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Parental Guidance

Play trailer Poster for Parental Guidance PG 2012 1h 44m Kids & Family Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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18% Tomatometer 89 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Minor-league baseball announcer Artie Decker (Billy Crystal) and his wife, Diane (Bette Midler), get to see their only child, Alice (Marisa Tomei), very seldom. To their surprise, Alice and her husband (Tom Everett Scott) ask them to watch their children so they can embark on a trip for work. It promises to be a fun time for all, until the three young ones turn out to be quite a handful for this old-fashioned couple. Artie and Diane may need to bend the rules to make everyone happy in the end.
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Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance

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Critics Consensus

Parental Guidance is sweet but milquetoast, an inoffensive trifle that's blandly predictable.

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Critics Reviews

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J. Hoberman Tablet May 5, 2016
A strong candidate for the worst movie I've seen all year. Go to Full Review Leah Churner Austin Chronicle Jan 4, 2013
2/5
Poor Crystal. There remains a scintilla of dignity in his sad clown. He may beatbox while wearing wraparound sunglasses, but, thankfully for you and yours, he does not dance the robot. Go to Full Review Ben Sachs Chicago Reader Jan 3, 2013
This grating family comedy resembles a sitcom in its flat lighting, patronizing music cues, and frames supplying little visual information apart from the actors' mugging faces. Go to Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Sep 19, 2020
3.0/4.0
A simple family film that should prove appealing to multi-generation families looking for a film the whole family will enjoy this holiday season. Go to Full Review Stefan Pape CineVue Feb 7, 2019
2/5
Parental Guidance is simply not very funny, which given its attempt to incorporate constant humour, poses quite the problem. Go to Full Review Sarah Gopaul Digital Journal Oct 22, 2018
It's definitely a feel good movie, making it the perfect family friendly holiday pick - just remember not to grumble when it doesn't offer any more than that. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blake C @BlakeC Sep 10, 2026 I started a physical media collection and picked this up at the local DG. It’s a fun movie and I enjoyed it. See more Stephen C @bob25009 Mar 18, 2026 Funny in 1 hour and 44 minutes. A success on home media. See more Richard S @RT11092035 Nov 7, 2025 Professional critics have the same problem as restaurant critics. The film people see too many movies and the food people eat too many meals .To raise their eyebrows, they need something they have not experienced before and since that rarely occurs, they drop the hammer in their reviews. This movie was funny and entertaining to me. It was wonderful in its simplicity with very well known actors drawing smiles and chuckles from me with their one liners. Just my two cents and for me the tomatoes were ripe and not rotten with this production. See more Rosana B @RosanaBotafogo Feb 16, 2025 Gostei da abordagem, embora extrema, mostra a geração mais nova tendo uma educação positiva e saudável, embora o filme tenha sido uma crítica a ambas as gerações de pais, demonstrada exageradamente e muito divertida, a crítica especializada negativou, porem considerei adorável, grande parte se deve ao carisma dos avós (Billy Crystal e Bette Midler) e a fofurinha das crianças... Divertido, saudável, critico, motivador e anticoncepcional (embora em ame crianças fofinhas)... See more Emilliano Jr S @emill_santos Jul 28, 2023 Overall, this movie need guidance. See more Jul 5, 2022 if you are parent from Generation X you will totally understand this movie... Very Good movie to watch with your preteen.. See more Read all reviews
Parental Guidance

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Cast & Crew

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Andy Fickman

Director

Billy Crystal

Artie Decker

Bette Midler

Diane Decker

Tom Everett Scott

Phil Simmons

Bailee Madison

Harper Simmons

Joshua Rush

Turner Simmons

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Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance (2012) Parental Guidance (2012) Parental Guidance (2012) Billy Crystal as Artie Decker and Bette Midler as Diane Decker in "Parental Guidance." Billy Crystal as Artie Decker and Bette Midler as Diane Decker in "Parental Guidance." (L-R) Marisa Tomei as Alice, Billy Crystal as Artie Decker, Bailee Madison as Harper Decker Simmons, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Barker Decker Simmons, Tom Everett Scott as Phil Simmons and Joshua Rush as Turner Decker Simmons in "Parental Guidance." (L-R) Billy Crystal as Artie Decker, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Barker Decker Simmons and Joshua Rush as Turner Decker Simmons in "Parental Guidance." (L-R) Marisa Tomei as Alice, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Barker Decker Simmons, Bette Midler as Diane Decker and Billy Crystal as Artie Decker in "Parental Guidance." (L-R) Billy Crystal as Artie Decker, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Barker Decker Simmons, Marisa Tomei as Alice and Tom Everett Scott as Phil Simmons in "Parental Guidance." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Minor-league baseball announcer Artie Decker (Billy Crystal) and his wife, Diane (Bette Midler), get to see their only child, Alice (Marisa Tomei), very seldom. To their surprise, Alice and her husband (Tom Everett Scott) ask them to watch their children so they can embark on a trip for work. It promises to be a fun time for all, until the three young ones turn out to be quite a handful for this old-fashioned couple. Artie and Diane may need to bend the rules to make everyone happy in the end.
Director
Andy Fickman
Producer
Billy Crystal, Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark
Screenwriter
Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Face Productions, Chernin Entertainment
Rating
PG (Some Rude Humor)
Genre
Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 18, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$77.3M
Runtime
1h 44m
Sound Mix
Datasat, Dolby, SDDS
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