The ending is no surprise but director Andy Fickman does his best with a theme he employed in The Game Plan and You Again. This is not much of an improvement but at least Crystal and Midler provide their share of amusing moments as they struggle to adapt to their daughter's methods of raising their children. Marisa Tomei is limited as their daughter, whose best scene has her being a good sport receiving a cake splat in the face. Tom Everett Scott as her husband is given even less to do other than video chat as a plot filler. Their children are cookie cutter at best. We have the violinist who pushes herself too hard. We have a kid with an overacting stutter. More embarrassing is the kid with an imaginary kangaroo. While the message of parenting and the cultural changes from generations is present the only guidance needed is for a better screenwriter. Score: 5 / 10

I cannot believe this movie got such a low rating. Billy Crystal and Bette Midler were awesome. It had a great story line and was very entertaining. The kids in the movie were excellent as well. Everyone in the cast did a great job acting. Bailee is an awesome child actor. She is believable in every scene. Joshua and Kyle also stole the screen. Both were very good and believable in their character. I saw it on video and it was amazing. I watch it again today when it came o television. The movie was just as good and the first time I saw it. I will probably purchase if for my DVD library. This is a great family video.

Billy Crystal, an actor I wasn't fond of a couple of years ago. Not because I didn't like his movies, but the buzz that was surrounding him and his Oscar Speeches (of which I hadn't heard any) was too much for me. In this movie he's doing speeches too, but he's also doing other things and almost everything works on some level. I thought this would be fairly funny if I was lucky, but it turns out this was more than that! It is really funny.The premise might not feel like much, but the actors make the difference! Be it the adults or the kid actors at hand. Especially the girl, whom you might have seen in other movies too. Parenting can be difficult, but also very funny. Of course it is obvious where the movie is going, but you can still have a lot of fun on your way there ... if you let yourself enjoy it