Artie and Diane agree to look after their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents need to leave town for work. Problems arise when the kids' 21st-century behavior collides with Artie and Diane's old-school methods.
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.
– Mary F. Pols,
TIME Magazine,
26 Dec 2012
rotten:
After a while it seems to run out of jokes, maybe to make room for all the crying and hug-it-out family redemption in the last half hour.
– Owen Gleiberman,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Dec 2012
rotten:
An extended "in my day" joke intended to convey the superiority of old people over a lot of supposedly contemporary behavior that doesn't actually exist in real life.
– Chris Packham,
Village Voice,
27 Dec 2012
rotten:
One of those intergenerational embarrassment comedies in the Meet the Fockers line, where children can enjoy seeing grown-ups looking ridiculous.
– Liam Lacey,
Globe and Mail,
28 Dec 2012
rotten:
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.