Meet the Parents (2000)

I remember wanting to see this ever since the first trailer came out. I eagerly went to the movie theater on the evening with a friend who had come from Washington, and I was so disappointed when the showing, and the next one, was sold out. When I saw it about a couple weeks later, I understood why it had.

Meet the Parents starts off with Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) saying a love-speech to a patient in the hospital where he nurses, to see how it sounds for his pop of the question later in the day. When a funny turn of events make him not say the speech, his girlfriend Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo) is taking him to meet her parents before proposing.

Greg obviously is nervous, and meeting Jack (Robert De Nero), Pam's dad, doesn't do anything to help. Robert De Nero has a knack for comedy, which seems to be his main thing nowadays. He's very good as the perceptive and yet naive father of teacher Pam.

Blythe Danner, who is underused in the movie, plays Jack's loving wife, Dina, who likes Greg and doesn't like Jack digging so deep into Pam's boyfriend's lives. Greg gives the Byrnes a gift-a rare plant. Pam had told Greg that Jack was a retired florist; what Greg doesn't know is that Jack is actually a retired CIA agent, which makes sense, since Jack is less than thrilled at the gift. It's obvoius that Jack doesn't approve of Greg, but Dina and Pam tell him to take it easy on Greg. Yeah, right.

Pam's sister, Deborah (Nicole DeHuff), is getting married to Dr. Bob Banks (Thomas McCarthy) in the Byrnes homestead while Jack is living there. Do you think the wedding will go flawless? One of the only things I don't like about Meet the Parents is that it has too many seconday characters, like Dr. Bob's father, Dr. Larry (James Rebhorn) and Bob's mother, Linda (Phyllis George). But if you don't really pay attention to those people (although they're needed later in the movie), it works better.

As more and more mishaps happen by Greg, Jack more and more dislikes him. He pains to like, or at least tolerate, Greg for the women's sakes, but it's tough. Luckily he's got hidden cameras around the house to look at him 24-7. Why is it so funny? Because it's by the director of the Austin Powers series, Jay Roach. Although Meet the Parents doesn't have the randiness of Austin Powers, it still holds some laughs.

Overall, Meet the Parents is a very funny movie that doesn't lack on plot and doesn't stoop to the Austin Powers level. The supporting characters leave something to be desired, but that doesn't even dent the otherwise wonderful and comedic movie that we have here.

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor, and drug refrences/content.

Review Date: August 19, 2002