I’m on a run of movies I like (writing reviews of movies I dislike is a lot more fun incidentally). Want some fun?
Parental Guidance (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott) – What a relief! After spending the last two weeks seeing all these serious Oscar contenders, I was ready for a good family comedy that didn’t require me to think or pay too much attention. Welcome to Parental Guidance, a warm-hearted comedy with a familiar theme. Grandparents who never grow up are pressed into service to take care of the grandkids they almost don’t know by their daughter, who doesn’t have much of a relationship with her parents.
The key to light comedy with an underlying message depends on great casting. Parental Guidance couples funnyman Billy Crystal with zany Bette Midler as Artie and Diane Decker as the unconventional grandparents who have spent their lives traveling among mid-size cities where Artie is a play-by-play announcer for minor league baseball teams, hoping to hit the big time. This is perfect casting for Crystal (now 64 years old), a lifelong Yankees fan. Artie is clever, witty and, as the owner of the Fresno team tells him as he fires him, “old school.” In today’s social media-driven world, “old school” is the kiss of death. Punched in the gut by the news, Artie goes home to his loyal, hip wife who is taking pole-dancing classes (Bette, at 67, looks great by the way). Before he can wallow in his bad news, their daughter, Alice (Oscar winner Marisa Tomei, last seen in The Ideas of March), calls and asks them to take care of the kids so she and her husband, Phil (Tom Everett Scott, who might not have been in a decent film since That Thing You Do), can get away.
The Deckers are “the other grandparents,” the less favorite of the two. Artie tells jokes the kids don’t understand, and they don’t connect at all with the pre-pubescent children. The parents are coddling, “modern parents.” There is no discipline and push the kids for achievement, all while living in a totally modern home that Phil programmed with his new invention, “R-Life.” The whole movie is a cliché, including the appearance of the funniest character of the film played by Gedde Watanabe (remember him from Gung Ho?) as the owner of a local Asian Fusion restaurant. Sometimes clichés work; they do here.
The plot, while totally predictable, is punctuated with some poignancy. All three kids are going through coming-of-age moments and act out, much to the puzzlement of the Deckers. Alice and Artie were close when she was young but their relationship is definitely strained and needs work. Thus, the movie turns a bit maudlin, but it worked for me.
If you want to go to a movie that is just fun or you are looking for a film to take the kids or grandkids, Parental Guidance is this year’s best choice.