Parental Guidance 2012 (Movie Review)

Dir: Andy Fickman
Starring: Billy Crystal, Bette Middler, Tom Everett Scott, Marisa Tomei, Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush and Kyle Breitkopf
Dur: 105 mins
Rating: 4.5/5
Comment: An excellent treat for the whole family. Parents and educators will find pertinent and practical issues addressed.

The title itself is attractive and thought-provoking. Parenting today is becoming increasingly difficult, with rules, either social or legal for just about everything, ranging from how to talk to the kids and correct them to the manner in which they ought to be raised. Against this background, the film raises important questions and attempts to depict the challenges of child-rearing.

Introducing you to Phil (Tom Everett Scott) and Alice (Marisa Tomei) Simmons’ family. A typical nuclear family consisting of a set of parents and 3 young kids. They have their share of troubles but seem to be living a happy and comfortable life, until Phil is awarded for an invention of his and is called away. He wants Alice to come along as it would serve as an opportunity for them to spend time together and to be away from the kids. Alice isn’t too happy to go along because then her parents would be called in to look after the children and she is cynical of their parenting skills. Nevertheless, her parents are called. Here onwards you get entertainment for your money’s worth.

Artie (Billy Crystal) and Dianne (Bette Middler) are a jolly couple with a lot of love between them. They’ve hardly seen their grandchildren let alone spend time with them. Seeking to build a relationship with their grandkids and to cast off the tag of “the other grandparents”, they embark on this adventure; and what an adventure it turns out to be. Struggling to handle the three very different kids and to keep up with the pace of their varied schedules, they bungle, tumble, face rejection but yet come out on top. Amidst the drama, they connect to their grandkids in a way that only they can. The process involved quite some embarrassment, tantrums and failures but the outcome was a joy beyond words.


The film is excellent and I would recommend it as a family entertainer. The actors have done brilliantly; portraying their characters realistically. The movie has emotional overtones and I watched the ending teary-eyed. Parenting is tough but it has its moments and those moments have the power to blot out all failures, rejection and negativity. Grandparents have an important role to play in a child’s growth and this film captures it well.    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more