The Parenting

The Parentjng is a truly bizarre experience; whoever this writer and director are have somehow got the funding together for a mid sized budget to house and an impossibly prolific cast to appear in what can only be described as one of the silliest, most derivative and thinly stretched scripts I've seen in some time. And yet.. the cast they got somehow manages to make it worthwhile on their collective manic energy alone. The story sees a gay couple rent an Airbnb out in the country so that both sets of their parents can meet and they can all get some downtime. Right off the bat the woman they get the keys from (Parker Posey in full on loopy mode) is just super odd, and of course the house happens to be haunted by a very dysfunctional demon. The two gay dudes aren't the most memorable actors but their parents are played by Brian Cox, Edie Falco, Dean Norris and Lisa Kudrow, which is quite the impressive lineup. The running gag is that Cox's character gets possessed by the destructive demon and this is where the film comes as close to inspired as it ever can: strutting about the house ass naked instructing anyone who will listen to look at his dick, cheerfully slashing up anyone close to him with a bread knife and barking out lots of homophobic slurs (the demon comes from a less enlightened time, one character informs us), he is the absolute star of the show here and even in a hopelessly underwritten comedy that relies on shamelessly cheap and vulgar gags, Cox is just one of the best to ever do it and makes his scenes hum with an anarchic, almost Evil Dead vibe. Posey also chews scenery in the few appearances she has, bookending the film with her manic pixie energy that is always welcome. It's not a good movie by anyone's standards and I'm frankly surprised it even got made let alone with this cast, but it has some hilarious moments and flashes of comedic brilliance, mostly thanks to Cox and willingness to get weird and wave his schlong around. Streaming now on CraveTV.

I wanted to like it, but If it wasn't for the supporting cast this wouldn't have worked, but they make it watchable. The humor is shallow and clichéd, but the performances are the backbone of this one.

The star power of the cast is really the only selling point here, and without them it's not worth the watch. Brian Cox was hilarious and demonstrated his range once again. Lisa Kudrow and Dean Norris actually complement each other quite well here. Parker Posey breathes life into the tired caricature of the cooky stranger, Edie Falco was meh and the two main characters lack good chemistry and depth.

Not a bad movie, it's just flat. It has redeeming moments, but for the most part, pairing a cast this talented with such a mediocre script leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

There are a lot of talented actors, but the movie itself seems completely lost. It doesn't know whether it wants to be scary or funny, and in the end, it's neither. The only real saving grace is Parker Posey, who, as always, steals every scene she's in with her charisma and energy. Beyond that, the so-called "jokes" feel tired and overused, the character development is clumsy and unnatural, and the pacing is unbearably slow. It drags on without any real purpose, making the whole experience frustrating. What could have been an entertaining film ends up as a messy, forgettable disappointment....

I was a little skeptical at first about this movie because horror comedies haven't been very strong in recent years. When you think of great horror comedies, movies like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil or Shaun of the Dead come to mind, but it's hard to think of a recent horror comedy that was both enjoyable and genuinely funny. At first, this also sounded like just another haunted house movie, with the only twist being gay protagonists. However, the script by Kent Sublette and the direction by Craig Johnson proved me wrong.

The movie manages to be funny on multiple levels, and even though the humor didn't always land-which is completely normal for comedy movies-I laughed out loud a few times, which is pretty rare. It had a few great running gags, and some of the characters were absolutely hilarious. The cast was fantastic, with everyone completely understanding the assignment and portraying their characters in an enjoyable and funny way.

This won't go down as a horror-comedy classic, but it was quite entertaining, and I enjoyed it for the most part. I would have loved for the horror elements to be a bit stronger, as that could have elevated the movie even more, but otherwise, this is a solid film that was actually funny in many ways. [6,1/10]

The Parenting (I have no idea why this is the title of the film) is a fun movie on paper but never really lands, much like many of the jokes that the writers clearly tried hard to make work.

Loaded with Posey, Cox, and Kudrow-some of the well-known star cast-you'd feel this film couldn't fail. But it does so spectacularly, more often than not. This film tries to be so many things: a horror-comedy with a progressive storyline, a portrayal of dysfunctional but funny parenting (I assume this is what the title eludes to), and a feel-good family movie with a modern-day romance. Alas, in the end, it leaves you asking for more on all those fronts.

The performances by Posey, Cox, Kudrow, and the rest of the parents are good (though nothing extraordinary). However, the lead pair often seemed to lack both the sharp comedic timing and the heartfelt chemistry this film desperately needed.

That said, there are some funny moments here and there, which might make it worth streaming once.