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- "Meet the Parents"
(Reviewed October 5, 2000)
- What it has going against it: This is pretty much a one-long-single-joke movie, with no story beyond "guy goes to the house of his intimidating future in-laws and causes
unintentional
self-destructive havoc." What it has going for it: It really is pretty funny, even when you can spot one of its joke coming from two counties away. (When we see a ceramic urn containing the cremated
remains
of Robert De Niro's beloved mother standing in a place of honor on a fireplace mantle, for example, there is no doubt what its fate will be. Then the filmmakers up the ante by adding a
little something extra that puts the scene right over the top.) Director Jay Roach (who did the delightful "Austin Powers" and its dreadful sequel "The Spy Who Shagged Me") could have picked up the pace a
little, but why carp. You'll smile, you'll laugh, you'll leave the theater doing De Niro's "I'm watching you" gesture to your date. Life could be worse.
Back Row Grade: B
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