Common Sense Media Review
Clooney and Pfeiffer plus kids is fun romp.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
One Fine Day
What's the Story?
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.
Is It Any Good?
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.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
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 them to hit it off?
How is it hard for kids of single parents who date? Why do you think Melanie has pictures of her ex-husband everywhere?
Why is it so scary for parents when a child wanders off?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 20, 1996
- On DVD or streaming : January 14, 2003
- Cast : George Clooney , Mae Whitman , Michelle Pfeiffer
- Director : Michael Hoffman
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Pansexual Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 108 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language and mild sensuality
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
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