Grade: B+ | Genre: Comedy Summary: In all, this was a very enjoyable film. It isn't breaking any new comedic ground, but it stood up to the impossible expectations set by the initial one, faring extremely well. Not too long ago, my sister brought together my parents with the parents of this guy she's been seeing. When I asked my mom how the dinner went, she said it was Meet the Fockers. Basically there is one scene in this film where free spirited Bernie (Hoffman) is first introduced to painfully uptight Jack (DeNiro), and he forgoes the traditional handshake to give him a heartfelt hug, planting one firmly on his cheek. The entire time, Jack is crawling in his skin at this outpouring of emotion. In three words, my mom defined the evening and didn't need to say anything else. My dad still bristles up when it's mentioned. How many movies can you say that about? Meet the Fockers is a clever sequel that doesn't fall prey to the inevitable cliches that go along with big budget repeat comedies.

By now everyone has seen has seen Meet the Parents. For that 1% of you who haven't, stop reading this and go rent it pronto amigo. It was the laugh riot that defined every guy's worst nightmare of what can happen when meeting the girlfriend's parental units. Meet the Fockers follows up that mortifying weekend in style by bringing together tight laced conservative America with anything goes liberal America, asking them to become family. Let the chaos begin. Greg and Pam are heading to the Burns residence to collect Jack and Dina (Danner) in route to Greg's parent's house in sunny Florida. We meet Little Jack (LJ), Pam's sister's child, who Jack is steadily taking through mental gymnastics. Every toy is educational and he's already learned child sign language. As you can imagine, they get a lot of mileage out of the sign for poop and breasts. If shaping the future Einstein weren't enough, Jack is busy making sure he doesn't get separation anxiety through fashioning a special feeding device as well as a draconian parenting technique of denying the child attention to teach self-reliance. The kid isn't even out of diapers and he is already in need of a good therapist.

Meet the Fockers Starring: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo & Owen Wilson Director: Jay Roach Buy or Rent This Film Tonight. You may also like... Meet the Parents The Royal Tenenbaums

Paring these three together, with Greg and Pam serving as the referees, are tremendously funny. It really pulls the laughs out of you very easily. Granted it's not the sharp, witty humor of Sideways, but not every comedy needs to be highbrowed. Sometimes you just want to relax and have an evening of laughter without having to think too much about it. Each movie has its place in your collection. There is a lot of potty and generally goofy humor revolving around incredibly improbable situations (the baby gluing his hands to the rum bottle while watching Scarface?), but you of course overlook all this. Little Jack is the funniest member of the clan. He's definitely the crudest member and he can't even talk. The first word that does tumble from his mouth is pretty friggin' funny to say the least.

The best part about this film is that there are very few recycled laughs. Too many sequels rely on the jokes from the original blockbuster, elbowing you in the side as if to say, "remember how funny that was?" If I wanted to watch the original, I'd pop in the DVD and save myself $8.50. So many times they tarnish the good name of their parent film. The only inside jokes here are in the first 15 minutes to establish the foundation of where we've been, then they chart their own course. It is every bit as funny as the original.

In all, this was a very enjoyable film. It isn't breaking any new comedic ground, but it stood up to the impossible expectations set by the initial one, faring extremely well. This is a fun movie that I'm sure I'll find myself reaching for many nights in the future when I'm looking for lighthearted fare. Hoffman and Streisand add great comedic tone to the verbal jousting of Stiller and DeNiro. They continue the grand tradition of showing us how family are the people we love the most and can shamelessly embarrass us all the same. Those relationships are some of the most fertile ground for laugh out loud comedies. And after the box office success of this film, it's just a matter of time before we Meet the Little Fockers.

Buy or rent Meet the Fockers.

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