Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De
Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand
Released:28th Jan 2005
Cert: 12A
It’s been two years since
Greg/Gaylord Focker (Stiller) adhered himself to the parents of his
to-be-fiancée Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo) with ‘hilarious consequences’™ in Meet The Parents. Now it’s time for her
parents to meet his as their intended wedding is drawing close.
Whereas the Byrnes are reserved,
strict, and her father Jack (De Niro) is an ex-CIA agent, the Fockers are open,
sexually liberated, 60’s hippy throw-backs.
So the opposites clash, good
intentions go awry and Jack uses his CIA connections to investigate Gaylord’s
shadowy past. With ‘hilarious consequences’™ again.
This is Ben Stiller on
comfortable territory with his average Joe trying to make good of a bad
situation but the catastrophes are proliferated by his parents (Hoffman and
Streisand) over zealousness and openness.
So we have much of the same going on as in Meet The Parents with the bonus of all these classic actors appearing in the same
film (this is the first outright comedy Streisand has done since 1972). Many of
the same elements return; amusing cat now comes with free amusing dog and
amusing child, Jack using spy gadgetry, Greg (plus father) causing structural
and social chaos, competitive sports are played, and constant references to the
‘circle of trust’. The main twist this time round is that it is Jack who is
really the odd-one-out with him trying to enforce his family values upon his
in-laws and failing.
As you could probably imagine the
main joke is in the title of the film which manages to raise a smile almost
every time it is hollered with pride or disdain. The set pieces are pretty
formulaic, predictable but amusing interspersed with occasional gems of genius
mainly from Streisand and Hoffman as the highly sexed Fockers.
