Alas, poor Focker. He can't help himself. And we can't help ourselves from falling about, equally helpless, at this superbly antic movie.
Meet the Parents (2000)
Tomatometer
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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.
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
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Reviews for Meet the Parents
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.
A hilarious hodgepodge of The In-Laws and Annie Hall, in which De Niro gives his best comic performance to date.
Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller give the comedy of disaster a nice little workout.
Roach ... knows to play to the movie's twin strengths: Stiller and De Niro.
None of the jokes are forced, which makes Meet the Parents a singular achievement.
Within its formulaic confines, the humor works uncommonly well from time to time.
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.
Even with Stiller and De Niro, Meet the Parents is an encounter that can be postponed until it's available on video.
Watching Ben get the girl or be seriously injured trying always has its dry, keening pleasures.
If ever there was a movie that felt like it was built backward, it's Meet the Parents.
Possibly the most amusing mainstream live-action comedy since There's Something About Mary.
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.
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? ![]()
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? ![]()
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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