One of the best comedies of the millennium

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2005)

When I first heard about this pairing coming together for this movie, I was pretty excited. Even though he's starting to bug me now, Ben Stiler is one of the best comedy actors of the last 15 years. Put him together with in my opinion the best actor ever in DeNiro, and give them a half decent script, and hilarity should follow. DeNiro has done some terrible comedies, most notably the "Analyse This" series, two movies based around a "emotionally fragile" mafia boss. C'mon! "Meet the Parents" focuses on Greg (Stiller) and girlfriend Pam going to see Pam's parents in the hope of softening them up for a marriage proposal. Greg is understandably nervous and when a few things start going wrong, he begins to break. The movie is full of brilliant one liners, sight gags, tragedy gags and lots more. Most of it is based around some dark or unlikely events which nonetheless have you in stitches. There's also a fine cameo by Owen Wilson, playing Pam's ex.
The teaming of DeNiro and Stiller works brilliantly and this has to be one of the great comedies of the 2000's.
WARNING: Do not see the sequel to this "Meet The Parents 2" under any circumstances. It is a pure cash in on the first and very little effort went into the script. One of the worst sequels ever. I think I laughed twice.