Family sagger!

Rating: 4/10 (15 December 2009)

I haven't seen the original ("Meet The Family") and so came to all these characters afresh, which I appreciate probably wasn't the case for most of its viewers. On the strength of this, would I go back and watch its predecessor, well, maybe...
This movie is a strange mix of the infantile and mildly prurient, the producers possibly hoping that the mix comes together with a "family movie" at its centre although for me I saw the swings between these two extremes as far too obvious, not to say crude. I mean all that stuff about Barbra Streisand's sex-therapy teachings, humping pets and De Niro's artificial boob, plus the not-even-funny-the-first-time play on words on the title family's name.
Of the big star talent on show, I actually liked Hoffman and Streisand's turns as Stiller's touchy-feely (and then some!) parents, both having a romp with their crazy characters. Unfortunately De Niro (like Meryl Streep) only really has one comedic mode, the same grizzly sourpuss he initiated in "Analyze This" - you suspect that Hoffman could have played his part but not the other way round. Stiller straight-mans it for all he's worth - he's a likable enough actor, as is his hapless character, but even without knowing much about his other screen roles, he seems to be in the same comedic typecast cul-de-sac of the likes of Jim Carrey or worse Adam Sandler.
The narrative is paper-thin and seems to move along a plot-line of placing each character in the most embarrassing situation, usually with sexual connotations) especially Stiller's. And, sorry, movies which rely on babies or pets (or both) for cheap laughs just don't work for me.
No, Hoffman and Streisand apart, this movie barely left an impression on me and thankfully Ben doesn't seem to have seen fit to add another sequel to this particular series, thus sparing us the likes of Al Pacino and Julie Andrews as a psychopathic uncle and prim and proper aunt...