Parental Guidance - C

Rated PG, 105 minutes

Crystal, Midler go through the motions in maudlin "Parental Guidance"

Billy Crystal and Bette Midler

What do you do when you star in a movie with an Oscar-winner and a multi-talented Grammy winner? Give yourself all the best lines and scenes, of course, which is what veteran comedian and perennial Oscar host Billy Crystal does in the mildly enjoyable yet forgettable family comedy "Parental Guidance," which turns very sentimental in its final act. Old school grandfather baseball announcer Artie (Crystal), who's accustomed to calling the shots, meets his match when he and his eager-to-please wife Diane (Grammy-winner Bette Midler) agree to babysit their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents (Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott) go away for work. Crystal and Midler are good for a few laughs, but this episodic, maudlin and very thin comedy could've easily played as a cable TV movie, with a weak script, direction and cookie-cutter characters. Crystal, who also produced the film, can throw out one-liners with the best of them, though it's seems like a typical Crystal schticky stand-up routine. "Parental Guidance," directed by Andy Fickman, has a setup that is too easy, too predictable and sheds too many tears in its finale; still Crystal and Midler have decent chemistry as the parents who don't want to become "the other grandparents." Tomei, adept at both comedy and drama, is clearly secondary to the leads here in a take-the-money-and-run type of performance. "Parental Guidance," for what it's worth, is good, clean family fun with a few good lines but otherwise a forgettable comedy film.

Wes's Grade: C