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 | grandfather granddaughter relationship | fired | grandfather grandson relationship | grandmother granddaughter relationship | 

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Taglines:

When it comes to parents, it's old school vs new school.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some rude humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

Being an Australian, cinematographer Dean Semler had never attended a baseball match before.

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Goofs

During the ice cream cake fiasco scene, Phil comes on screen with a video chat for Alice. Alice rushes over to turn it off and the screen is clean. When Harper and Alice start playing tug of war over the ice cream cake a few moments later (after the boys went to hide under the counter and are no longer running around), the screen has a frosting hand print on it.

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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

Featured in Chelsea Lately: Episode #6.194 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Home
Written by Greg Holden and Drew Pearson
Performed by Phillip Phillips
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Billy and Bette are lovely, but too many silly scenes

Alice Simmons (Marisa Tomei) is somewhat estranged from her parents (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler). When her husband Phil (Tom Everett Scott)'s work takes them away, she's forced to ask her parents to look after her kids (Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf).

I like Billy Crystal and Bette Midler. I like their chemistry. I like their 'old fashion' ways. But some really stupid scenes destroy any chance this movie had. Grumpy Billy Crystal has some funny moments. Bette Midler is likable as the peacemaker. But by the middle of the movie, they just piled on one too many ridiculous premise to accept, and the movie falls apart.

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:

$14,554,053, 30 December 2012

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