Undemanding fodder redeemed by good performances

Rating: 6/10 (10 September 2009)

Folks in the U.S. are apparently more sentimental than we hardier Euro types, or at least that's what Hollywood believes. So meet the Fockers has the obligatory feelgood ending when each and every loose end is neatly tied up in the final ten minutes (or it could have been eleven) and for this viewer rather left a rather artificial sugary taste to what at times was a quite inspired film. I must admit that I haven't seen the prequel Meet The Parents so I cannot say whether or not this is better, worse, as good as or as bad as that film. What I can say is that when Meet The Fockers scores, which it does do every so often, it is invariably the achievement of the five main characters. In other hands a pretty ordinary script might otherwise have made a truly dreadful film. Hoffman and Streisand in particular gell nicely as the quirky, hippy parents who son Ben Stiller loves but who he worries about so much when tight-arsed Jack is around. One nice touch was Dina, Jack's wife, who is shown to be a woman in her own right though a long-suffering wife. Overall this is par for the course, a standard Tinseltown comedy and its moments and occasional good jokes are down to the cast. Don't expect a great deal and you won't be disappointed. You'll get what this was always intended to be, undemanding fodder with a few laughs.