Y'know, if this were 1988 then Parental Guidance would be the most talked about movie of the fall season. Why, it stars two long-in-the-tooth comedic heavyweights like Billy Crystal and Bette Midler, and the premise is light and airy enough that families can go to it without fear of having their brains taxed all that much or seeing anything more vulgar than the occasional baseball bat to the groin.
But this is 2012 and Parental Guidance just looks really old and terribly unfunny. It's basically the cinematic equivalent of Crystal's fossilized hosting performance at the Oscars earlier this year. The film stars Crystal and Midler as old fashioned grandparents who agree to babysit their daughter's kids, and of course they can't quite keep up with how things have changed in modern times. Everybody involved deserves better than this, including Marisa Tomei as their daughter and Bailee Madison(Brothers) as the oldest grand kid.
Parental Guidance is directed by Andy Fickman and opens against Django Unchained on Christmas Day. Which one will you be taking your family to?
