Promotional Lines:
"First comes love. Then comes the interrogation." "No Pressure."
"He finally met the girl of his dreams. Too bad her dad's a nightmare."
"Meet the Parents is a pick me up for anyone who thinks he has
had a bad day."
Quotes:
Pam: "Greg Honey, how are you doing?"
Greg Focker: "Oh great, considering I desecrated your Grandma's
remains, found out you were engaged, and had your Father ask me
to milk him!"
Synopsis:
Jewish Male nurse
Greg Focker and Pam Byrnes are madly in love and Greg plans a
romantic way to ask her. Just before Greg asks Pam to marry him,
he inadvertently learns that it is expected that he, Greg, must
make a weekend visit to meet her parents, her family, and ask
her strict father, Jack Byrnes a retired florist, (who is really
a CIA interrogator), for Pam's hand in marriage. Everything that
can go wrong, does. Squirmy hilarity reigns as Greg desperately
tries his best to make a good impression, with Jack, a man who
doesn't like him, making things difficult for him. In most instances,
Greg makes a fool of himself, in a continuous comedy of errors,
sometimes in front of the entire family. He truly becomes a fool
for love.
Review:
The film opens with male nurse Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) rehearsing
his marriage proposal with one of his patients in a Chicago hospital.
Fully encouraged and sure of himself, he meets with the love of
his life, Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), who he is living with, outside
her classroom where she teaches. He puts his plan in motion, getting
down on one knee. But before he can start, Pam receives a cell
phone call from her sister, Deborah (Nicole DeHuff) who excitedly
announces that she is engaged to a Doctor Bob Banks (Thomas McCarthy),
and will marry him in two weeks at the family Byrnes home. Greg
finds out that Doctor Bob had played his cards right, and had
given the parents, Jack (Robert DeNiro) and Dina Byrnes (Blythe
Danner), a special gift, and had asked the father, Jack Byrnes
for the sister's hand in marriage.
Desperately in love with Pam, Greg Focker knows what he must
do; make a good impression with her family, especially her father.
Two weeks later, he travels by plane with Pam to Oyster Bay, to
meet her parents, her family, attend the wedding and ask her father,
Jack, for Pam's hand in marriage.
Things start going wrong at the airport in Oyster Bay. The airline
has lost his baggage with the engagement ring inside, and a baby
throws up on him at the lost baggage department. Upon arriving
at the Byrnes' home driveway, Pam confides to Greg that she hasn't
told her father yet that they are living together and also tells
Greg that he won't be able to smoke here, so he throws his cigarette
pack on the roof. Little does Greg know that Jack Byrnes isn't
a retired florist, but is a CIA interrogator, with a sixth sense
for lying, with a lie detector in his basement. He also has the
tendency to be suspicious and over protective, making him a nightmare
for suitors of his daughter's affections.
What a family reunion on the front porch!! Pam jumps joyously
into her father's arms and wraps her feet around him. Uh Oh!!
Pam is still her "Daddy's little girl." Thus begins
the weekend from hell, a time where everything hilariously goes
wrong for Greg. Not only must Greg do without cigarettes, sex
and time with his Pam, he must deal with her eccentric family,
spend time with Pam's perfect ex-fiancee (Kevin Rawly), and subsequently
makes a fool of himself because he tries too hard to please.
He desperately wants to please Jack Byrnes, but things start
off on the wrong foot between Greg and Jack Byrnes. Jack, naturally
on instinct, keeps Greg psychologically off-balance, catches Greg
in some small lies, mistakenly thinks Greg is a pot smoker, when
it is Jack's son who is a pot head.
Unfortunately, this comedy of errors and misunderstandings just
escalate. Major faux pas suffered by Greg include overdoing a
water volleyball spike, which gives the bride-to-be, Deborah,
a bloody nose and swelled eye, being blamed for the septic tank
fiasco, as he mistakenly flushes the toilet off his guest room
in the den, and some hilarious misadventures stemming from Jenxie,
the treasured cat, that Jack has trained to use the toilet, and
other tricks, like carrying the ring bearer's pillow.
A favorite sequence of scenes begins when Greg is trying to talk
to the airlines about his missing luggage in his guest room in
the den and the pampered Jenxie is clawing his leg. Not thinking,
he puts the house-cat-only Jenxie outside of the screen door.
After he gets off the phone, he realizes his mistake and chases
after the cat, who jumps on the roof. Greg follows, but stops
to rest when the cat is out of reach. He finds his cigarette pack,
and succumbs to a smoke. Half-way through his cigarette, Jenxie
slips toward the edge of the roof, about to fall about 5 feet
down on top of Jack Byrnes who is on the phone, speaking Thai.
Greg throws his cigarette, which lands on top of some leaves
in the rain gutter. Greg grabs Jenxie's collar with both hands,
but notices that the leaves have caught fire. As he stomps on
the leaves with his foot, the cat slips out of his collar and
lands safely on the ground. The rain gutter swings loose, knocking
down electrical wiring which sets the backyard on fire! Woody
Allen or Peter Sellers couldn't of done better.
Jenxie disappears, much to everyone's concern and Jack's shame.
Jack is volunteered by Pam to find the cat. Desperate to clean
up his image, Jack goes to the pound and finds a cat that looks
identical to Jenxie, except the tip of the tail, which Jack paints.
When this impostor cat causes big disastrous problems, Jack gives
up in frustration and prepares to leave, which is when the airlines
deliver his long lost luggage, and everyone learns of his birth
name, Gaylord!
After paying a huge fee increase on his ticket, he boards a plane
to go back to Chicago, not in the best of moods. He determinedly
tries to fit his luggage into the overhead compartment, but is
told by the flight attendant (Kali Rocha) that he must check his
bag. Greg loses it in a hilarious verbal diatribe, and winds up
being dragged off the plane, arrested by airport police. When
Jack Byrnes realizes that Pam truly loves Greg, he goes to the
airport and finds Greg in a lot of trouble. The two work out their
issues in a poignant scene, and Jack humorously winds up asking
Greg to be his son-in-law, a fitting ending for this comedy! Greg
finds a romantic way to propose to his Pam, and the film ends
on a high note.
This entertaining, if squirmy comedic screenplay was written
by James Herzfeld and John Hamburg, based on the 1992 screenplay,
by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke. The screenplay "contains
intelligent, non-bathroom humor, gags are well set up."
The original musical score was composed by Randy Newman. He sings
the opening theme song as well, "Only A Fool in Love."
The fine, comedic direction was by Jay Roach, who also has directed
all the Austin Power films. He does a great job bringing out the
comic talent of this fabulous cast, and made sure that the pacing
and comic tension build-up was just right, not overdoing it.
It was obvious that the cast had a lot of fun with their parts,
whether in ensemble work , or individual performances, which really
brings the script to life, making it really work, as they add
their own creative talents to their parts.
Ben Stiller's comic genius is showcased in his portrayal of
the unlucky Greg Focker, trying to survive one of the worst weekends
of his life. He proves that he is not only a gifted comedian,
but can also be a romantic, poignant leading man.
Robert DeNiro in his wonderful portrayal of Jack Byrnes brings
home the scope and width of the man's acting talent. Whether its
a comedy or drama, DeNiro can bring perfect definition, fully
filling out his character.
Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller together produced great screen
chemistry and squirmy humor which amuses the audience, perhaps
bringing back to mind embarrassing moments in one's past concerning
human relationships in extended families.
Teri Polo is convincing as Pamela Byrnes, who unwittingly shoots
Greg in the foot several times so to speak, and finds herself
in a familiar place; presenting a serious boyfriend to a suspicious,
protective father who has a hard time accepting anyone as being
good enough for his daughter. Her moment of truth fast approaches.
Owen Wilson is entertaining as Pam's ex-fiancee, Kevin Rawley,
who had managed to meet the high expectations of Jack Byrnes,
but had not won Pam's heart, though he still has pictures of himself
and Pam all over the house. Jack loves Kevin, which isn't easy
for Greg. Kevin is a master carpenter, does ice sculptures, is
a practicing Christian and makes a wondrous wooden wedding altar
for Deborah and Dr. Bob, carved out of one block of wood!!
Blythe Danner is perfect as Pam's mother, Dina Byrnes, a pleasant
if slightly spacy woman who is kind to Greg.
Rated PG-13 for language, sexual humor, and drug references/content. |
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THE PARENTS ... THE COMEDY REVIEW 
