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 Four
years ago, moviegoers turned “Meet
the Parents” into a surprise hit when it grossed more than
$300 million worldwide. As for why it became such a runaway success,
the reason is simple – because it was so right on the money! Sure,
it was an amiable, instantly accessible slapstick comedy, and
it was fun watching good sport Robert De Niro poke fun at his
own intimidating, tough-guy image for a change. But when it came
down to it, moviegoers everywhere related to the sheer level of
awkwardness that goes along with trying to impress their spouse’s
father, only to fail miserably at every turn.
As we all know, “Meet
the Parents” concluded when Ben Stiller’s horrendously-named character,
Gaylord – a.k.a. “Greg” – Focker, finally warmed over his future
father-in-law Jack Byrnes, who promised to bring him into his
coveted “Circle of Trust.” Well, if that was the frying pan, then
get ready for the fire. In the long-awaited sequel “Meet the Fockers,”
Greg is faced with the even more unenviable task of introducing
the ultra-conservative Byrnes family to his own liberal-minded
parents, and the results are (dare I say it) pretty Focking funny!
While it’s hard for the film to overcome some of the trappings
of sequels in terms of not being as fresh as its predecessor,
it more than makes up for it with the casting of Dustin Hoffman
and Barbra Streisand as those far-out Fockers.
In the first film,
Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) asked his supportive wife, Dina (Blythe
Danner), “What kind of people would name their child Gaylord Focker?”
Jack finds out the hard way when Greg (Ben Stiller), his fiancée
Pam (Teri Polo) and the rest of the Byrnes family (including Jinx
the Cat) pile into his hi-tech RV for a trip down to the earthy
Florida home of Bernie and Roz Focker (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra
Streisand). Over the next few days, the parents of the intended
bride and groom spend some quality time getting to know each other,
but Jack can’t help but use his expertise as a former CIA operative
to study Greg’s stay-at-home father and his sex therapist mother.
What starts off as an uncomfortable meeting turns into a downright
nightmare, as a freak mishap causes the toilet in Jack’s RV to
explode, a friendly game of touch football gets a little too touchy
and the Fockers’ longtime Cuban caterer reveals a long-hidden
secret. If this keeps up, how on earth can Greg and Pam possibly
hope to make it to their own wedding?
To say that the success
of “Meet the Parents” – which topped the box office for a now-unprecedented
4 straight weeks in October of 2000 – was a surprise would be
a huge understatement. Obviously, that raised the bar for the
sequel to deliver the goods, so perhaps its not surprising that
it took 4 years for original screenwriters Jim Herzfeld and John
Hamburg and returning director Jay Roach to make it happen. A
good number of jokes are basically recycled from the first film,
but many of them still seem to work – particularly where the “Fockers”
family name is concerned. Some of the more slapstick moments fall
flat and aren’t as “ha-ha” funny as they were the first time around,
but they’re so good-natured and over-the-top that they’re still
guaranteed to raise a smile.
But where “Meet the
Fockers” succeeds the most is in its casting, and everyone gets
a piece of the pie. Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro basically fall
back into the old tricks that made “Meet the Parents” so much
fun (and strangely uncomfortable) to sit through, even if they
are taking a step back in terms of where their characters ended
up. But if having a 2-time Oscar-winner like De Niro play the
judgmental, hard-to please father was inspired casting, then having
fellow Oscar-winners Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand play
the free-wheeling Fockers successfully continues the trend. In
fact, Hoffman seems to be having so much fun playing the good-natured
Bernie, one has to wonder if he’s actually playing himself. And
it sure is nice to see Streisand back on the big screen after
an 8-year break (since 1996’s “The Mirror Has Two Faces”), even
if it is in a supporting role. Then again, the soon-to-be classic
scene where she rides De Niro “like Seabiscuit” during a brutal
back massage is alone worth the price of admission.
Admittedly, “Meet
the Fockers” does stretch on about 20 minutes too long and some
of the jokes fall flat, but there are still plenty of laughs to
be had, making it the perfect holiday movie. As for another sequel,
there’s really nowhere left for the franchise to go, unless they
pick it up in about 25 years when Greg and Pam meet their own
future son-in-law. And if that happens, I’ll be the first in line
to see it – you can Focking count on it!
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