Movie Review: Parental Guidance ~ “The movie kept us laughing from start to finish.”

Newsday
Kidsday: ‘Parental Guidance’ review
Published: December 21, 2012 2:27 PM
By SOFIA FERREZA, KENNEDY KEENAN AND KAITLYN TERGESEN. Kidsday reporters, 10, East Islip

Last week, we took a trip to Manhattan to preview the new movie “Parental Guidance.” We got to see it in a private screening room at the Fox offices. The movie kept us laughing from start to finish.

It is about grandparents who baby-sit their grandkids while their parents are away. The grandparents don’t know the kids that well and have a very different set of rules when it comes to behavior. Also, the grandparents don’t know how to use all the technology the kids have in their house.

The movie had a scene that we found hilarious. Sofia liked when the parents saw on the news that their son was put in a dangerous situation when the grandfather, played by Billy Crystal, was supposed to be watching him.

Kennedy thought it was really funny when the grandfather gave the children ice cream cake and it made them go crazy. Their parents didn’t allow them to have sugar, so they got really hyper after eating it. The funniest part of that scene was when Harper, played by Bailee Madison, yelled, “You were lying when you told me yogurt tastes just like ice cream!”

The youngest kid had an imaginary kangaroo for a friend. Kaitlyn thought it was hysterical when a delivery man “ran over” the imaginary kangaroo and killed him.

We gave the movie 4 out of 5 smiles because it was for people of all ages. If you want to see the movie, tell your parents that Billy Crystal and Bette Midler are in it. We didn’t know who they were, but our parents did. They were really funny, and we’re sure they’ll make you and your parents laugh. For those who like a happy ending, the good news is that you’ll get one with this movie.

Right after seeing the movie, we met Bailee, who stars as Harper. She had to play the violin in the movie, and we wanted to know if she could play in real life. Bailee said, “Absolutely not. I did practice, though. They did give me a violin to practice with when I was on and off set. But when I was practicing, it really sounded like a cat that was just being run over by a car.”

In this movie, Bailee’s character has her first crush. We wanted to know if she ever had a crush on any of the actors she had worked with. She said, “No. It’s funny because all of the actors I have worked with were older and this was the first time that I was around, like, a boy my age. It was awkward.”

We wanted to know what she may have learned from stars such as Midler and Crystal. Bailee said, “Just by watching them and seeing not only how they act but how they treat others on set. I learned that they are so legendary, and they’re so respected, and with all of that going on, they still remain so classy and so humble, and they really did treat everyone on set so kindly. So I learned that no matter what, just treat others like you would want to be treated and to really care about the project.”

Skateboarder Tony Hawk has a small part in the movie. We wanted to know if she met him. She said, “I didn’t. I wasn’t filming when he was. They were in an outside shot, and I had the day off. But I heard he’s a really cool guy, and he does a great job in the movie.”

Share A little Divinity

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.