Meet the Fockers (2004)

Directed by: Jay Roach | 115 minutes | comedy | Actors: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson, Spencer Pickren, Bradley Pickren, Alanna Ubach, Ray Santiago, Tim Blake Nelson, Shelley Burman, Kali Rocha, Dorie Barton

‘Meet the Parents’ was a relative breath of fresh air in the comedy world. It was, after ‘There’s Something About Mary’, the movie that really made Ben Stiller a “hot item”, and his collaboration with De Niro, who had already started parodying his gangster image with ‘Analyze This’, turned out to be a hit. the Rose. Who doesn’t remember the scene where Stiller takes a lie detector test; or the scene where De Niro asks if Stiller can milk him; or the scene with the urn? All memorable moments. Still, it wasn’t much more than that in the end. A collection of fun moments in a film mainly held together by original acting duo Stiller and De Niro.

‘Meet the Fockers’ now has to give up some of the added value of the interesting main characters. De Niro mocking his own image is slowly becoming a cliché. He even recently appeared in the animated film ‘A Shark’s Tale’, as the voice of a mafioso shark. And Stiller has been the direct object of comedies so many times since ‘There’s Something About Mary’ that the surprise is over here too. On the other hand, this is the kind of role that fits him perfectly, and the success of the role, as it does with De Niro, is less dependent on its originality.

The lack of surprise in the premise and casting of the main characters could this time be made up for by an original story or interesting supporting characters. Unfortunately, there is little new on the horizon as far as the story is concerned. Greg Focker goes with his wife and parents-in-law to visit his own parents. These parents (Hoffman and Streisand) are of course opposite in character to Pam’s parents, which is the basis for all kinds of more or less hilarious jokes. Many elements from part one are also present here: small pets that cause problems (the oversexed dog of the “Fockers” that wants to pounce on Jack’s cat); Jack who constantly watches Greg because he suspects he has something to hide; a contrived sporting event in which someone is injured; Greg who has to look after a “pet” from his in-laws, but everything goes wrong (although the pet in this case is Jack’s little cousin “little Jack”). There is also another “sanitary” incident in the film, similar to the exploding manure truck from part one.

These standard events are usually not problematic in themselves, but it all seems a bit uninspired: it is often just a bit too “made”. This also applies to the way in which a compromising or embarrassing act between two characters is observed by third parties, when it has no meaning. You can see the jokes coming from miles away. It’s like an average “sit com” where everything is obviously pushed to its rush. Nor is a moment wasted to exploit and milk a sexual innuendo or connotation; this gets a bit tiring and flat at times. Also, the potential of some jokes remains untapped because every subtlety is thrown overboard.

Still, it must be said that there are also quite a few jokes that work. This is mainly due to the actors. Dustin Hoffman and, to a lesser extent, Barbra Streisand are a lot of fun as Greg’s parents. They are in their element with their loose, hippie-esque attitude and demeanor, making a nice contrast to Pam’s stiff parents (Vader Focker’s nickname for Jack is “El Stiffo”). Hoffman in particular is often a joy to watch. He seems to be practically playing himself here, which is easy to believe given his natural play. The scene where he first meets Pam’s parents is very amusing. It has extra value for the viewer to see Hoffman and De Niro embrace each other, with the former being enthusiastic and letting himself go and the latter clearly feeling embarrassed. Two clinging heavyweights, in such atypical and funny roles, have to put a smile on the viewer’s face.

Ultimately, ‘Meet the Fockers’ can be called quite entertaining. It kind of depends on how high your expectations are. If you loved ‘Meet the Parents’ and just want more of the same, ‘Meet the Fockers’ will be successful for the most part. If you don’t like banal jokes and contrived, “sit com”-like situations, or if you just want something new, then you better ignore this film. All in all, most spectators will probably leave the cinema room with a smile. Hoffman and Streisand bring an important extra impulse to the film and De Niro and Stiller, although the novelty has worn off, still manage to make some jokes work.