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Greg Focker -- Ben Stiller
Jack Byrnes -- Robert DeNiro
Debbie Byrnes -- Nicole DeHuff
Dina Byrnes -- Blythe Danner
Pam Byrnes -- Teri Polo
Denny Byrnes -- Jon Abrahams
Larry Banks -- James Rebhorn
Linda Banks -- Phyllis George
Kevin Rawley -- Owen Wilson
Directed by Jay Roach
Written by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke
Rated PG-13 sexual content, drug references, language;
runtime, 108 min.
Now that we are soundly into autumn, we are finally
getting a real summer film, after a summer when there weren't very many
summer-films. What I mean by a summer film is one that, like a "beach novel,"
gives a high level of entertainment with low demands on our intellectual
or critical abilities. In other words, this film is a lot of fun.
Having said that, I don't have much else to say.
Greg (yes, his last name gets bandied about quite a bit, as does his profession,
nursing) wants to marry Pam, but he has forgotten an important axiom of human
relations. He cannot marry his girlfriend without marrying her whole family,
including her father Jack, retired from the CIA.
As I said, this film doesn't demand very much of us, and so, it doesn't give
me much to work with. Anton Chekhov once wrote that if someone puts a gun
into a drawer in Act I, someone will be shot in Act III. In contemporary
terms, if one checks a bag on an airplane, it will get lost... especially
if the bag contains a diamond ring. So, that kind of predictability worked
for Chekhov, and it works for just about every television sit-com, and, doggone
it, it works for Meet the Parents... if the volume of laughter that
I heard (and contributed to) when I saw the film is any indicator.
Anyway, Pam and Greg but not Greg's luggage arrive
at her parents' house. Now, although Teri Polo and Blythe Danner (a wasted
resource) discharge their few responsibilities as daughter and mother, the
movie belongs to DeNiro playing Pam's father and Stiller. (I finally snooped
around on the Internet enough to find out that indeed he is the son of comic
greats or great comics Stiller and Meara).
There are no surprises in the casting. DeNiro is
the last father-in-law on earth that anyone would want, just playing DeNiro.
Stiller is the last son-in-law on earth who should deserve such a father-in-law.
He plays what is becoming the Ben Stiller character--basically good and
good-hearted, somewhat bumbling along under the weight of his anxieties.
The only problem with this chemistry is that sometimes it borders on outright
sadism, especially since Greg is so likable, so easy to identify with. The
large supporting cast supports in the best sense of the word, holding up
their end of the arrangement without distracting from the basic conflict
between DeNiro and Stiller. Owen Wilson is especially good as Kevin, who
once had been the object of Pam's affections and apparently still is the
object of her dad's.
The script zings along with the efficiency of a
television sit-com, and in fact, it never gets very far from sit-com land.
But, the characters develop through interaction with each other, and despite
the excessive abuse of Greg throughout the film, some of the group
scenes--especially the early scene around the dinner table--have a pleasant
mix of believability and humor. I think anyone can relate to Greg's dilemma,
being caught in a situation in which he can't do anything right.
There are not many films that I ever want to buy
the video for. I do have a copy of one of my all-time favorite comedies,
Four Weddings and a Funeral, but I don't think I would want to see
a sequel to it, because I can't imagine how those characters could go to
the next level (Three Christenings, Two Divorces, and a Sex-change).
On the other hand, with this film, seeing once was quite enough, thanks,
but I can imagine all kinds of sequels. The characters are rich enough, the
complications complicated enough, that I'm sure the studio is already
contemplating … or was I just imagining things when Jack refers, near
the end of the movie, to meeting Greg's parents?
The film is relatively tame, especially considering
that this is from the director of Austin Powers. The physical comedy
gets physical but not objectionable. The minor reference to drug use is not
at all favorable. In fact, considering that this film ends up affirming both
the value of family, “the circle of trust,” and the value of young
love, which, at least since the days of Juliet and her Romeo, has flown in
the face of family values or prejudices, it is a film that almost anyone
can be comfortable with.
In fact, this is such a warm and fuzzy film that
it may be just what we need for autumn—I just turned on the heat in
the R & R offices for the first time this season. Of course, something
so cozy just may not be the perfect fit for everyone. Consider what Scott
Von Doviak, who contributes his insights and writing talents to the online
Culture Vulture
has to say.
Keep your feet dry,
your heart full of noble thoughts, and your expectations high that we'll
continue to have such pleasant films as Nurse Betty, Almost
Famous, Remember the Titans, and now, Meet the Parents.
Hollywood is making up for what it did to us this summer. We may forgive,
but don't be too quick to forget.