Remember when Ben Stiller was funny? Couple of years ago, maybe even a decade? You may remember my review on There's Something About Mary, a movie many regard as his finest work. Before that he had a cameo role in Happy Gilmore, and he was hilarious in that too. But in recent times, he seem to churn out nothing but crap. Night At The Museum, Starsky & Hutch, the Madagascar films and the abysmal sequels Meet The Fockers and Little Fockers. The real shame about the last 2 is that they were terrible follow-ups to a genuinely great film, Meet The Parents, the subject of today's review.
Released in 2000 under the direction of Jay Roach (Austin Powers, The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy), and starring Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson, the movie is based on that most apprehensive of events; meeting the in-laws. The occasion is hard enough to get through, even when the father isn't The Deer Hunter! It's one of De Niro's only forays into comedy, and one of Stiller's best.
The movie opens with our main character, a male nurse called Gaylord Focker (Stiller), working up the nerves to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Polo). But upon discovering that Pam's sister has recently got engaged after her finance asked permission from her parents, Gaylord (or Greg as he is referred to) decides to do the same. So the 2 of them fly out so they can attend Pam's sister's wedding, and so that Greg can meet and become acquainted with Pam's parents, so he can ask their permission to marry Pam.
Upon arriving at the Byrnes' family house, Greg meets Pam's mother Dina (Danner) and father Jack (De Niro), who immediately begins to question Greg about his life, career, and even the colour of the rental car he is driving. No matter how much Greg tries to impress them, Jack is not taken with him, and appears increasingly suspicious. After unintentionally making an idiot of himself, Greg discovers, much to his chagrin, that Jack is not in fact a retired flower dealer as he was initially informed, but a former CIA agent.
Upon meeting more members of the Byrnes family, and Pam's ex-fiance Kevin (Wilson), Greg feels even more alienated, especially as his attempts to fit continue to fall flat on their face. Passing from 1 accidental disaster to another, Jack goes from suspecting Greg, to disliking him, to downright hating him.
Eventually, unable to stand the criticisms and scorn any longer, Greg leaves, feeling that, no matter how much he loves Pam, he can't possible hope to fit in with her tight-knit and unwelcoming family.
This movie succeeds the same way There's Something About Mary did, by having a strong comedic side while also having serious and emotional elements. Greg's situation is so easy to identify with, as it's a situation virtually all of us have been in; being introduced to a group of close friends who view you as an outsider, the subject of rejection and ridicule. Struggling through this proverbial minefield, the jokes we are given are brilliant. The more he tries to fit in, the worse his situation becomes, resulting in funnier and funnier scenarios. It works in all the ways the sequels don't. The second and third movies are nothing but forced humour and jokes based solely on degrading Greg. The jokes about his bizarre name are funny in the first movie, but by the time the sequels came out they had thoroughly worn out their welcome. But we still have, and always will have, the original. The best by a country mile.
No comments:
Post a Comment