Parental Guidance (film)
Parental Guidance | |
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Directed by | Andy Fickman |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Dean Semler |
Edited by | Kent Beyda |
Music by | Marc Shaiman |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
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Running time | 105 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $25 million[2] |
Box office | $119.8 million[2] |
Parental Guidance is a 2012 American family comedy film starring Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, and Tom Everett Scott and directed by Andy Fickman.[3] It was released on December 25, 2012.[4][5] It was the final 20th Century Fox film to be financed by Dune Entertainment as part of a deal with the studio; shortly after, the company merged with RatPac Entertainment and struck a financing deal with Warner Bros.
Plot
Artie Decker, a sports commentator for the minor league Fresno Grizzlies, is fired due to his old-fashioned personality and lack of social media savvy. He and his eager-to-please wife, Diane, agree to babysit their three grandchildren, Harper (age 12), Turner (age 8), and Barker (age 5) in Atlanta when their daughter, Alice, and son-in-law, Phil, go away for an entrepreneur convention.
Problems arise as Artie and Diane’s parenting skills collide with Alice and Phil's helicopter parenting. After learning of the children's various problems, such as Harper's high achievement syndrome, Turner's stutter, and Barker's imaginary friend, Carl the kangaroo, Artie and Diane try to make them their new best friends.
Alice unexpectedly returns home early when her boss gives her an assignment to redesign the website for the X Games. Artie uses this to his advantage, as he arranges an interview for the role of sports commentator. Artie manages to place Barker's life in danger when Barker nearly gets hurt by a skateboard ridden by Tony Hawk. Eventually, the tension comes to a head as Alice disagrees with Diane's letting Harper attend a party the night before a violin recital and the "death" of Carl.
Alice eventually reconciles with Artie and Diane, and she allows Harper to withdraw from the recital. Turner later takes Harper’s place on stage and overcomes his stutter by reciting the commentary from the Shot Heard 'Round The World.
Afterwards, Artie and Diane successfully become a major part of their grandchildren's lives, with Artie taking up a new job as a commentator for an Atlanta Little League Baseball team alongside Turner.
Cast
- Billy Crystal as Artie Decker
- Bette Midler as Diane Decker
- Marisa Tomei as Alice Decker-Simmons
- Tom Everett Scott as Phil Simmons
- Bailee Madison as Harper Simmons
- Joshua Rush as Turner Simmons
- Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Barker Simmons
- Gedde Watanabe as Mr. Cheng
- Rhoda Griffis as Dr. Schveer
- Jennifer Crystal Foley as Cassandra
- Tony Hawk as Himself
- Steve Levy as Himself
- Linda Cohn as Herself
Release
The film was released on December 25, 2012, in the United States and Canada and on December 26, 2012, in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. Its international release spans from December 19, 2012, to July 11, 2013, with the first 2013 release on January 3, 2013, in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Singapore.[6]
Home media
The film was released on DVD & Blu-ray as well as for purchase via streaming on March 26, 2013, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[7]
Reception
Despite generally negative reviews, box office totals for the film were higher than expected.[2][8]
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 17% based on 92 reviews with an average rating of 3.84/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Parental Guidance is sweet but milquetoast, an inoffensive trifle that's blandly predictable."[9] Metacritic gives it a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[11] On Cinema at the Cinema gave it five bags of popcorn.
Accolades
References
- ^ "PARENTAL GUIDANCE (U)". British Board of Film Classification. November 30, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Parental Guidance (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- ^ "2012 Movies Preview: 'Hunger Games' 'The Dark Knight Rises' 'Avengers' & More". Huffington Post. AOL, Inc. January 10, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- ^ "Fox Moves Billy Crystal's 'Parental Guidance' To Christmas Day". Deadline Hollywood (PMC). Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- ^ "Fox Moves Billy Crystal Comedy Parental Guidance Release Date To Christmas". CinemaBlend.com. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
- ^ "Via Press: Parental Guidance - Release Dates". Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- ^ Amazon: Parental Guidance
- ^ LA Times: Movie box-office totals for 2012 projected to set record Retrieved January 2, 2013
- ^ "Parental Guidance (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^ "Parental Guidance Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
- ^ "Find CinemaScore" (Type "Parental Guidance" in the search box). CinemaScore. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
- ^ "34th Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
External links
- 2012 films
- 2010s children's comedy films
- 20th Century Fox films
- American children's comedy films
- American films
- Dune Entertainment films
- Films scored by Marc Shaiman
- Films about families
- Films directed by Andy Fickman
- Films produced by Peter Chernin
- Films set in Atlanta
- Films set in Fresno, California
- Films shot in Atlanta
- Walden Media films
- 2012 comedy films