As good as the first

Rating: 6/10 (30 December 2004)

Back in October 2000, Jay Roach teamed Ben Stiller with Robert DeNiro in the comedy Meet the Parents. The film was about an average man with an anything but average name that meets his girlfriend's parents for the first time. Expectations for the film were optimistic. DeNiro had hit box office gold teaming with Billy Crystal in Analyze This just one year previous and Dreamworks was hoping that their $50 million plus investment on a family comedy would pay dividends. No one expected the $330 million worldwide gross.
So, since money makes studio executives dance un-rhythmically around the Hollywood sign, it is no surprise that four years later we are again following the misadventures of Gaylord Focker (Stiller) in the apt titled sequel, Meet the Fockers.
Now in order to have a successful comedic sequel there are a few details on the checklist that need to be addressed:
Number one: Get the original stars back for a second go-round. Check. This didn't seem to be much of a problem other than finding scheduling time amongst two of the hardest actors in Hollywood (DeNiro has been in 9 movies since Meet the Parents and Stiller 10 with 6 titles this year alone). The rest of the cast including Pam and Dina Byrnes (Teri Polo and Bylthe Danner) are thrust so far into the background, that they could have been replaced without notice. As an added bonus, director Jay Roach (Austin Powers) was back behind the camera, thus making the first day of production like a reunion rather than a workday.
Number two: Advance the story. Check. At the conclusion of Meet the Parents, Focker was able to convince Jack Byrnes (DeNiro) of his sincerity towards his daughter  even though he had to go through a lie detector test to prove it. This time around, Focker introduces the two families before the wedding. Now that he has gained acceptance, can his parents win them over?
Number Three: Try to strengthen the appeal with new characters, preferably Hollywood talent. Check. In what was a real coo for the producers, the Fockers are played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand who along with DeNiro make this movie the showcase for award winning performers. Also joining the cast is a small baby that speaks sign language and a dog that will be the fodder to the Byrnes' toilet flushing cat.
And finally, number Four: Don't sway too far from what made the first film successful. Check. Unfortunately this is a check I wish the film didn't receive. The comparisons to the original are too blatant. The lie detector kit that was so prominent in the first installment is now a truth serum in the second. A pick-up football game replaces the water volleyball game and both pictures felt the need to show us bloody noses for some reason. About the only recurring idea that worked as fresh as the original is the variations of how to use Fockers in a sentence.
Most of the laughs in Meet the Fockers comes from the parental Fockers. Although it is always good to see Streisand back on screen again (especially in a role that she seems to be having the time of her life portraying), it is Hoffman's weird and wacky Bernie Focker that elevates the film to any status. Whether he is lying in front of a mobile home in protest, wiping charcoal under his eyes before the final play of a football match or explaining how the toilets work, Hoffman hasn't been this good or this funny since Wag the Dog back in 1997.
But where the strength of the bit/new characters are refreshing, it is the recurring characters and the unnecessary sub-plots that really divert this movie from rising above the crowd. And when Jack is able to go to his CIA office hidden below the bed in the mobile home, the movie sinks to a level of almost slapstick when the rest of the movie around it is better than that.
Meet the Fockers was a welcome breath of fresh comedy during the final month of the year when heavy hitting drama vow for our spending dollar. Just don't to be expecting sidesplitting laughter. Instead, you will get a warm, meaningless comedy that will without doubt produce a trilogy if the movie makes anywhere close to the money of the first.
Mother Focker anyone?
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