Inside Pulse Movies 2004 Holiday Preview

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Release Date: December 22nd, 2004
Director: Jay Roach
Writer: Jim Herzfeld, Tim Rasmussen, Vince DiMeglio
Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner
Studio: Universal Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Official Website: meetthefockers.com

Meet the Parents – The Backstory

Back in 2000, director Jay Roach made a little family comedy. He took stars Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, along with Blythe Danner and Teri Polo, and put them all all together in Meet the Parents. The result was one of my personal favorite comedies in a long time, if not ever.

The plot was simple yet hillarious: Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) wants to marry his long-time girlfriend Pam Byrnes(Teri Polo). Before he can pop the question, he hears that Pam’s sister is getting married, and that her fiance had surprisingly gotten their father’s blessing on the wedding. Convinced that this should be his approach too, Greg flies out with Pam to meet her family and request her father’s approval so he can marry her.

Of course, things don’t go nearly as smooth as one would think. Greg soon realizes Pam’s parents (De Niro and Danner) are a bit worse than quirky, and things just keep getting worse. Of course, as the film winds down, everything returns to normal, problems are resolved, and Greg gets the blessing he was looking for.

This film isn’t a classic by any means. Some of the jokes fall a bit flat, the relationship between Greg and Pam feels kind of forced, and some of the film is more than predictable. But what makes this film stand the test of time, what makes it great in my book, is the chemistry between Stiller and De Niro. Stiller brings his “in love enough to survive almost anything” act from previous films like There’s Something About Mary and is totally shot down by Jack, De Niro’s character. De Niro is absoulutely brilliant in this flim, hitting his stride and never looking back. He is the perfect counter for Stiller, and they never lose their magic, continuing to be hillarious up until the credits roll.

The film made over $160 million in America, so with that kind of revenue, no one would be surprised by the announcement of a sequel. What was a bit more surprising was the length of time that passed between the first one and start on the second. Universal wanted a spring 2003 release for this, but due to various circumstances, this was pushed back, with production finally starting in March 2004. Ben Stiller originally went on record about the film, saying, “Comedy sequels are tough because so much is based on the freshness of it. So, if they can figure out a way to do it, it would be great. But no one wants to make something that’s just going out there to do it again.”

Meet the Fockers

So, here we are, more than four years after the release of the original film, and fans have been clamoring for years for the sequel, and any news or notes on it. It took a while, but when things started to roll along, we were treated to a fairly decent amount of news and notes, and after we got them, anticipation rose even higher than before, if that was possible.

Here’s the official synopsis of the film, courtesy of the official website:

Now that Greg Focker (Stiller) is “in” with his soon-to-be in-laws, Jack (De Niro) and Dina (Danner) Byrnes, it looks like smooth sailing for him and his fiancee, Pam (Polo). But that’s before Pam’s parents meet Greg’s parents, Bernie and Roz Focker (Hoffman and Streisand). The hyper-relaxed Fockers and the tightly-wound Byrneses are woefully mismatched from the start, and no matter how hard Greg and Pam try, there is just no bringing their families together-which all adds up to a disastrously funny time of “getting to know you.”

The synopsis really doesn’t do this film justice, as it is too paint by the numbers for my tastes. So, here for you, I’ve listed the top five reasons you should be looking forward to this film.

Top Five Reasons To Anticipate Meet the Fockers

5) Dustin Hoffman cast as Greg’s father. Hoffman is a brillant actor who is incredibly versatile and can play any role he is in well, especially comedy. The brief history he has with De Niro (Wag the Dog) is great, so these two playing off of each other here should be great-ness.

4) Barbra Streisand as Greg’s mother. Normally I can’t stand this woman, but if anyone can play a Focker from another planet, it’s her.

3) Jay Roach and the original writers returning. The man behind Austin Powers and the first Parents almost didn’t return for this sequel, and that could have spelled all sorts of trouble. Thankfully, he’s back and things are looking great.

2) The return of the original cast. Chemistry, as noted above, made the first movie laugh out loud funny. Having both De Niro and Stiller back already says this movie will be good, at the least, if not great. It’s almost a guarantee with those two, unless something horrible and unexpected happens (Like a downright terrible script). That is a possibility incredibly remote, however, so no real worries there either. Combine the newcomers with the original cast, and you really have the potential for some movie magic.

1) This trailer. The goodness represented in that trailer should silence any naysayers going in. It mostly serves to remind people of the funny film released four years ago, and to tell us “We’re back, and you’ll laugh again.” With so many trailers these days giving away the entire movie in two minutes, it’s comforting to know that these guys want us to laugh, but only enough so that we want to come back for more.

So there you go. Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro are set to return to the big screen and this time they’re bringing even more of the family with them. This is an instance where history is set to repeat itself, if not better itself. Take everything that was fantastic about the first film, bring it back, throw in the Focker clan – with Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman – and the formula for success almost writes itself. Given the lack of range of the comedies coming out this holiday season, it’d be an inexcusable mistake to let this film go by without a viewing. It’s shapping up to be well worth the price of admission and more.