Yours, Mine and Ours

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Yours, Mine and Ours' classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Yours, Mine and Ours completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 2 April 2006.

Overall comments and recommendations

Yours, Mine and Ours is a lighthearted comedy about what happens when two very different types of families try to make a home together. Its the same idea as the ‘Brady Bunch’ (which is even referenced in the film) but with a different set of challenges. This film will appeal to older children, teenagers and some adults..

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Yours, Mine and Ours contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

Frank Beardsley (Dennis Quaid) works for the US coastguard, and runs his family with the same military precision that he runs his ship. He has eight children who have moved many times throughout their lives. Helen (Rene Russo) is a creative designer with ten children, four of her own and six who are adopted. She believes in free expression and runs her family accordingly. When Frank and Helen meet quite by chance at a restaurant, they pick up where they left off many years ago when they were high school sweethearts and decide to get married.

Their children are less than impressed to find that they have a whole new bunch of brothers and sisters but an all out war occurs when they all move in together. Initially the Beardsley and the North children fight continually but then decide to unite against the common enemy—their parents—and decide to break up the marriage so that things can go back to the way they were. However unexpectedly for all the children, as they work together they begin to care for and respect each other and then it becomes a race against time to get their parents back together again.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Blended families

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some slapstick violence in this movie, for example, children throwing things at each other, flicking paint etc. Parents are reminded that although comic violence may appear benign, and children usually enjoy it, over-exposure to comic violence can lead young children to believe that violence doesn’t really hurt.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Children under the age of eight may worry about the idea that one of the parents is absent. They may also worry about one scene where the younger children are all hanging by the legs out of the top of their house (which is in fact a lighthouse tower).

Over the age of eight

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

There is nothing in this movie that would concern children over the age of eight.

Sexual references

One mild reference by the parents about getting some time alone together in their bedroom.

Nudity and sexual activity

None.

Use of substances

There is a wild party towards the end of the movie with some drinking of alcohol.

Coarse language

Mild

The movie's message

Yours, Mine and Ours is a lighthearted comedy about what happens when two very different types of families try to make a home together. It is the same idea as the ‘Brady Bunch’ (which is even referenced in the film) but with a different set of challenges. The main message is that you shouldn’t judge people just on appearances and that if you make the effort to work with others, its surprising how positive the results can be.

Values parents may wish to encourage include:

• tolerance
• loyalty
• teamwork
• trust in others.

This movie could give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the challenges and opportunities faced by blended famillies. They could also point out the real life consequences of behaviours such as the children hitting each other and throwing things.