Cast
Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro)
Greg Focker (Ben Stiller)
Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo)
Dina Byrnes (Blythe Danner)
Kevin Rawley (Owen Wilson)

Directed by Jay Roach Written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg, based on the story by Greg Glimna and Mary Ruth Clarke
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug references and language
Running Time: 108 minutes Distributed by Universal and Dreamworks Pictures

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Meet the Parents is a goofy and fun comedy. Greg Focker (Stiller) is a young nurse that is very much in love with Pam (Polo). Greg has the ring bought and is ready to pop the big question, but he then realizes that he doesn't have her father's blessing. So, Greg and Pam are off to spend a weekend and attend the wedding of Pam's sister with her parents. Dina, Pam's mother, is kind and elegant; however, Pam's father is another story. Jack (De Niro) is a strict ex-CIA agent that is very protective over his daughter. In which, Jack sees his protective manner as reflecting his love for Pam. Greg is immediately creates a hidden fear from Jack and the many mind games that he plays on him. After many problems and embarrassing moments, Greg still hopes that he will find a way sometime over the weekend to tell Jack of his feelings towards Pam.

Meet the Parents is a movie that you will laugh at many times. This is the funniest film to come out this year behind Scary Movie, Keeping the Faith and Saving Grace. I do warn you though, there is also a lot of cheese in this film.

Jim Herzfeld and John Hamberg take writing credits for the script of Meet the Parents. I have learned that this script went through many re-writes and I could really tell while watching the film. Though this movie is hysterical, I sense that most of the good moments were "thrown-together" scenes. I believe this because there was hardly any balance in the sequencing of this film. It was as if after every funny part, there would be a stupid part and so forth. There was also no persistent flow of jokes or scenes. The scenes that are good are really funny and the scenes that are bad seemed empty. I got the drift that these problems were the result of all the many rushes of re-writes in the film. I read that Robert De Niro himself was responsible for bringing the lie detector test scene to the project, which has been used as an audience grabber in ad campaigns for the film. There are some memorable comedic scenes in this film; examples are Greg's verbal explosion at an airport and almost every scene with the family cat, Mr. Jinx.

Jay Roach for the most part conquers the task of directing Meet the Parents. Roach's previous credits include Austin Powers and Mystery, Alaska. It seemed that Roach's overall direction, like the script, wasn't complete, but you can tell that he had fun. I believe that Roach took the directorial approach that many comedic directors take which is to just let your actors loose and open to do anything in front of the camera.

Robert De Niro bounces back with a splendid comedic performance after his effective but substantial performance in The Adventures of Rocky Bullwinkle. De Niro is a very funny and at the same time an intimidation factor as Pam's father, Jack. I like De Niro's choices of balancing his drama and comedy in the last few years. Ben Stiller holds his own comedic posture right under De Niro's presence as Greg. Stiller, who delivered the best performance of his career early this year in Keeping the Faith, maintains his work as a likeable comedic actor. The chemistry between De Niro and Stiller is a huge part of what makes the comedy work. One first might not expect De Niro and Stiller to work well together. However, the two actors make a nice one-two comedic punch.

This is an entertaining movie that will attract large amounts of audiences. Meet the Parents is already a smash at the box office and the film might become one of the most profitable films of 2000.

Report Card Grade: B-

Beastman's Movie Reviews
Copyright, 2000 Joseph Tucker