Common Sense Media Review
By S. Jhoanna Robledo
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Drug use and cliches mar unoriginal indie dramedy.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
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Where to Watch
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Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When her husband asks for a divorce, high-strung lawyer Diane (Catherine Keener) retreats to upstate New York to visit her mom, dragging her college-student daughter, Zoe (Elizabeth Olsen), and high-school son, Jake (Nat Wolff), along. The kids are excited, since they've never met their mysterious grandmother, Grace, an aging hippie who lives in Woodstock (naturally), smokes pot with abandon, practices free love, and encourages everyone around her to do whatever feels right. Grace, played with zest by Jane Fonda, is a dynamo who sweeps the kids into her orbit and encourages her daughter to let loose just a little. But the conflict between their lifestyles is just as sharp as it was at Diane's wedding, when an unfortunate marijuana-related incident led to a rift that's lasted for decades.
Is It Any Good?
PEACE, LOVE, AND MISUNDERSTANDING is all about culture clash, and it wastes little time trying to create a realistic reason to throw together the stiff lawyer and the flower-child grandma. There's not much more to it. Keener's Grace is underwritten, and it's never really explained why she's so uptight, while Fonda takes over every scene using every possible hippie stereotype. She protests, drives a VW Bug, practices free love, howls at the full moon (for real), and smokes pot. Lots of pot. How can they possibly find common ground?
In movies like this, it's traditional for both sides to give a little. But although Diane learns to let loose (a bit), Grace doesn't temper her behavior, even when her choices have some unsurprising blowback. In a subplot, Zoe, a strident vegan, is attracted to the local butcher (Chace Crawford) but can't get over the fact that he cuts up animal flesh for a living. She, like her mother, learns to be more accepting and becomes a better person for it. But the obvious moral -- and the cliches that make it so predictable -- make for a weak film in which a valuable lesson is reduced to convention.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding depicts drug use. Is it presented as a positive or negative thing? Are there realistic consequences?
Do the aging Woodstock residents seem like stereotypes or realistic characters?
What do you think about Grace's do-as-you-please philosophy? How do her choices impact others?
Movie Details
- In theaters : June 8, 2012
- On DVD or streaming : October 2, 2012
- Cast : Catherine Keener , Elizabeth Olsen , Jane Fonda
- Director : Bruce Beresford
- Inclusion Information : Middle Eastern/North African Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : IFC Entertainment
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : Family Stories ( Siblings )
- Run time : 96 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : drug content and some sexual references
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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