Parental Guidance (film)

Plot

After Artie Decker, a sports commentator for the minor-league Fresno Grizzlies, is fired due to his old school talk and lack of social media, his eager-to-please wife, Diane, agrees to babysit their three grandchildren, Harper, Turner, and Barker in Atlanta when their daughter, Alice, and son-in-law, Phil, go away for an entrepreneur exhibition. Problems arise as their 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, they try to make them their new best friends.

Alice eventually returns home 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. He manages to place Barker's life in danger when he 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 recital and the death of Barker's imaginary friend. Alice eventually reconciles with Artie and Diane, and she allows Harper to withdraw from the recital. Turner takes her place in it and resolves his stutter by reciting the commentary from the Shot Heard 'Round The World. Afterwards, Artie and Diane become a major part of their grandchildren's lives, with Artie taking up a new job as a commentator for a Little League Baseball team along with Turner.

Cast

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.

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.

Reception

Despite generally negative reviews, box office totals for the film were higher than expected. Reviews included a 17% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 86 reviews, with the consensus stating: "Parental Guidance is sweet but milquetoast, an inoffensive trifle that's blandly predictable". Metacritic gives it a score of 36 out of 100, based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.