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Meet the Parents: Little Fockers
| Released |
22 December 2010 |
| Director |
Paul Weitz |
Starring
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Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman, Teri Polo, Barbra Streisand, Harvey Keitel, Blythe Danner, Laura Dern |
| Writer(s) |
John Hamburg, Larry Stuckey |
Producer(s)
|
Robert De Niro, John Hamburg, Jay Roach, Jane Rosenthal |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
97 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy |
| Rating |
15A |
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Fock-up.
As a big fan of both Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers I was interested to see how a change of director (from Jay Roach to Paul Weitz) in this, the third film in the series, would affect proceedings. The easy laughs the previous films elicited saw them rocket to the top of the box-office around the globe so with the cast reassembled and some big-name additions (Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, Harvey Keitel) the scene was set for a triumphant trilogy to round out the first decade of the noughties.
The premise as ever is woefully uncomplicated. Gaylord 'Greg' Focker (Ben Stiller) and his wife Pam (Teri Polo) are now parents to energetic four-year old twins Henry (Colin Baiocchi) and Samantha (Daisy Tahan). When Pam's father, retired CIA agent Jack (Robert De Niro) suffers heart problems, he reluctantly appoints Greg the new 'Godfocker'-tasked with being solely responsible for his family-in both the financial and emotional sense. However while Greg takes his new title as head of the family seriously, Jack begins to harbour suspicions about his relationship with attractive pharmaceutical sales rep. Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba). The return of Pam's former beau Kevin (Owen Wilson) complicates matters and coupled with Jack's ill-advised meddling, Greg realises that maintaining the harmony within his family is more difficult than he thought.
The success that the Meet the Parents franchise has had up until now is largely due to the uncomfortable interaction between Greg and his ultra intimidating in-law Jack. The cringe-factor is sky high, yet the heart of these films is pretty easy to stomach because they have been superimposed on a backdrop of bellyaching laughs and squirming scenes. In Meet the Parents: Little Fockers however, this previously successful formula feels both tired and needlessly drawn-out. De Niro looks like he would rather be elsewhere, on any other movie set, while the grey on Stiller's temples offers an appropriate visual metaphor for the worn-weary role of Gaylord Focker-unlikely suburban hero. While Owen Wilson is a ray of sunshine as the hippie Kevin, Pam's mother Dina (Blythe Danner) is again underused as the elegant matriarchal mediator. Things really begin to unwind however when Andi (Alba) enters proceedings. Her goofy banter and eager reliance on 'knuckles' to seal deals is both utterly unprofessional and completely out of place in this movie while her unexplained passion for Greg is also more than a little unrealistic. Also while Greg's parents Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Roz (Barbra Streisand) were a welcome addition to Meet the Fockers, in this film they are both unnecessary and a distraction. When the end comes, it appears quite quickly with none of the fun filled build-up that the previous two films had. In one sense this is a godsend, while in another, it is just another black mark against a movie that failed to capitalise on the strengths of its ensemble cast.
- Louisa McElwee |
