| ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. | |
| OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. | |
| NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Parents need to know the movie touches on issues such as divorce and absentee parents. One child wanders off continuously, scaring caregivers. Overall this is light, romantic, escapist fare.
In this fast-paced romantic comedy, multitasking single mom and architect Melanie (Michelle Pfeiffer) meets journalist Jack (George Clooney), who is taking care of daughter Maggie for a week while his former wife honeymoons with her new spouse. The two immediately clash when they find themselves towing their children around Manhattan after they miss a class field trip, because Melanie is a bit of a control freak while Jack charms his way through life. As they careen through the day as an unexpected team, the feelings between Melanie and Jack begin to thaw, and they reevaluate their opinions of each other (and themselves). Will the gun-shy survivors of divorce take a chance on love? Their kids seem to know the answer from the start.
Sometimes the parents' constant bickering threatens to bring the movie down, but the kids save these scenes from descending into nastiness with their cute antics. And when the adults' identical-looking cell phones accidentally get switched, this makes for an enjoyable running gag.
Melanie and Jack gamely try to balance their workdays with parenting, a tactic that yields both disastrous results and touching moments. A final romantic sequence feels a bit too long and slow compared with the rest of the movie's quick-moving plot, but overall it's entertaining.
Families can talk about how the main characters complement each other, despite their initial feelings of dislike. Why do you think it's hard for these divorced parents to hit it off? How is it hard for kids of parents who date? Why does Melanie have pictures of her ex-husband everywhere? Why is it so scary for parents when a child wanders off?
| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Michael Hoffman |
| Cast: | George Clooney, Mae Whitman, Michelle Pfeiffer |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 108 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | December 20, 1996 |
| DVD release date: | January 14, 2003 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | language and mild sensuality. |