"And you thought your parents were embarrassing."

Meet the Fockers (2004): 8/10

Poster (c) Universal Pictures

Can you remember all the way back to 2000? Julia Roberts stole her Oscar from Ellen Burstyn, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon opened the door for mainstream foreign movies, and Meet the Parents was nominated for one-only one-Oscar: Best Original Song. No Best Supporting Actor for the toilet-using Jinx the Cat. No Best Director for the scene where the human waste flies onto the house. Meet the Parents was robbed, I tell ya! Well, not really, but it surprised many people, especially skeptics thinking that Robert De Niro couldn't do comedy. Obviously, they were proven wrong, and therefore there were no surprises when Meet the Fockers came out. Except that this movie also featured Dustin Hoffman in his latest role (his fourth of the year) and Barbra Streisand in her first role since God knows when. Actually, strike that. I was surprised by Fockers, because I actually liked it. A lot.

Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller) and Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), whose marriage was approved by Pam's parents Jack (De Niro) and Dina (Blythe Danner) in Parents, now have to go to Greg's parents before the wedding. The straight-laced Byrneses are in for a surprise when meeting Bernie (Hoffman) and Roz (Streisand) Focker. A liberal, carefree Florida retired couple, they couldn't clash any more with the Byrneses (of course, would it be much of a movie if they did?) The two families go through mishaps and misunderstandings, with very funny results.

One complaint I had with Parents is the sheer impossibility of some of the antics. Someone basically burning a house down, and then letting human waste cover the yard? Not only is it improbable, it's also crude. Focker only really had one scene of toilet humor (literally), and other than that, it was all slapstick or wordplay. Very funny slapstick and wordplay, I might add. Hoffman and Streisand play amazingly well off each other and everyone else. The casting of those two is probably the best casting choice of the year. This may be Hoffman's best role since The Graduate-no lie. The completely off the wall way he plays Bernie is great and really works well for the movie. In fact, all of the performances are great.

Not only that, but it's also funny as hell. It's mainly the typical zany mishap comedy, but there's a lot of great dialogue, too. The addition of a baby, Little Jack, added a good amount of humor (adding to the minor "breast pump" issue of the first movie). But LJ seemed to just be a necessity, to show that, yes, the two movies are different (as if the addition of Hoffman and Streisand weren't enough). Still, the laughs were constant and strong, something that can't really be said about almost any other comedy that's come out within the past five or so years (except for, of course Parents). Although I've been so tardy with my reviews (and I saw Fockers late in its run), I'd really suggest this movie. If you liked Parents, you'll like this one even more.

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language and a brief drug reference.

Review Date: March 11, 2005