Film Review with Robert Mann – Meet the Parents: Little Fockers

26th December 2010

Meet the Parents: Little Fockers ***

When it was released back in 2000, the first Meet the Parents film took a concept with great comedic potential and turned it into a film that tickled the funny bones of both film critics and movie-goers alike, proving to be both a critical winner – it was at 84% positive on website Rotten Tomatoes – and a box office success that would kick start a new comedy franchise.
Four years later, the second instalment in the franchise was released in cinemas – Meet the Fockers. This sequel was not so well received by critics – only 39% positive on Rotten Tomatoes – but the combination of an impressive ensemble cast – joining the already star studded ensemble was Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand, an inspired piece of casting – hilarious trailers, a huge marketing push and a fair amount of controversy – in order to actually be allowed the call the film Meet the Fockers the filmmakers had to actually prove that there really were some people with that surname – ensured that the film became even more successful than the first, with it being clear that most moviegoers did not agree with the majority of critics on this one – I know I certainly didn’t, I actually thought it was hilarious. The huge success of that sequel immediately prompted talk of another film in the franchise and the rumours began to spread that that film would be entitled Little Fockers but I somewhat doubt anyone thought the third chapter in the series would take another six years to make it to the screen. Things haven’t turned out so rosy for Little Fockers (marketed as Meet the Parents: Little Fockers in case anyone has forgotten all about the last film), however, with a string of bad omens indicating that all did not go well during the development and production of this film. Original director Jay Roach departed the project (although, given that he directed this year’s abysmal Dinner for Schmucks instead, perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing) and was replaced by Paul Weitz, whose most recent project Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant proved to be a huge let down, Dustin Hoffman left the project due to both Roach leaving and his own unhappiness with the film’s script (although he was later convinced to return for a few scenes, not coming cheap though) and the studio, displeased with the work that Weitz was doing on the film, even contemplated getting rid of him in favour of Along Came Polly director John Hamburg but opted not to as it would have resulted in a dispute with the Directors Guild, deciding to fix the film’s problems in post production. Now that the film is finally here the result is not as pretty as you might have hoped although not as ugly as you might have feared either. This time critics have absolutely massacred the film – the Rotten Tomatoes rating on this one is only 11% positive – the controversy that so helped the last film is absent, hype and buzz have been pretty minimal and trailers have been rather on the unfunny side but the film does just about manage to transcend all the negative buzz…

Finally, after a decade of trying to charm his way into the good books of his father-in law Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) – including providing him with two grandchildren, twins Sam (Daisy Tahan) and Henry (Colin Baiocchi) – Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) has finally been welcomed into the Byrnes family circle of trust. Things, however, aren’t all rosy for Greg as constant demands from both his nursing job and his home life are putting a strain on his relationship with wife Pam (Teri Polo) and when Jack suffers a heart attack and proclaims that Greg must become “the godfocker” things seem set to become even more stressful still. In order to finance his children’s education at a prestigious private school, Greg takes a second job as a spokesperson for a drugs company, working alongside the beautiful and fun loving Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba) but when the Byrnes’, the Fockers – Greg’s parents Rozz (Barbara Streisand) and Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) – and even Greg’s one time (and perhaps still) love rival, the rich and spiritualistic Kevin (Owen Wilson), descend on Greg and his wife Pam for the twin’s birthday party, Jack’s suspicions about the moonlighting nurse come screaming back. Cue misunderstandings, covert missions and hilarious farce as Greg has to jump through hoops to prove once again that he is worthy of Jakes trust and the future patriarch of the entire clan.

By now you have probably heard many critics proclaiming Meet the Parents: Little Fockers to be, well, not very good. I don’t completely agree with the assertions that many have made but also must agree that they aren’t too far from the truth, this film indeed being the weakest in the Meet the Parents trilogy. From the outset the film suffers from the simple fact that much of what we see here seem tired, the whole setup seeming rather stale third time around and the Focker thing feeling old, been there and seen that. This is not a film that offers anything even remotely new, the humour generally being predictable and obvious – vomit gags, fart gags, sexual references and innuendos and comical misunderstandings are what we get here, just as with the previous films – rather than smart and witty and that the hit rate of the gags is middling only serves to suggest that there isn’t much life left in this franchise. This isn’t to say that the film doesn’t deliver laughs – it most certainly does, in the form of some rather naughty set pieces, inappropriate conversations between Rozz and Bernie being overheard by Greg, occasional instances of physical comedy, misunderstandings a plenty and of course the interactions between Greg and Jack, notably the climactic showdown involving a ball pit and a bouncy castle, which proves obvious but amusing nonetheless – but the film never proves really hilarious and there are far too many gags that completely miss the mark – the whole Andi Garcia/Andy Garcia thing is ridiculously overdone and just lame, a scene involving Greg cutting himself while carving a turkey is gross rather than funny and numerous references to The Godfather only raise slight giggles rather than belly laughs. The storyline also feels rather stale, offering up a weak plot that just retreads old ideas rather than embracing new ones and, somewhat surprisingly given the title, makes little of the kids, the focus once again being on the adult characters, notably the simmering conflict between Greg and Jack. The reduced roles for many characters doesn’t help much either. While in no way bad – and, in fact, really rather good, certainly among the best things in the film – in their roles, there is a sense that Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman are only in it for the paycheque, their screen time being very little and the latter accounting for little more than a prolonged cameo appearance – and one that doesn’t even connect that well with the crux of the story, excuses constantly having to be given as to why Bernie is absent in key scenes (all of his scenes were added in post production). The rest of the cast make the best of the weak script but virtually all fail to overcome its flaws, Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson certainly proving amusing but hardly delivering at the standard seen in the previous films while, as the only major new addition to the cast, Jessica Alba plays hip, crazy and drugged up pretty well but adds little to the ensemble. Even an appearance by Jinx the cat can’t transcend the weakness of the writing that is on display here. Additionally, god only knows why the likes of Harvey Keitel and Deepak Chopra appear in cameos here, their appearances contributing nothing of note to the film that unknown actors couldn’t deliver and just seeming pointless and irrelevant. Aside from Streisand and Hoffman of course the only performer that truly stands out here is Laura Dern, playing the headmistress of the prestigious Early Human School, but here screen time too is very limited and she doesn’t feature nearly enough. So, Meet the Parents: Little Fockers is an underwhelming follow up to the hilarious films that preceded it. It’s not without its moments of course – Jack discovering Google and coming across a rather hilarious YouTube video where Greg is talking about him at a medical conference is very funny, be sure to stay through the credits in fact – but given the talent involved this really should have been truly hilarious instead of what it actually is – a mildly amusing but completely unmemorable threequel.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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