Meet the Parents

Rating:
Summary: A Lover's Nightmare
Review: Oh, the terror. What could be more frightening then meeting your significant other's parents? Okay, maybe getting a shot at the doctor, but there's really not a whole lot. For most people, this seems to be an irrational fear. After all, what's the worst that could happen?

Well, the father could be Robert DeNiro. You *could* set the lawn on fire. You might even desicrate his mother's remains.

The wonderful thing about this movie is that it takes that simple question "what's the worst that could happen," and runs it in all the most terrifying directions. The deep down fear that is the core of this film is common to everyone, so when we see how bad it could possibly get, we relate, and therefore laugh.

DeNiro is wonderful in kidding his tough-guy image as a former CIA agent who now has nothing better to do than run background checks on his daughters' boyfriends, and all the fun he had during the making of the film shows up onscreen. Stiller plays the beleagured Craig Focker with the same earnest appeal that made him so popular in "There's Something About Mary." So what if he makes his own problems by lying to improve his image? We like him anyway.

Though some of the gags are way overused (I can only hear the name "Focker" yelled so many times before it gets old), the film works by sticking to its central theme. After all, who *isn't* afraid when they first "Meet the Parents?"

Rating:
Summary: Stupid az heck
Review: Whaz up with this stupid movuie? why is it so dumb? bad acting by robby. i can't beleiev it. how could hez maek a bad moviee? ben stiler is not a funny guy at all. iz dont likke his styukle is comedy. nothing good ibcould thinnk about thiz movie. and jay roach is one of the wortstd ircyteo today!

Rating:
Summary: Watch it with friends
Review: I imagine the people that didn't like this flick probably watched it alone, or maybe with a significant other. Many comedies need a group viewing (theatres obviously work best) to get the full laugh effect. I viewed "Parents" twice: once alone with my wife, and again the next day with a few relatives over. It was definitely "funnier" the second time. Likewise, my 2nd screening of "American Pie" (solo) did not produce nearly the same laughs as my first screening with my beer-swilling friends. I believe setting has a lot to do with how a comedy is perceived.

That said, "Parents" was a funny flick. I am not a big DeNiro in a comedy setting, but he handled himself great here. Ben Stiller has obviously found his niche and was again funny here. Teri Polo looked juicy and held her own with Stiller and DeNiro. The future in-law family was incredibly funny, and Owen Michael as the rich ex-fiance was a gem.

The running gag on Ben Stiller's last name (Focker) never got old, and managed to generate laughs by itself. The cat storyline was cute. The DVD has some great extra features which add a half star to my rating.

All in all, it is a fun couple hours where you suspend belief and have some laughs. It is what it is. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A hilarious and continuously watchable comedy
Review: Meet the Parents

Score: 83/100

Well-known for the last 2 Austin Powers films, Jay Roach has become a class act of a comedy director since the release of the first Powers film in 1997. In 1999, he made the sequel, and now, instead of sequelizing and spoofing, Roach has turned to remakes, and with Meet the Parents, he proudly surpasses his sequel to Austin Powers, and with his star-studded cast, the team have come up with a sporadically funny motion picture, a must-see for all people who want a good laugh, any time of the day.

A Jewish male nurse named Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) plans to ask his live-in girl friend Pam (Teri Polo) to marry him. However, he learns that her strict father Jack (Robert DeNiro) expects to be asked for his daughter's hand before she can accept. Thus begins the visit from Hell as the two travel to meet Mum (Blythe Danner) and Dad, who turns out to be former CIA with a lie detector in the basement. Coincidentally, a sister (Nicole DeHuff) of Pam's also has announced her wedding to a young doctor (Thomas McCarthy). Of course everything that can go wrong does, including the disappearance of Dad's beloved Himalayan cat, Jinxie.

Of course, Jay Roach has made sequels and spoofs and now remakes, but he doesn't insist on other pieces of film to make the film that he has created. This film is very different to the 1992 smash hit and much, much better. There are many reasons to praise this oddball film, including it's eagerness to keep the audience entertained by using totally new jokes we never saw coming. Another thing is its great performance from the cast. Robert DeNiro does comedy again and he hasn't been this good in God knows how long, Ben Stiller is truly hilarious as Greg Focker (that's comedy for you!), he is quickly becoming one of my favourite comedic performers. Also on the hotline are Teri Polo and Blythe Danner, especially Danner as a nice mother caught in funny, difficult and totally strange situations.

Meet the Parents is, quite simply, the most plausible romantic comedy of the year 2000! Hats off for a stunning little film that boasts continuous watchability.

Rating:
Summary: Stiller Makes Another Movie Pure Laughter
Review: Meet the Parents is a hilarious movie that parallels the relationship between a typical father/future son-in-law when they first meet. The movie takes place as the daughter and future son-in-law visit the parents for a family wedding. Laughter abounds as Ben Stiller, who plays the future son-in-law Greg Focker, encounters one disastrous event after another. Focker feels he must fit in with the family and impress the father, Jack Byrnes, so he can marry his daughter, Pam. The role of the father is played expertly by Robert DeNiro. He is a C.I.A. agent and an overprotective father who only wants his daughter to marry the right man. Pam played by Teri Polo, is in love with Greg when she goes with him to visit her parents, but that love is severely tested as Jack continually makes mistakes such as losing her father's cat and then bringing home an imposter cat. The funniest scene in the movie is one in which Greg, eager to please the family, offers to open a bottle of champagne, and ends up knocking an urn holding Jack's mother's ashes on the floor, at which time the beloved family cat urinates on the ashes. Things only get worse for Greg. This movie is sure to make you laugh. Stiller and DeNiro's roles are classics.

Rating:
Summary: FUNNY
Review: Using the bare outlines of The In-Laws, this was a very funny movie. It is impssible not to laugh at Robert de Niro always making fun of Greg, his, professiona nd his name. Go buy this movie today.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't live up to expectations
Review: This movie is advertised as a hilarious comedy, but somehow it never lives up to its billing. There are a few funny moments, but not enough to make it a top-notch comedy. The plot centers around Greg who plans to ask his girlfriend's father for permission to marry her. He's a male nurse who feels out of his depth with his prospective father-in-law. The more he tries to please and impress him, the worse things become. There are some slapstick moments, with the comic highlight being the family pet, a cat, who has been trained to use the toilet. Somehow the movie never quite jells and it's hard to care about the characters. The father-in-law, played by Robert DeNiro, spends the movie testing and torturing the object of his daughter's affections and then unaccountably changes his tune completely with just a single gentle admonition from his wife.

Rating:
Summary: If this is funny then i'm dead
Review: Because seeing a nice guy just get abused by a bunch of snobby, pretentious, holier than thou schmucks just ain't my cup of tea. All I could feel was sympathy for Stiller's character. Although I have to admit I laughed at the volleyball scene. So sue me.

Rating:
Summary: Fun and truly heartwarming!
Review: Not one of DeNiro's most inspiring performances, but his father figure performance was a delight. Also another great comedic role for Ben Stiller. This movie was anticipated to be hilarious, because of the split second editing of trailers, but I found it to be a wonderful light-hearted romantic comedy. Don't expect to be laughing till it hurts. Just expect to be oddly touched by the sweet message of marrying in the family.

Rating:
Summary: It's time to meet the parents.........OH NO!!!!!!!
Review: Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) wants to marry Pam (Teri Polo), but first he must meet the parents. Greg has a little harder time getting along with Pam's family than he bargained for, especially with Pam's dad, Jack (Robert De Niro). He must first convince Jack that he is worthy enough before he marries Pam.

I was expecting "Meet The Parents" to be one of the funniest movies of the year when I rented it. However, it turned out to be a little disappointing. It does have many hilarious parts and lines, but when it all comes down to it, "Meet The Parents" succeeds more in making you have pity for Greg than it does in being a hilarious movie. The acting is fairly well done, but the movie's substance just wasn't there.

I recommend anybody who likes comedy movies to rent "Meet The Parents" before you buy it, and then make your decision from there because if you don't, you just might be a little disappointed that you wasted your money buying it instead of just renting it.