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Parental Guidance (film)

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Parental Guidance
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndy Fickman
Written by
  • Lisa Addario
  • Joe Syracuse
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDean Semler
Edited byKent Beyda
Music byMarc Shaiman
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 25, 2012 (2012-12-25)
Running time
105 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$119.8 million[2]

Parental Guidance is a 2012 American family comedy film directed by Andy Fickman, from a screenplay written by Lisa Addario, and Joe Syracuse. It stars Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, and Tom Everett Scott, and follows a couple who are asked to look after their grandchildren by their skeptical daughter, while she and her husband are out of town.[3][4][5]

This 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. It was theatrically released on December 25, 2012, to negative reviews from critics but was a commercial success, grossing $119.8 million from a $25 million budget.

Plot

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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. After telling his wife, Diane, the news, they get a call from their daughter, Alice, and son-in-law, Phil, asking them to come to Atlanta to babysit their three children, Harper, Turner, and Barker, while they attend an entrepreneur convention in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Problems arise as Artie and Diane's laidback personalities collide with Phil and Alice's helicopter parenting. After learning of their grandchildren'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 bond with them.

Alice returns home early when her boss gives her an assignment to redesign the website for the X Games. Artie uses this to his advantage and arranges an interview for the role of sports commentator. In an attempt to win over his grandchildren, he breaks several of the rules Alice has set for them, such as forbidding them from eating sugary food and watching horror movies. Alice is horrified, but after Diane tells her that she and Artie will never be good grandparents if she doesn't give them the chance to, she leaves to join Phil in Hilton Head.

Artie lets Barker skip a playdate to take him to the skate park where his interview is being held. Barker escapes from his supervision, and Tony Hawk nearly runs him over while skateboarding. The incident is later broadcast on the news. Later that day, Diane berates Artie for letting Turner hit his bully after Artie had tried to teach him a lesson about confidence and standing up for himself. Artie has a discussion with him and shows him the Shot Heard 'Round the World event. Meanwhile, Phil and Alice witness the news broadcast of the skatepark incident and return home. The tension comes to a head when Alice discovers Diane has allowed Harper to attend a party the night before a violin recital and Barker claims Carl has been hit and killed by a car.

Alice eventually reconciles with Artie and Diane, and, sensing that Harper has lost her passion for music, allows her to withdraw from the recital. Turner takes her place on stage and overcomes his stutter by reciting the commentary from Shot Heard 'Round the World. Afterward, Artie and Diane successfully reconnect with their grandchildren, and Artie takes up a new job as a commentator for an Atlanta Little League Baseball team.

Cast

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Release

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The film was released Christmas Day 2012, in the United States and Canada and on Boxing Day 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

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The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 26, 2013, from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[7]

Reception

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Box office

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The film grossed $77.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $43.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $119.8 million.[2]

Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the film performed better than expected at the box office.[8] In its opening weekend the film made $14.55 million from 3,367 theaters (a six-day total of $29.3 million), finishing in fourth behind holdover The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and fellow new releases Django Unchained and Les Misérables.[9]

Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 18% of 92 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Parental Guidance is sweet but milquetoast, an inoffensive trifle that's blandly predictable."[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 36 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[11] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[9]

Accolades

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Award Category Recipient(s) Result
2013 Young Artist Awards[12] Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actor Ten and Under Kyle Harrison Breitkopf Nominated
Joshua Rush Nominated
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "PARENTAL GUIDANCE (U)". British Board of Film Classification. November 30, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Parental Guidance (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "2012 Movies Preview: 'Hunger Games' 'The Dark Knight Rises' 'Avengers' & More". Huffington Post. January 10, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  4. ^ "Fox Moves Billy Crystal's 'Parental Guidance' To Christmas Day". Deadline Hollywood (PMC). April 11, 2012. Archived from the original on April 13, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  5. ^ "Fox Moves Billy Crystal Comedy Parental Guidance Release Date To Christmas". CinemaBlend.com. April 10, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  6. ^ "Via Press: Parental Guidance - Release Dates". Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  7. ^ Amazon: Parental Guidance
  8. ^ LA Times: Movie box-office totals for 2012 projected to set record Retrieved January 2, 2013
  9. ^ a b "Weekend Report: 'Hobbit' Holds Off 'Django' on Final Weekend of 2012". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  10. ^ "Parental Guidance". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved July 5, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  11. ^ "Parental Guidance". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  12. ^ "34th Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
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