sad indeed

Rating: 3/10 (22 June 2005)

Had lesser talents been involved, "Meet the Fockers" would simply be another dumb comedy; the kind that relies on flushing dogs down toilets for laughs. However the talents involved happen to be Robert De Nero, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand and Blythe Danner, each having delivered indelible performances in their times. (If you an uncertain about Danner, check out "Eccentricities of a Nightingale). After watching "Meet the Fockers" the paramount question that looms is what could have lured this bunch of luminaries to a movie like this.
Well there's always money. No matter how rich people may be, big bucks are not easy to turn down. But more likely it's that almost desperate need to be in the limelight, to have a lead in a big movie. God knows Hollywood has not much to offer folk their age. Actors of their vast experience must surely know crap when they read a script. Did their prodigious egos convince themselves that they could make it work ? This is nothing new for De Nero. A while back he relinquished any attempt at a serious film career. That is not to say that actors of his class should not do comedy. (He was wonderful in "Midnight Run".) Hoffman seems for the most part like he's having fun. Streisand however, seems tense and forced in most of her scenes. It's very much a case of "what was she thinking". She who had a reputation for being so picky about her roles, returns to the screen after eight years to play an appallingly written, stereotypical overbearing Jewish mother.
Sad indeed.