A knockabout comedy for effortless Sunday afternoon viewing

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2005)

What might have been a less than engaging follow-up to the fairly shallow if entertaining Meet the Parents, turns out to be reasonable fare, in large part due to the wholehearted performances by Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and Barbra Streisand. Ben Stiller trundles along as the rather dumb son in law to be, having put off his wedding for fear of introducing the two fearsomely mismatched sets of parents.
Robert De Niro is on quite reasonable form as the ex-CIA man who wants everything perfectly under control, ordered and predictable, including a son in law. As a failed lawyer and enthusiastic middle-aged hippie, Hoffman is married to Streisand who is a sex-therapist for seniors. Whilst the run ins of the two sets of parents are entirely predictable, they are carried off with such enthusiastic charm that it is hard not to get into the spirit of it and enjoy a few laughs. Considerably better than the lacklustre trailer would suggest, Meet the Fockers is a relaxing comedy that will fill most people's requirements for effortless Sunday afternoon viewing.