Rating: Summary: Ben Stiller: on top of the Comedy World Review: In my mind the two funniest comedians in the world right now are Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller. Meet the Parents is one the funniest movies that I have ever I seen. Next to movies like Planes, Trains and Automobiles and The Full Monty this is right up there as a comedy classic. BUt the great part about Meet the parents is that it's easy to watch this movie over and over again because the comedy is fast paced and full of great energy.
Rating: Summary: Trite. Review: In *Meet The Parents*, we follow the adventures of one Greg Focker (if you think that name is hilarious, you're in luck -- it's uttered about 64 times in this movie), who falls in love with the daughter of a former CIA operative (Robert De Niro) who's retired in the suburbs. Marriage is in the air, and so Focker (Ben Stiller) goes with his lady-love to her home to Meet The Parents. As might be expected, things don't go very smoothly.The movie has a paucity of ideas. The only good idea seems to be the clash between De Niro's macho CIA agent and his future son-in-law, who finds himself compelled to invent stories about himself due to rabid insecurity. Curiously, the "female" angle fades into irrelevance in the midst of all this "anti"-male-bonding. For instance, I couldn't tell you the name of the actress who plays Stiller's love-interest -- and rightly so, for attention is scarcely paid to her. And Blythe Danner, who plays De Niro's wife, is encumbered with a June Cleaver cartoon rather than a fully realized character. The male-female relationships, particularly De Niro's and Danner's, might have been interesting (what's it like to be MARRIED to the CIA?), but such a notion was obviously too difficult for the screenwriters to pursue. Instead, we get relentless father-in-law jokes, and over-the-top ones at that. It's as if Focker's prospective marriage is merely a set-up to showcase the (admittedly) comic mileage gotten from Robert De Niro, with his 30-odd years of tough-guy baggage accompanying him, Versus Ben Stiller, the weasely Gen-X icon. Thankfully, De Niro and Stiller do a heck of a job, easily shouldering the film's burden. *Meet The Parents* features two very funny performances from a pair of actors at the top of their game . . . but there's very little else to recommend this movie.
Rating: Summary: MEET THE PARENTS is sheer delight Review: MEET THE PARENTS is billed as the hysterical comedy of the year and the vociferous accolades is justified because of the impeccable acting and the outstanding supporting ensemble. Robert De Niro is at his best in this comedy with his wry humour and irresistible dry wits. Ben Stiller charms as the male paramedic, Greg Focker who embarks on a treacherous "Meet the Parents" session when he decides to settle down with Pam (Teri Polo). A series of accidents happen and Greg begins to reconsider his options when her ex-boyfriend played by Owen Wilson stepped in. The whole mess including breaking the urn of De Niro's beloved mother and the reciting of the "prayer", breaking the nose of Pam's sister at a volleyball game - makes such a hilarious turn and imaginative gloss to the plot. However, it is the acting that shines - especially De Niro and Stiller with such perfect comedic timing that they fill up the screen with luminous presence. Never a dull moment, although the slapsticks do occur - "Puff the Magic Dragon " and all the cranky jokes on Focker's name - makes it entertaining and accessible yet not crude. The director Jay Roach (AUSTIN POWERS) sits back prudently to watch the two leads steal the show with their effervescent chemistry. Never mind the plot - just watch the two male actors enchant. This is definitely one comedy that is so affable and adorable that it requires no parental guidance.
Rating: Summary: This film is TERRIBLE! Review: Meet The Parents is aimed at the crowd that likes to see overweight people get hit in the groin on Americas Funniest Home Videos. The jokes are all at the expense of Craig Focker (Stiller). The CIA dad (De Niro) can not let his daughter marry someone without his approval. Focker is already going there for the wedding of his girlfriends sister. The whole trip is meant to be a time where Focker can impress the father and have his blessing. Catastrophy after catastrophy strike, and we are supposed to yuck it up. The true fact of the matter is that you can only see so many bad things happen to a seemingly good person. This film crams numerous bad things into the story, just to have us laugh at this persons misfortunes. And millions did laugh. This film was supposed to be fun and light hearted. This film may have provoked more laughter if it had went for something more than the cheap laugh. Many of the jokes in the script are based around Focker's last name, and the fact that he is a nurse. Yeah, that is real funny. The man is a nurse. He is helping to save peoples lives, so lets make fun of him. Really intelligent. Just like this film.
Rating: Summary: The Best Movie Of The Year! Review: Meet the parents is a brilliant film. I'm not surprised it's doing SO well everywhere it's released. From the moment the film starts, you know you'll be laughing all the way. I liked everything about this movie. Jay Roach is a great director and Ben Stiller is god. Such a funny actor - he was the man of the movie. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you must. It was very enjoyable and well worth seeing more then once, I can tell you.
Rating: Summary: Non-Stop Flutter of Laughter Review: Meet the Parents is one of the funniest films of the year. From the beginning when he gets the kids to hold up the "will you marry me" sign until when he busts his fiancee's father. One of the bests features are how everything flows together peacefully. everyting adds up in the end. Some of the highlights of this movie are the scene where Greg (Ben Stiller) lights the parents house on fire. Another is his name insted of Greg as you usually hear his name as his real name is "Gaylord Focker" which only adds to the laughs. If there was a movie you wanted to laugh histericaly about this is the movie
Rating: Summary: A quality film, but perhaps not to everyones taste. Review: From the first 5min I knew what the film was going to be like, and I have to confess its not the kind of film I like. I will agree that some will find it hillarious, but it made me squirm. This is the kind of humour that I just don't get, I don't want to see impossible screw-ups, I want plausable failier, I mean who is gonna set fire to a house lose the cat and then spray paint a subsitute. It just doesn't work for me, although I have to say that all the film, esp. DeNiro was well cast and well acted. Its all too easy to make this film, so why bother. If you liked the awarkness of 'While you were sleeping' and the humour of Jim Carey then go for it, for me thats a recipie for disaster.
Rating: Summary: Good flick.... Review: I may be the only one who didn't like 'Something About Mary' and I have never cared for Ben Stiller, but I was pleasantly surprised by this flick. Very funny situations and one of the better comedies I've seen latley. Don't miss it!
Rating: Summary: a deserved success Review: robert deniro doing comedy. ben stiller. cats. individually, these are not things i'm interested in; together, it's like someone scientifically engineered a film for me to hate, all it's missing is leonardo dicaprio and golf. however, meet the parents is exactly those three things and yet i found myself enjoying it greatly. the story is fairly simple: greg (stiller) is ready to pop the question to his girlfriend, pam (teri polo), so it's time that he meets the parents. they catch a flight out to long island where the trouble begins for greg as the airline loses his luggage with all of his clothes, etc., plus the engagement ring he'd bought for pam. pretty bad, yes, but it gets much worse. robert deniro's recent "comedic" films include turkeys like analyze this and rocky & bullwinkle, yet here, as the head of the w.a.s.p.-ish byrnes clan and retired "rare flower salesman", he's excellent. perhaps it's just that being a fearsome father isn't much of a stretch for deniro -- the only person i can think of who i'd be more intimidated to meet would be harvey keitel -- but he and director jay roach, of the austin powers films, are content to let simple expressions and carry the weight of the humor. stiller, likewise, is great in his role as greg: i actually felt bad for the guy, and i got the feeling that maybe i was the only one, based on all of the laughter at what seemed like inappropriate times: maybe it's a guy thing, akin to when someone gets hit in the crotch. ben stiller as sympathetic character: who would have imagined? while the film is massively entertaining, it's not without its flaws. the female characters are incredibly thin and seem to only exist for the purpose of pitting deniro and stiller against each other and setting up stiller for a pratfall. i was audibly groaning when pam, for the fourth time or so, said "oh, i can't believe i didn't tell you about such-and-such. that kind of information would certainly have given you a better chance to fit in with my family!" like the austin powers films, there was a tendency to rely on the repetition of certain jokes for cheap laughs, e.g. the many, many puns on greg's last name. finally, the ending is far too tidy. [...] still, meet the parents, if i gave ratings, is a solid three-star flick. there are many laughs to be had and it's paced very well. the interactions between deniro and stiller and deniro and his pet cat are very funny. it's not as good as best in show, which is the best comedy out there as far as i'm concerned, but few blockbuster comedies in recent years deserve their success, e.g. there's something about mary: meet the parents, however, deserves your money and all of the money it has raked in. imagine that.
Rating: Summary: Mixed feelings Review: I went to see this movie and I was expecting to laugh and fall on the floor, but I didn't. The humor in this movie is more slapstick which I do not tend to appreciate. All of the cast members were great and the acting was appropriate to the film, but I guess I felt as though there were many times when it could have been much funnier. It was a cute, little, no- brainer kind of movie and reminded me of "Something About Mary". If you want to know the plot summary, please read some of the other reviews since they do an excellent job of summarizing. If I had to do it over again, I probably would watch this one on cable TV.
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