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Parents' Guide to

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Fish-out-of-water romcom is teen-friendly but a real snooze.

Movie PG-13 2009 96 minutes
Did You Hear About the Morgans? Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 11+

Based on 13 parent reviews

Rogue7
Rogue7 Parent of 13-year-old
March 25, 2010
age 13+

A movie with a Possitive and Thoughtful Plot!!!

I rented this movie b/c of Hugh Grant. I thought it would be very funny. Instead I found a movie about love and marriage and problems and solutions. The movie has a very pro-family, pro-marriage message that is rare in the Hollywood world today. The language was very mild for the PG13 rating, although I think young kids would be bored. It is a grown-up story with some humorous moments....very refreshing.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
F Letcher
F Letcher Parent of 15-year-old
March 3, 2023
age 13+

Slow-moving but memorable

We quite enjoyed this film. It was a little slow-moving but it had some really funny moments. Apart from talk about infidelity, there was nothing offensive in it. It would be a good film to talk with teens about faithfulness in marriage and why infidelity is so destructive.

This title has:

Great messages
See all 13 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?, Paul (Hugh Grant) and Meryl (Sarah Jessica Parker) Morgan are high-powered New Yorkers struggling with marital woes. After a rare dinner together, the pair sees a mob hit and is subsequently placed into witness protection in sleepy Ray, Wyoming. Unable to contact anyone at home, the Manhattan-centric Morgans must live with local sheriff Clay (Sam Elliot) and his wife, Emma (Mary Steenburgen) -- two gun-toting, Clint Eastwood-loving law enforcers who couldn't be less like the Morgans. Like all fish out of water, the Morgans grow fonder and fonder of the rodeo town and its quirky, down-home residents. If the Morgans can survive somewhere far, far away from their bagels, BlackBerrys, and problems, maybe their marriage will survive, too.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (13 ):
Kids say (13 ):

At this point in their careers, Grant and Parker are romantic-comedy staples, but they share absolutely no chemistry. (You have to wonder, in fact, whether Parker can muster up sparks with anyone other than Chris Noth.) This stereotypical, overly predictable tale about neurotic, type-A Manhattanites stuck in sleepy Wyoming is simply soporific and annoying. Even at 96 minutes, the story stumbles along at an infuriating pace.

The lack of heat between two stars isn't even the worst of it. That would be the film's stilted jokes about "poor" rich New Yorkers who can't go to Lincoln Center or Zabar's or Nobu. Other than in Sex and the City, do audiences even care about how much wealthy Manhattan couples would miss the trappings of city life? When flannel-shirted Clay and Emma roll their eyes at the Morgans, they're channeling the audience. Steenburgen and Elliot merit the movie's one star -- it's always a pleasure to see the two character actors pop up in anything. And for the record, their scenes together are more romantic than anything Parker and Grant display.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's gun violence and hunting jokes. Is the gun use in the movie meant to be comical? Is it?

  • How are both New Yorkers and people from Wyoming portrayed? Is the characters' depiction realistic or stereotypical?

  • Why do you think the fish-out-of-water genre is so popular? What's funny about seeing people out of their comfort zone?

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