Parental Guidance (2012)

Artie and Diane agree to look after their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents need to leave town for work. Problems arise when the kids' 21st-century behavior collides with Artie and Diane's old-school methods.

Director:

Andy Fickman

Writers:

Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse

Stars:

Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Crystal	...	Artie Decker
Bette Midler	...	Diane Decker
Marisa Tomei	...	Alice Simmons
Tom Everett Scott	...	Phil Simmons
Bailee Madison	...	Harper Simmons
Joshua Rush	...	Turner Simmons
Kyle Breitkopf	...	Barker Simmons (as Kyle Harrison Breitkopf)
Jennifer Crystal Foley	...	Cassandra
Rhoda Griffis	...	Dr. Schveer
Gedde Watanabe	...	Mr. Cheng
Tony Hawk	...	Tony Hawk
Steve Levy	...	Steve Levy
Cade Jones	...	Ivan Halloran
Mavrick Moreno	...	Cody
Madison Lintz	...	Ashley

Storyline

The parents of Alice, a controlled mom, agree to take care of her 3 crazy children, Harper, Turner and Barker, because they feel they don't see their grandchildren enough, when Alice and her husband Phil go on a business trip for Phil. But when everything goes downhill, they need to find a way to prove to Alice, Phil, and themselves that they can be great grandparents.

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Plot Keywords:

misbehavior | helicopter parents | woman | chores | punishment | 

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Taglines:

This Christmas it's a battle for the ages

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some rude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Us & Them

Filming Locations:

Fresno, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,800,000, 30 December 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$77,267,296

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$119,772,232

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Walden Media, Chernin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (ACES)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The red and white lighthouse shown in the film is located in Harbour Town, on Hilton Head Island, SC.

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Goofs

Turner's re-creation of the famous Russ Hodges call of the "Shot Heard 'Round the World", is not exactly accurate. He fails to mention that Clint Hartung was on Third when Whitey Lockman was on Second.

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Quotes

Diane Decker: Bravo! Oh, wow! Harper, that was wonderful!
Harper Decker Simmons: I stunk.
Diane Decker: You most certainly did not!
[to Dr. Schveer]
Diane Decker: Wasn't she wonderful?
Dr. Schveer: No. This will *not* be good enough for your audition. You must practice more! When my daughter underperforms, I shun her. *This* girl should be shunned!

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Crazy Credits

During the credits, we see pictures of each person listed with their children.

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Connections

References Saw VI (2009)

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Soundtracks

You Made Me Like It
Written by Michael McGaughrin & John McKeown
Performed by 1990s
Courtesy of Rough Trade Records
By arrangement with Beggars Group Media Limited

User Reviews

Parental Guidance (2012) **1/2

Billy Crystal and Bette Midler make a compatible pair of grandparents who are so out of touch with today's kids and how they're raised that even their own daughter (Marisa Tomei) doesn't want them near her children. So it is with great trepidation that the paranoid mom allows her parents to mind the store and stay with the young ones while she and daddy go off on a long-deserved getaway. That in a nutshell is the idea behind PARENTAL GUIDANCE, and I was able to relate enough with the idea of how newer generations are missing out on what we had that I was willing to watch it. So Billy and Bette (are they not really old enough in appearance to be grandparents, or is it just that I'm not that far off from their age myself?) try to instill some of their older values and ways of life onto the kids, with occasionally funny results (the scene with Crystal and his grandson at the little league baseball game is a highlight). Nothing outstanding here, just a decent family picture that goes down pretty easy. I must be getting up there in age when I'm starting to think that Bette Midler has weathered the storm pretty well... **/12 out of ****