Parents' Guide to Courting Mom and Dad

It's scary to consider what kind of takeaways some kids will get from watching this movie about a family whose parents are on the verge of getting a divorce. Courting Mom and Dad raises some hopes that could be problematic if the premise wasn't so ridiculous. While there's some talk about marriage being a part of "God's plan" and how prayer and faith can help rescue a marriage on the rocks, most of the movie centers on three precocious kids and an unscrupulous lawyer coming up with solutions, especially when the blissed-out, hippie marriage counselor's chakras are no help whatsoever. And it's not until the end before there's any suggestion that maybe divorce rooted in abuse and adultery might fall beyond the purview of what's suggested as a solution in this movie.

While religious families might enjoy this, as there's no questionable content except for brief scenes where characters drink, it's hard to imagine anyone else finding any value in this movie, in either its story or underlying message. The attempts at comedy, such as the dad being forced to wear a pink robe and slippers in public to meet a business contact, is nothing short of weird and excruciating. It's also easy to imagine those who have actually gone through the pain of divorce either as parents or kids finding this to be an insult to their intelligence and experience, as well as potentially hurtful. While there should be movies that honestly address the problem of divorce, in secular and faith-based movies, presenting it as some kind of sugar-coated family comedy with precociously-wholesome kids using their mischief to fix the relationship woes of their parents isn't a good place to start.