Meet the Fockers - 3 Stars (Good)



"Meet the Fockers" is the best comedy I have seen in a long time. It was not overdone and not underdone.

This movie could have been easily over-the-top with its descriptive title, but there is no hint of it in the presentation. The Motion Picture Association of America was not going to allow the title to be used unless the producers could find an actual family with the surname "Focker" in North America.

Focker is not exactly the best choice of a name to be called the rest of your life. Meet the Fockers was a sequel to Meet the Parents, which raised the question "what sort of people name their son Gaylord M. Focker (Greg Focker's full name)?

Despite the easy shots this film could fetch in name alone, Director Jay Roach and Writers Grey Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke (characters), Jim Herzfeld and Marc Hyman (story) and Herzfeld and John Hamburg (screenplay) kept the name calling in check. I think they did an incredible job and the PG-13 rating speaks volumes.

A believable story line and an all-star cast with former Oscar-winners Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand (yes, Streisand won as Best Actress in Funny Girl) gave this comedy a real boost of professionalism.

By reducing Ben Stiller to a lesser role and playing up the acting and timing talents of Hoffman and De Niro, this movie is so much better than the first that there can be no comparison between the two.

Meet the Fockers may well be the first sequel to a movie that is better than the original, and that is saying something in Hollywood.

The reason is De Niro (as Jack Byrnes, father of the bride), Hoffman (as Bernie Focker, father of the groom) and Streisand (as Rozalin Focker, mother of the groom) are believable. I have known people very similar to the roles they are playing.

I have yet to see a movie with Ben Stiller (as Greg Focker) in which I thought he was believable. I have never known anyone like Stiller's character. Adding De Niro, Hoffman and Streisand makes this movie talent rich.

I highly recommend this movie for its straight comedy in a very human situation, parents of the bride and groom who are polar opposites meeting for the first time. Having said that, I do not think this is a good movie for youngsters.

This film does not revel in the filth, sex and drug culture as some comedies do, but who wants to answer pertinent questions from youngsters when trying to be entertained? Finding Nemo is a more appropriate film for youngsters.

Everyone seemed to enjoy making this movie and I enjoyed watching it.

Meet the Fockers was short on awards but not short on humor. As is often the case, it generated $279 million at the U. S. box office and a staggering $515 million (as in half billion) worldwide. Not a bad payday by any measure.

Most critics gave Meet the Fockers an average pass while noting that Meet the Parents was much better. I saw it as just the opposite.