Billy Crystal stars as Artie Decker, the long time announcer for the minor league baseball team in Fresno, California who has always dreamed of calling the games for the New York Giants but never got his shot at the big time. Fresno is where he ended up and he has been announcing the baseball games there for years. A change in the marketing approach for the Fresno team causes him to lose his job. Artie is married to Diane (played by Bette Midler). Their daughter Alice (played by Marisa Tomei) is married to Phil Simmons (played by Tom Everett Scott). Alice and Phil have three children, Harper a daughter (played by Bailee Madison), and two sons, Turner (played by Joshua Rush) and Barker (played by Kyle Harrison Breitkopf).
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Phil gets nominated for an award for creating the Product of the Year which is an automated "smart" system that runs the entire house. The award ceremony is being held in Hilton Head. He wants his wife Alice to go with him to have some quality private time together. They need someone to look after their kids while they are gone. Phil's parents are busy so they reluctantly call on Alice's parents, Artie and Diane, to come. The kids are not happy being looked after by their less favorite grandparents. The kids are spoiled and being raised without the benefit of any of the old-fashioned parenting rules such as telling a child no, or punishing them if they misbehave. Because of this, the kids act out a lot and it is difficult for Artie and Diane to control them.
Harper has a crush on a boy at school who invites her to a party. Her brother Turner stutters. Turner confronts a bully at school. He gets a black eye when Artie tells him to stand up for himself. The youngest one, Barker, has an imaginary friend called Carl who is a big invisible kangaroo. Phil goes to the award ceremony location without his wife Alice at first, because Alice is afraid to leave her kids with her parents. Finally, Alice is forced to join her husband Phil by Diane her mother who drives her to the airport.
Artie is supposed to take Barker on a play date but instead goes to an audition for an announcer job for a skateboard competition. Barker sneaks out to the top of the half pipe and pees down it, which causes the top competitor to fall. A video of the incident ends up on the news on television. This news is seen by Alice and Phil who rush back home to find the police at the house, the invisible kangaroo run over by a car, the 12 year-old daughter Harper made up to go out to a party and Turner with a black eye. It looks like a disaster even though just before this moment all the kids and their grandparents were getting along great. All Artie and Diane want to do is be loved by their grandkids but they seem to mess up so badly that it is not certain if their daughter Alice can forgive them.
Best part of story, including ending:
The automated house that does everything is cool and funny. It does more than it should and acts like another character in the film increasing the comedy.
Best scene in story:
When Turner overcomes his stuttering by repeating the announcer's words from a very famous baseball game from the past. This moment is a triumph.
Opinion about the main character:
Artie is trying to be a good person, but he is also a bit selfish. This makes him sometimes do the wrong thing, but he does have to deal with the consequences of his actions and in the ends proves to be a really nice guy afterall.
