This movie brings together the modern feel good holistic parenting as compared to the dictatorship parenting of yesteryear. In it, the grandparents are asked to come care for the grandkids after the parents are converting a business trip to a mini-vacation. What is really good is the paring of Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as the grandparents. I was reminded of how funny Crystal can be. Lot of gag bits but humorous to see how the family dynamic plays out. It reminds you that parenting is trial and error and there is no real way to mess up the children's lives. This movie is fun and should be perfect for any family who has a challenge for teaching intergenerational lessons.

I read the "expert" reviews when the movie hit the theaters. Subsequently I did not see the movie at that time. It has appeared on cable numerous times, & I have seen the movie more than I can count. I find something else to like about it each time I watch. It is a family focused movie - heartwarming & funny and at times, hysterical.When grandparents Artie (Billy Crystal) and Diane (Bette Midler) are asked by their somewhat distant (emotionally and geographically) daughter Alice (Marisa Tomei) and son-in-law Phil (Tom Everett Scott) to care for their three children while the parents attend a work conference/mini-vacation, Bette is thrilled to try to connect with the family (especially the grand-kids). Artie has just been fired as the long-time announcer for the Fresno Grizzlies for being "old-school", so he's going into the situation a bit wounded. The fact that the young family has a talking/interactive house and car (which Phil invented/developed) is baffling and Artie takes the mispronunciation of his name personally (& it's just funny). The hyper-type A parenting style of Alice and Phil (especially Alice) is well balanced by the easy-going style of Diane and Artie. Artie allows his self-centeredness to interfere on occasion – that's when the most trouble arises. Still, Artie and Diane are a strong team and that heart is shared with Alice, Phil & and kids. The three children are distinctly different from each other, but all affected by the type-A parenting of Alice and Phil. A strong sense of family and love is what binds them together – warts and all.I enjoy watching Billy Crystal movies, he does not disappoint in this movie as well. Bette Midler just glowed in this role – she held her own with Billy Crystal without dominating; Bette just made the scene better and believable. The movie has an all-around great cast; the acting is natural. LOVE the closing credits & final scene after the credits. This movie has become one of my recent favorites.

I cannot believe this movie got such a low rating. Billy Crystal and Bette Midler were awesome. It had a great story line and was very entertaining. The kids in the movie were excellent as well. Everyone in the cast did a great job acting. Bailee is an awesome child actor. She is believable in every scene. Joshua and Kyle also stole the screen. Both were very good and believable in their character. I saw it on video and it was amazing. I watch it again today when it came o television. The movie was just as good and the first time I saw it. I will probably purchase if for my DVD library. This is a great family video.

Billy Crystal is Artie Decker, baseball announcer for 35 years. His family has patiently moved around with him as he hoped to one day be in the major leagues. But we find him in California, finishing up the season with a minor league club. His long time, patient wife is Bette Midler as Diane Decker, who has had some success as a TV weather girl. Their daughter is Marisa Tomei as Alice Simmons. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Tom Everett Scott as Phil Simmons. He is an inventor, and will shortly be going to New York to receive an award for his home automation system. They have three children, 12 and younger, played by Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush, and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf. With this as the background, first we see that Artie is fired right after that last game. He is "old school", they want someone who will appeal to the younger fans. Then we see that Phil wants Alice to go with him to get his award, for a mini-vacation of sorts. But what to do with the kids?So most of the movie is about the grandparents going to Atlanta to be with the grandkids for a few days. There is a lot of physical comedy and gags, many work and are funny, some are not. But once we get past all that the core of the story is about family.In one exchange when Alice talks to Artie about her job with ESPN he asks how long she has worked for them. She says "five years." At another point Artie explains how he doesn't feel welcome at her home. It is a commentary on how the two of them, once very close when she was a child, have grown apart. Even with the many issues that arose while the grandparents were minding the kids, the whole thing was a catalyst for mending relationships. For me this is a better movie than I expected it to be. Part of that is because I genuinely like Crystal and Midler, and at one point they do a very cute duet. But for those who don't care for them, it might not be a good movie experience. My wife and I both enjoyed it.