INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED"
(2013) (Eugenio Derbez, Jessica Lindsey) (PG-13)

QUICK TAKE:: Dramedy: A Mexican playboy's life is turned upside down when he is forced to care for his infant daughter.

PLOT:

Raised by a domineering father (HUGO STIGLITZ), Valentin (EUGENIO DERBEZ) is an Acapulco playboy who lives to bed the attractive female tourists who frequent his Mexican resort town. Life is fun and frivolous until Julie (JESSICA LINDSEY), a former conquest, leaves a baby on his doorstep and returns to America. A frantic Valentin takes his infant daughter to Los Angeles, believing the mother to be there. Unable to find her, he stumbles into work as a Hollywood stuntman thanks to a chance meeting with movie producer Frank Ryan (DANIEL RAYMONT).

Years pass, and Valentin forms a special bond with his daughter, Maggie (LORETO PERALTA). He caters to her every whim, spoiling her with toys and fanciful home décor and letting her skip school whenever she wants to spend the day with him on movie sets. He also tells her that her mother is an adventurer who travels the world, fights with Batman, and spends time with such celebrities as Bono and Adam Sandler. He even writes fake letters and cards to the girl to maintain the illusion.

Then, one day when Maggie is 7, Julie returns. In the years since her dalliance with Valentin, she has straightened her life out, gone to college, and become a successful attorney in New York. She has also become involved in a committed lesbian relationship with Renee (ALESSANDRA ROSALDO) and together they sue for full custody of Maggie. Valentin fights for his rights as a father in court even though his randy past and reckless present threaten to undermine him. At the same time, a dire health condition yet to be revealed threatens to change everything.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Yes, especially older Latino children as this is a Spanish language film. The theater this reviewer saw it in was packed with Spanish-speaking moms and dads with their kids.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For sexual content, thematic elements, and language.

That's just the introduction of this review. The full review -- available to our members -- includes summaries of the sex, nudity, profanity, violence and more (15 categories) so you won't be surprised by what you might see or hear in this movie.

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