After all this piñata talk (found the ñ symbol!), we had to pop in the movie Parenthood the other night. Along with the hilarious piñata scene (ok, now I am over-using the ñ a little bit), I had actually forgotten how entertaining this movie really is. It’s a really good blend of comedy and drama, and it’s not just another silly comedy – it actually has a valuable life lesson. I highly recommend it to anyone who has kids, but I do not recommend it for the whole family since it’s rated PG13 and can actually be somewhat crude at points. It has great directing and acting and 2 academy award nominations to boot.
The movie revolves around the Buckman family – elderly, empty-nesters (sort-of) and their 4 grown children and their families who are all facing regular life problems of their own. Steve Martin plays Gil, a man whose own overused stress responses to everyday life are mirrored in his son, and that situation only stresses him out further! He is such a worry-wart that he has lost all ability to enjoy regular life and its trials and tribulations, and my favorite part of the movie is when he realizes this; thanks to the wise, if confused, words of his very elderly grandmother. This scene is hilarious and heartwarming at the same time, and if you’re anything like me (someone who tends to be a worrywart, sweats the small things), a movie like this really helps to keep the small bumps of life in perspective.
Watching this movie again as a parent made me appreciate it so much more than I appreciated seeing it as a teenager. Again, I’d really recommend it to any parent, and if you’ve seen it already, I’d say try it again if it’s been awhile. That’s what I did, and I would have to say that it’s now one of my favorite movies!
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this one. Not sure I want to see it again though. This reminds me that I saw the title of a movie in the library that I hadn’t seen in years and did want to see again so I put it on reserve. The problem was I didn’t read the description and it turned out to be a different movie with the same title. Sigh.
I highly recommend seeing it again as an adult if you saw it as a kid and have kids now… not sure if a bachelor like yourself would appreciate all the humor while having to put up with its sometimes crudeness. What movie did you mean to get?