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Movie Review - Meet the Fockers (2004)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Jay Roach |
| Starring: |
Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, and Teri Polo |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for crude and sexual humor, language and a brief drug reference) |
| Length: |
90 minutes |
| Genre: |
Comedy |
| Tagline: |
And you thought your parents were embarassing. |
| Studio: |
Universal Studios |
| Website: |
Meet the Fockers |
| Release Date: |
December 22, 2004 |
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PLOT
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It's three years after their engagement, and Greg Focker (Stiller) and Pam Byrnes (Polo) still haven't gotten
married. The hold up is caused by Greg's hesitancy for Pam's parents to meet his parents. Welp, the wedding
date has now been set, and it's time for the big meeting, so everybody hops aboard Jack Byrnes' (De Niro)
brand new Kevlar RV and heads to Florida to meet the Fockers. Hilarious hijinks don't ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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When you're making a sequel to a very successful movie, you've really got a lot to live up to. Some
sequels take that challenge and work hard to live up to or exceed expectations. Even if the sequel
doesn't exceed the original, you hope it'll at least give a valiant effort. Meet the Fockers,
however, went with a different approach. It takes everything that worked in the first movie, throws
it out the door, and substitutes it with lame, formulaic, and repetitive gags.
Don't believe me? Here are a few jokes that were not only run into the ground, but were buried 10 feet
beneath it and covered with cement:
- A dog humping stuff. Is that still considered funny? If you think so, then is it funny to repeat
the gag about 5 times WITHIN ONE MOVIE??? If you think so, then may I ask why you set your comedic bar so
low?
- Barbra Streisand is a sex therapist. Oooh look, she works with old people! She teaches them how to lap
dance! Hardy har. I wasn't able to laugh at that because I was too busy trying to avoid throwing up on the person
sitting in front of me. Plus, Streisand has lots of sex books and statues, so you know that's rife with
unoriginal jokes that we've seen plenty of times in other less-than-spectacular movies. And folks, the last
thing I needed to see in life was Streisand's boobs covered in whip cream. Sheesh. Well, maybe that's not
the *last* thing I needed to see, but it's not high on my list.
- Dustin Hoffman is a big ol' goofball! Wackiness and goofiness is fine, but within the context of this
movie it would've worked better if it were done in a believable fashion. Hoffman's character sits on the
toilet while De Niro takes a shower ... IN THE SAME BATHROOM! Is that believable? Hoffman's character
used to be a lawyer, so you'd assume he'd have some sort of intelligence. Now if De Niro had gotten out
of the shower and straight-up kicked Hoffman in the face, then THAT would've been funny, but he just
politely asks for some privacy. And come on, am I really expected to laugh when Hoffman dances and falls
into a food table? That's the best the writers could come up with? I suppose that might work in a high
school skit on "club day," but it really doesn't cut it when you're making a major motion picture.
- The overuse of puns on the "Focker" name. Been there, done that. Something new, clever, and original
would've been nice.
There was a lot of potential here. You knew Stiller's parents had to be crazy, so there was room for loads
of laughs once they met up with Mr. CIA Robert De Niro. Unfortunately, it's a concept that is much better in
theory than it was in its execution. Hoffman and Streisand just didn't do it for me, plus the fact that I
inherently dislike Streisand didn't help.
I still think they should've used Jerry Stiller (Ben's real dad) and Estelle Harris. If you remember, they
were George Costanza's parents on Seinfeld, and they're two of the most dysfunctional parents to ever
appear on television. I think they (or two characters who were similarly neurotic) would've worked much
better.
There are some laughs here but nothing to compare to the original. I was never really bored, but I never
did more than politely chuckle or smile. Were my expectations too high? Not really because I didn't
expect this to be as good as the first. My main disappointment comes from knowing that this *could* have
been really good.
I know a lot of people at the screening really enjoyed it. I guess some people are just more willing to
settle for a slapstick sitcom version that is a shadow of its predecessor than I am.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Barbra Streisand was Ben Stiller's choice to play his mother. In other words, he is the one to
blame.
- Streisand wasn't dying to take the role, and she admits she wasn't passionate about it. She merely
decided to take the role as an "experiment" to see if she could still act. Prima donna.
- Meet the Parents had a budget of $55,000,000 and took in a domestic gross of
$166,225,040.
- Johnny's not sure what the budget of Meet the Fockers was, but he predicts it'll be extremely
lucky to have a domestic gross of over $100,000,000.
- Johnny's feeling lazy today - Ben Stiller was in Flirting with Disaster with Josh Brolin who
was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Not even close. Due to the sexual humor (including lots of nude statues), language (including a baby using
profanity), and near misses with nudity, this actually pushes the limits of the PG-13 rating. Mama, small
children, and the easily offended should stay away.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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Well, I wasn't really expecting much based on the trailer. However, I did hope it'd exceed my
expectations, but it failed. Oh well.
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THE GIST
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Meet the Fockers isn't horrible, and I never felt compelled to sprint for the exit
(except for when Streisand was teaching the old people how to lap dance), but there just aren't any
sidesplitting, aisle-rolling guffaws here. If you don't set your comedic bar very high, then you may
be satisfied. But if, like me, you're a big fan of Meet the Parents, then you, like I, might be
sorely disappointed with this sequel.
I would suggest waiting to make this a rental, but if you're dying to see it on the big screen then
make it a matinee.
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