The Moose Hole - 'Focker'ed Up!

Rating: 6/10 (16 January 2005)

The story for Meet the Fockers no where near meets the magnificence or the brilliant humor of the original. Unlike Meet the Parents, in which the filmmakers simply ran with newfound ideas and allowed the storyline to flow consistently with little interruption, the sequel forces too much down the throats of its audience. It acts in the same way as the finale to The Matrix trilogy did in that the fanfare had built up so many ideas and theories as how it should be done that by the time it was released, no matter what would have been done or not, it was bound to disappoint someone. Sadly enough, this is the card Meet the Fockers is dealt having been released so long, nearly four years, after the original surprise hit.
Both Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller return to the roles they made famous four years ago, Jack Byrnes, the ultra-conservative recently retired CIA agent, and Greg "Gaylord" Focker, the male nurse vying for Jack's daughter's hand in marriage. They work well together once again but not quite at the level they did in the original film. Perhaps since the audience knows how they act against each other already, there are not that many surprises left and therefore less tension and humor to present to the audience. Seeing the Focker family in all their humiliating glory is the most prominent reason why this film should never have made it off the drawing board. Sure, it is quite humorous to simply imagine all the possibilities that could have been developed from this group, but when actually taking the initiative and presenting them in fresh and blood forms in front of our faces, it turns out not to be quite as pleasing as we would have thought. Choosing Dustin Hoffman for the role of Greg's father, Bernie Focker, a former lawyer and stay-at-home father, may have seemed like quite an odd choice at first, especially considering he has not had much experience in the way of flat-out comedies such as this, but now we can see why the decision was made  the man is absolutely hilarious. Who knew a talented actor such as Hoffman had this sort of comedic talent inside of him? After witnessing his performance in this film, he should seriously consider doing more of these types of films as he works quite well at least in this character. Bernie acts as a direct representation of some of the best, if not the most blundering, aspects Greg possesses. He always seems to be doing his best to please everyone but no matter what he does or how hard he tries, it perpetually ends up going badly or embarrassing for someone. The exception here is that Bernie is more cool, collected, and sound about these types of situations then Greg is. For some reason or another, everyone on the planet, Ben Stiller above everyone else, thought Barbra Streisand should play the role of Greg's mother, Roz Focker, the sexual therapist for the elderly, in the highly anticipated sequel. Whether they truly desired to see her perform once again on screen for the first time in nearly nine years or if they had to seriously consider the most annoying and embarrassing liberal hippie and her name just kept automatically coming up, the point remains the same the she works only in limited capacities. Barbra, in a way representing the film as a whole, is laughable, but not so funny as to make her performance all that memorable or worth the price of repeated admission. Most of her jokes are sexual in nature and though some of them are decent gut-busters to begin with, they grow quite old as the film drags on until a certain point where they are no longer funny and are just disgusting.
Overall, the sequel to the 2000 comedy smash-hit is not quite as horrific as the filmmakers certainly could have made it, but neither is it as exhilarating and original as the first film was either. Here is yet another prime example as to why Hollywood should be prevented from being so God damn greedy as to ruin a practically pristine and memorable stand-alone film as Meet the Parents with an unnecessary and vapid sequel. After such dismaying disasters as The Whole Ten Yards and Analysis That  another film starring Robert De Niro  you would think that studio executives would have gotten that message not to bite off more then they can chew. Meet the Fockers is so testable that it should be placed on a pike in front of the entrance of every movie studio in the state of California as a constant terrifying reminder that there are some things in this world that should never be tempered with  tangible stand-alone films most of all. Honestly, the only audience members that may ever receive personal satisfaction from this lack-luster sequel in any way whatsoever will be hardcore conservatives knowing that from now on they can refer to Barbra Streisand, the queen of the banshees in Hollywood, as Mother Focker, which is worth more then anyone will know. But considering they would have to endure seeing at least twenty minutes worth of footage with her cleavage blazoned on the screen, not to mention paying money to gouge out their own eyes, they do themselves a favor and not waste their money, or their eyes, on this. True, not all of Meet the Fockers is a complete disaster. In fact it does offer quite a few laughable moments but unfortunately most audience members will find themselves forcing a laugh rather then just letting loose as real comedies should have you do.