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Movies / On DVD / Meet the Parents
Meet the Parents

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Meet the Parents (2000)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:28

Rotten:6

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: This upbeat comedy is hilarious and, at the same time, believable and something people can relate to.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] sexual content, drug references and language

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Oct 6, 2000 Wide

Box Office: $164,454,835

Synopsis: Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is head over heels in love with his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), and is ready to pop the big question. When his attempt to propose is thwarted by a phone call with the news... Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is head over heels in love with his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), and is ready to pop the big question. When his attempt to propose is thwarted by a phone call with the news that Pam's younger sister is getting married, Greg realizes that the key to Pam's hand in marriage lies with her formidable father, Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro).

A trip to New York for her sister's wedding seems just the right occasion for Greg to ask Pam to be his wife. But everything that could possibly go wrong, does.

Upon his arrival at the family's picturesque, Norman Rockwell-like home, Greg is greeted by what appears to be the picture-perfect family: a loving husband and wife with a doting son and two daughters and a beloved cat. But for a guy who usually resorts to dry wit in stressful situations, Greg is suddenly shooting blanks with Jack, a retired horticulturist…and rather imposing figure. No one is good enough for Jack's first-born daughter, and the fact that Greg is a cat-hating male nurse with a vulgar-sounding last name is not helping things at all.

While Greg bends over backwards to try and make a good impression, his weekend begins with lost luggage at the airport and turns into a hilarious series of one disaster after another. [More]

Starring: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner

Starring: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, James Rebhorn, Owen Wilson, Thomas McCarthy, Jon Abrahams, Phyllis George, Nicole DeHuff

Director: Jay Roach

Director: Jay Roach
Screenwriter: Jim Herzfeld, John Hamburg
Producer: Nancy Tenenbaum, Jane Rosenthal, Jay Roach
Composer: Randy Newman
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Nov 1, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • Collectors Edition
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Meet the Parents

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Alas, poor Focker. He can't help himself. And we can't help ourselves from falling about, equally helpless, at this superbly antic movie.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment Comment
08/15/08
Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

When the script puts its faith in the audience, allowing us to find the laughs on our own, the film is irresistible, a bright lark. Yet when the writers panic, upping the antic volume and shifting into crazed sitcom gear, the lark stops.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
03/22/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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A hilarious hodgepodge of The In-Laws and Annie Hall, in which De Niro gives his best comic performance to date.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
06/04/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Good Morning America | comment Comment
04/23/01
Joel Siegel
Joel Siegel
Good Morning America
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
01/01/00
Ebert & Roeper
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Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller give the comedy of disaster a nice little workout.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Graham
Bob Graham
San Francisco Chronicle
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This fall's pleasant surprise.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bob Longino
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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It's funny. Really funny.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cody Clark
Cody Clark
Mr. Showbiz
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It never runs out of steam or ways of inflicting more ignominy on Stiller.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Desmond Ryan
Desmond Ryan
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Roach ... knows to play to the movie's twin strengths: Stiller and De Niro.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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None of the jokes are forced, which makes Meet the Parents a singular achievement.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell
New York Times
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Within its formulaic confines, the humor works uncommonly well from time to time.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
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Meet the Parents is a one- -- well, maybe two- -- joke idea that starts out goofy and fun, but soon runs out of verbal or visual ammunition.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Glenn Lovell
Glenn Lovell
San Jose Mercury News
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Even with Stiller and De Niro, Meet the Parents is an encounter that can be postponed until it's available on video.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
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In many ways reminiscent of There's Something About Mary.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe
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Watching Ben get the girl or be seriously injured trying always has its dry, keening pleasures.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jessica Winter
Jessica Winter
Village Voice
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If ever there was a movie that felt like it was built backward, it's Meet the Parents.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
01/01/00
John Anderson
John Anderson
Newsday
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A very funny movie.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jonathan Foreman
Jonathan Foreman
New York Post
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Possibly the most amusing mainstream live-action comedy since There's Something About Mary.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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Meet the Parents doesn't sparkle like Vincente Minnelli's Father of the Bride. But with bubbly adult comedies at such a premium, it goes down like a flute of Champagne, leaving an aftertaste of giggles.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
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Latest News for Meet the Parents

February 20, 2009: Weekly Ketchup: Meet the Little Fockers
This week's movies are a surprising batch of mostly original concepts (no remakes and just one sequel), and star-studded to boot, including new movies for Ben Stiller, Tom... More...

November 18, 2008: More Fockers for Stiller? Opens in new window
According to Roger Friedman at Fox News, the wheels are turning on another "Meet the Parents" sequel. More...

May 21, 2008: More Austin Powers, Meet the Parents Sequels? Opens in new window
According to producer/director Jay Roach, we may yet see more sequels in the Austin Powers and Meet the Parents franchises. More...

February 26, 2007: Yep, "Little Fockers"
Isn't it hilarious how "Fockers" sounds so much like a rrrrreally dirty word? So funny, in fact, that the gag is about to inspire its second film! Expect the whole... More...

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