Slapstick? More like Dipstick

Rating: 2/10 (17 April 2005)

The Fockers has had a long run in New Zealand movie houses, and good reviews, and since I'm hearing impaired, visual humour appeals. The first few minutes were kind of funny, and intriguing, why was Greg and his lady being treated so generously by airline people? The introduction of Little Jack and his "signs"(were these computer generated? if not the kid playing the part knows sign language) also held promise.
From then on, it was mostly downhill. No, it was all downhill. Maybe Kiwis find old folks being taught kundalini sex exercises somehow exotic? Maybe they've got fond memories (the audience was mostly older folk) of Streisland and Hoffman in their younger days?
I thought the actors did their best, all bar De Niro. His was a key role (obviously) and he just wasn't up to it - the comedy for want of a better word. The actor for that role needed to be a caricature of an ex FBI man, but played straight, not grimace grotesquely. Danny De Vito would be my number one choice, or the tall thin guy who played the crooked cop in L.A. Confidential, and also took a lead role in Six Feet Under.
I just about managed to stay awake till the end. Was it only 115 minutes long. It felt like three hours.