Meet The Fockers (Widescreen Edition) (2004)

so desperate for laughs its just sad.

Meet the Parents was an enjoyable film. Based on a decent concept, the film succeeded in possessing a certain comic grace that makes a sequel seem enticing. Its therefore unfortunate that said sequel did not deliver, instead succeeding at being banal instead of interesting, boring instead of humorous, and ultimately pointless instead of purposeful.

Meet the Fockers begins harmless enough, stuffing a few grandparent jokes in the first act and allowing the audience to remain excited about what is to happen. They soon find Gaylord, Pam, and their parents on a quest to Florida to visit the Fockers. It is in their sunny hippie home that it becomes apparent that the best thing about this film are the Focker parents; everything and everyone else is wallpaper.

Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand are marvelous here, turning out truly hilarious performances, depicting their characters with more dimension than the cookie-cutter lameness of Robert Deniro. They're eccentric, fun, and boisterous, which is a lovely contrast to the others and their insistence on being predictably boring. The only other cast member that shows any light of decency regarding her character is Blythe Danner in her performance of Dina, but even that feels pushed.

In fact, the entire film feels incredibly pushed, as if somehow the entire cast and crew have morphed from being able to handle a well-paced success to becoming little children desperate for approval. The entire film absolutely seethes the idea that everyone involved wants you to laugh really really bad, but none of them truly feel comfortable in their own abilities to make you do so, which makes them all resort to cheap little by-the-book attempts at being entertaining. Roach is guilty of trying too hard in other films but is typically able to carry that off with exuberant cunning, unlike here where he tries so hard he inspires more pity than laughs.

Meet the Fockers invests far too much effort in what should be a great deal simpler, and the idea that the film is made in an incredibly boring manner doesn't help the film in the slightest. The only department that seems to be awake on this set is production design, who have made a lovely little bus headquarters, a wonderfully excessive bohemian home, and lots of acceptable outdoor locations. Everyone else on the crew is sleeping, save Jay Roach, who actually allows himself to use the dog humping joke multiple times to desperately beg for your laughter. Too bad the script is so shallow you can't for the life of you give him the benefit of the doubt.

All news on this site are owned and copyrighted to their respective publishers. this is a non commercial website.