CORPORATE LINE: The makers and stars behind the runaway hit of 2000, Meet the Parents, are re-united in the follow-up comedy, Meet the Fockers.
Now that Greg Focker (Stiller) is “in” with his soon-to-be in-laws, Jack (De Niro) and Dina Byrnes, it looks like smooth sailing for him and his fiancée, Pam (Polo). But that’s before Pam’s parents meet Greg’s parents, the Fockers. The hyper-relaxed Fockers and the tightly-wound Byrneses are woefully mismatched from the start, and no matter how hard Greg and Pam try, there is just no bringing their families together–which all adds up to a disastrously funny time of “getting to know you.”
THE GOOD: Sometimes it’s great to just sit down and be entertained without needing the film to be some grand display of art. If you liked Meet The Parents you won’t be let down with the sequel. One thing about the sequel is that it doesn’t have any lulls that seemed to happen in the original.
Sure it is full of silly, dirty, gross-out style laughs yet this fantastic cast pulls it off with ease. Meet the Fockers doesn’t stray far from the original. It has a very good introduction of Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Roz (Barbra Streisand), which open up endless jokes. Hoffman is particularly funny as the zany father of Stiller. Bernie is the new bane of Jack’s existence and it works so well that the jokes come from the tension that exists all around. The best part is that Jack is now a fish out of water and becomes the outcast that Greg was in the original. There is some sort of justice in that.
THE BAD: There are plenty of jokes and gags that fall flat and the ending seems rushed—they had to put a wrap to it yet it could have lent the finale to another sequel all of its own.
DVD FEATURES: The commentary by Director Jay Roach and Editor Jon Poll is weak. It’s funny how a comedy gets a completely dry commentary.
The bloopers aren’t very funny—it’s mostly Ben Stiler cracking up or making someone else laugh. The deleted scenes are obvious. Nothing must see here. “Inside the Litter Box – Behind-the-scenes with Jinx the cat” is only four minutes long so you will live through it. “The Manary Gland- Behind-the-scenes with the propmaster” looks at the fake breasts that Robert DeNiro wore. Why it is included I have no idea.
FRANKLY: Meet The Fockers isn’t rocket science. It never attempts to be. You can’t compare this to anything other than the other comedies that have come out this year and not many are as funny as the Fockers. Hoffman and Streisand would have been funny in a film all alone. This couple is so zany and has so much chemistry that you may beg and plead to get more of them. I will admit that they are extremely over-the-top and it may be grating for some but that is exactly what they are trying to be. They are playing the part and they do a great job of it. Meet The Fockers is a comedy of hilarious proportions.
+ Charlie Craine
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