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Parenthood
User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

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  1. KaseyS
    Feb 15, 2010
    9
    To this day, I still believe that this is Ron Howard's best film. I've seen this movie dozens of times over the last 20 years and it never gets old. So many poignant moments, the laughter making the drama more intimate, the drama making the comedy more personal. This movie was way ahead of its time.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. BruceH.
    Aug 15, 2007
    9
    Some many wonderful things going on, all on different levels. This movie works as a tragedy and a comedy of Shakespearean proportions. It's no masterpiece, just a well-done, multi-layered slice of life film. Touching, funny, interesting.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. moviemonger
    Jul 30, 2011
    10
    Ron Howard has a way of churning out films and becoming some sort of wallflower. In this film, Howard stands tall for one reason - you know he is a parent and he wants to tell a story about parenting. The characters in this film are so real, touched with a sprinkle of far-fetchedness for comedy's sake - but you realize that this stretch is cleverly planted to drive a message home. That message? Parenting is not always easy. Life is not always easy. But, the ride is what builds character, understanding, and, ultimately the ability to love unconditionally. Steve Martin blends comedy and straight-laced acting perfectly. Dianne Weist is fantastic, as usual. I left the theater feeling good about, not parenting, but, instead, daily interaction with life's bumps and bruises.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    Ron Howard's Parenthood is a delicate balancing act between comedy and truth, a movie that contains a lot of laughter and yet is more concerned with character than punch lines.
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  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not Credited)
    88
    Parenthood, heartfelt and howlingly comic, also comes spiced with risk and mischief. Just when you fear the movie might be swept away on a tidal wave of wholesomeness, a line, a scene or a performance poke through to restore messy, perverse reality.
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  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    Ron Howard's bittersweet adult comedy, Parenthood, lays out an entire catalogue of psychological stresses afflicting family life in white middle-class America, then asks if the rewards of being a parent are worth all the agony.
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