Parental Guidance

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Parental Guidance

PG

2012

1h 44m

Kids & Family

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

18%

Tomatometer

89 Reviews

59%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Minor-league baseball announcer Artie Decker (Billy Crystal) and his wife, Diane (Bette Midler), get to see their only child, Alice (Marisa Tomei), very seldom. To their surprise, Alice and her husband (Tom Everett Scott) ask them to watch their children so they can embark on a trip for work. It promises to be a fun time for all, until the three young ones turn out to be quite a handful for this old-fashioned couple. Artie and Diane may need to bend the rules to make everyone happy in the end.

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Critics Consensus

Parental Guidance is sweet but milquetoast, an inoffensive trifle that's blandly predictable.

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J. Hoberman

Tablet

A strong candidate for the worst movie I've seen all year.

May 5, 2016

Full Review

Leah Churner

Austin Chronicle

Poor Crystal. There remains a scintilla of dignity in his sad clown. He may beatbox while wearing wraparound sunglasses, but, thankfully for you and yours, he does not dance the robot.

Rated: 2/5

Jan 4, 2013

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Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

This grating family comedy resembles a sitcom in its flat lighting, patronizing music cues, and frames supplying little visual information apart from the actors' mugging faces.

Jan 3, 2013

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

A simple family film that should prove appealing to multi-generation families looking for a film the whole family will enjoy this holiday season.

Rated: 3.0/4.0

Sep 19, 2020

Full Review

Stefan Pape

CineVue

Parental Guidance is simply not very funny, which given its attempt to incorporate constant humour, poses quite the problem.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 7, 2019

Full Review

Sarah Gopaul

Digital Journal

It's definitely a feel good movie, making it the perfect family friendly holiday pick - just remember not to grumble when it doesn't offer any more than that.

Oct 22, 2018

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Rosana B

Gostei da abordagem, embora extrema, mostra a geração mais nova tendo uma educação positiva e saudável, embora o filme tenha sido uma crítica a ambas as gerações de pais, demonstrada exageradamente e muito divertida, a crítica especializada negativou, porem considerei adorável, grande parte se deve ao carisma dos avós (Billy Crystal e Bette Midler) e a fofurinha das crianças... Divertido, saudável, critico, motivador e anticoncepcional (embora em ame crianças fofinhas)...

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/25

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Jherek L

This is the second worst movie I have ever watched after Satanic (2016). What makes it special is that this is the only movie I had ever stopped playing and threw into the trash. It was unbearable, the jokes aimed for a brainless audience, even the acting feels terrible (I don't know whether the acting was forced that way intentionally). This movie doesn't deserve a second chance, it surprises me there is people who actually liked it.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/01/24

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Emilliano Jr S

Overall, this movie need guidance.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/28/23

Full Review

David H

I really liked this movie and im surprised that it had such a poor reception. A feel good movie which proves to be funny and infers strongly about issues which are relevant to this day and age.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

11/29/22

Full Review

Audience Member

if you are parent from Generation X you will totally understand this movie... Very Good movie to watch with your preteen..

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/05/22

Full Review

Audience Member

I actually thought it was pretty funny despite being a pretty bad movie

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

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Andy Fickman

Director

Billy Crystal

Artie Decker

Bette Midler

Diane Decker

Marisa Tomei

Alice Simmons

Tom Everett Scott

Phil Simmons

Bailee Madison

Harper Simmons

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Synopsis

Minor-league baseball announcer Artie Decker (Billy Crystal) and his wife, Diane (Bette Midler), get to see their only child, Alice (Marisa Tomei), very seldom. To their surprise, Alice and her husband (Tom Everett Scott) ask them to watch their children so they can embark on a trip for work. It promises to be a fun time for all, until the three young ones turn out to be quite a handful for this old-fashioned couple. Artie and Diane may need to bend the rules to make everyone happy in the end.

Director: Andy Fickman
Producer: Billy Crystal, Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark
Screenwriter: Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Face Productions, Chernin Entertainment
Rating: PG (Some Rude Humor)
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 25, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 18, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $77.3M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby, SDDS

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