Parental Guidance
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: December 25, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
13
Negative:
6
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyDec 26, 2012
Parental Guidance is an engaging comedy that bridges multiple generation gaps, making it that rare movie that grandparents, their kids, and their kids can enjoy. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 26, 2012
Crystal and Midler are such confident pros that their crack timing elevates even substandard material. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 25, 2012
This is the first time in ages some of the old stand-up Crystal shows through, flashes of quick wit instead of Borscht-belt antics. Not to the extent that it used to in such movies as "When Harry Met Sally ..." (which was, ahem, 23 years ago). But better than you'd expect...Just like the movie. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyJan 4, 2013
Parental Guidance is one of those intergenerational embarrassment comedies in the "Meet the Fockers" line, where children can enjoy seeing grown-ups looking ridiculous. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 31, 2012
The pathos: considerable. The sight gags, involving Crystal puking chili dog on a kid's face, or the grandson with an imaginary friend peeing and causing an X Games skateboarder to wipe out: artless. The results: tolerably amusing. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanDec 26, 2012
In the occasionally funny but mostly facile '80s-style culture-clash comedy Parental Guidance, Billy Crystal, who now resembles a very cute puffer fish, plays Artie Decker. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 26, 2012
It could be worse, and would be without Bette Midler or Marisa Tomei. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubDec 26, 2012
Perhaps anticipating an older audience, most of the lessons are one-sided, with the old-timers seemingly harming the children while actually saving them. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisDec 26, 2012
Parental Guidance is overly generous with regard to the silliness. However, it's not clueless. Crystal seems determined to give as generously as he gets. When a bully whacks him, Crystal covers the bully in vomit. Good for him. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenDec 23, 2012
Billy Crystal and Bette Midler hustle to peddle the threadbare material that makes Andy Fickman's comedy a perfectly tolerable, if uninspired, moviegoing experience. Read full review
40
TimeMary PolsDec 26, 2012
I can't deny I did feel fonder of my own family afterward, mostly because I know none of them would ever make me sit through Parental Guidance. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenDec 26, 2012
Lazy, smugly self-satisfied movie. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleLeah ChurnerDec 26, 2012
The actors deserve credit for the professionalism they bring to this stinker, especially Tomei, who plays it straight as a contemporary have-it-all-or-die-trying mom, and Midler, who's given little to do, but works up an amusing backstory about her days as a good-time gal on the evening news. Read full review
40
VarietyBrian LowryDec 23, 2012
The execution, alas, prevents this from being a genuine crowdpleaser, with the better moments (mostly of the schmaltzy variety) more than offset by the irritating and tedious ones. Read full review
38
USA TodayScott BowlesDec 23, 2012
The movie spends too much time wedging the couple into a May-December moment, where Crystal cracks nostalgic about the good old days. It's sweet, but it grows old. Read full review
25
New York PostSara StewartDec 26, 2012
Parental Guidance kicks off with a mean-spirited joke about an overweight woman and heads downhill from there. Read full review
20
Total FilmEmma DibdinJan 11, 2013
The kids are charmless, the writing is bland, and the embarrassing jokes sound like nails down a blackboard. Read full review
16
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinDec 26, 2012
Parental Guidance is the abysmal grandpa/grandkids bonding comedy he's (Crystal) been destined to make since he first started creating new comedy with an unmistakable old-person smell. Read full review
12
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 26, 2012
It's hard to know who exactly Parental Guidance was made for. Read full review
12
Slant MagazineTomas HachardDec 23, 2012
Andy Fickman's comedy offers a confused and flat portrayal of generational differences. Read full review
More From This Movie

36 Critic Reviews

5.1 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL