We have to get out of this place. It is EVIL.

Rating: 5/10 (17 May 2005)

Working in the business world, you are constantly told that by hitting your goal, you are just working to your average potential. If you exceed that goal, then you are surpassing your potential. Nearly everyday this is mentioned to me in some form or another, yet I wonder why it wouldn't apply to the business of Hollywood? The bar for Meet the Fockers was set, but for some strange reason, the actors only worked to their goal, and never exceeded it. Riding high off the hysterical Meet the Parents, I thought that this film would bring a new chapter into this "original" story, but instead director Jay Roach decided to stick with Hollywood standards and recycle the same jokes using different players. I don't know why I am so surprised, I witnessed this before when Roach directed the sequels to Austin Powers. The original film was inventive, original, and hysterical, while the other two films just seemed to recycle the same formula from that original film. The same could be seen in Meet the Fockers. From a similar plot structure, to undefined, clichéd characters, to a complete lack of humor, Meet the Fockers hit their goal, but chose not to exceed it in any way.
For a comedy film, I felt this just didn't quite have the punch from the original film. While there were a couple of lines that I found myself chuckling at, there weren't any of those "laugh-out-loud" moments that I experienced with Meet the Parents. The actors who were in the original seemed bland and really just going through the motions, while the new elements (Streisand and Hoffman) seemed over the top, nearly tipping the structure all together. There was no balance. It was almost as if director Jay Roach was asking us to forget about DeNiro and Danner, and focus more on Streisand and Hoffman. We needed a stronger, more comedic balance in this family. While I do think that there was chemistry between these four players, it was never fully matched or developed. Their jokes also make for bad comedy. Have we not learned yet that bathroom humor is a thing of the past? There seemed to be more of these than the intelligent humor reached in Meet the Parents. Secondly, how many times can we hear the word "Focker" and laugh at it. I believe that it was overused in the first film, and deeply buried in this film. If these were the two anchoring jokes for the film, we are definitely on the wrong road of comedy. Roach had a very funny film on his hands here, but strangely, he focused on repeating similar jokes from the original, ultimately lowering this film from hysterical, to humorous.
I mentioned above about how the actors were not reaching to their potential, and I do believe it to be true. DeNiro seemed bland throughout this entire film. There was no surprise or inviting element to him. Ben Stiller, literally, needs to take a break for a bit. His humor seems to be slowly fading with each film that he creates. He seems to jump head-first into the big budget films, when I really think that he could make a bigger impact on the smaller, independent pictures. Hoffman's character seemed forced. I could tell that he was having fun, in fact the whole cast was having fun, but no work was getting done. Hoffman had this one-dimensional character that only seemed alive because of Streisand's wacky shenanigans. Finally, there was the muted Teri Polo, whose character was so exciting that I nearly thought that she was dropped midway through this film. Again, I cannot state this enough, there was so much potential wasted in this film that I nearly imagined new ways to make this film as the film was still playing. Hoffman and DeNiro together should have created a match in comedy heaven, but instead "ha-ha" purgatory seemed more apt.
Finally, I would like to say that nothing in this film surprised me. I kept waiting to get to the point in the movie where I would finally say, "This is why this film was created", but it never arrived. Roach hit the potential bar, but chose not to go above it. He knew he had enough money invested in it if he continued to use repetitive jokes and situations that creativity and originality was completely thrown out the window. It was sad to witness such greats fall, but I just wish there was more to this film  not in length, but in girth. Meet the Fockers is a perfect example of Hollywood creating just to meet budgets and create revenue. It was a formidable idea, but the finished product probably never reflected this idea. I was massively disappointed.
Overall, there were some chuckles from me as I watched this film, but never any laughter. From the reviews and friends who spoke so highly of this film, I was expecting to be blown away by the possibility of a comedic sequel that worked, but perhaps I was setting the bar too high. Stiller does seem tired, as did the rest of the cast except for the newbies that never quite balanced out this picture. Everyone seemed so clichéd that you could literally pick out their characters from other comedy films from across the ages. A majority of the blame I bring on Roach's shoulders, as he needed to break his normal, tired, Hollywood recycled mold of film-making. I wasn't overly impressed with this film and would probably suggest skipping it. It carries none of the power, originality, or creative genius that Meet the Parents did.
Grade: *** out of *****