A very serious, relatable story squandered

Rating: 4/10 (6 July 2015)

Is there anything more nerve-wracking or heart-racing than meeting your significant others parents for the first time? This seems to be more of an obvious fear for the male in a heterosexual relationship than it is a woman's; the desire to make a presence that's simultaneously meaningful and respectful, but not too brazen, is a tricky dance to accomplish and the anxiety that accompanies such an event is usually too much to even begin to adequately articulate. One winds up overthinking everything to the point of either saying something they didn't mean to say or feeling like they have just made a complete fool of themselves in front of the person they love and her own family.
I suppose I can rest easy knowing that writers Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg have made a "worst case scenario" film about the subject, which effectively makes almost any evening spent with the parents of your significant other seem desirable and successful in comparison. Jay Roach's Meet the Parents is the kind of film that takes those fears and persistent worries and etches them into a film that ups the stakes so high that, after a while, it becomes difficult to laugh given how far the film has fallen from its own sense of realism. it takes a realistic and common fear and repeatedly throws so many incredulous situations towards it, turning it into a farce, that, by the end, it's not only hard to take the film seriously, but the characters as well.
We meet Gregory Focker (Ben Stiller), a male nurse who has been in a relationship with Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo) and is working to execute the perfect marriage proposal as soon as he gets off work. Just before he's about to pop the big question, Pam gets a call from her sister that she is now engaged, right after her fiancée asked Pam's father for her hand in marriage. While Pam claims it isn't necessary to do such a thing, it's a sweet, traditionalist gesture. As a result, Greg keeps his plans under the wraps and agrees to go to Pam's family's home in Long Island for the wedding.
Upon losing his luggage on the flight, Greg meets Pam's father Jack (Robert De Niro) and her mother Dina (Blythe Danner). Right off the bat, Jack is cold and offputting to Greg, emphasizing Greg's less-than-positive view of cats and his own career choice of being a nurse. This sets the tone for what will be the next few days - awkward, uncomfortable interactions that will revolve around Greg trying to please Jack, but, in the end, only resulting in frustration or anger on Jack's behalf. Things only get intensified when Greg winds up meeting Kevin (Owen Wilson), Pam's ex-fiancée who is helping organize her sister's wedding.
Meet the Parents has a committed cast of greats, starting with De Niro and Stiller, the two obvious, and even making strong uses of Polo and Danner, who transcend supporting roles and have a few of their own moments to shine. Consider Polo's character consistently trying to tow the lines of loyalty to her father and express her love for Greg, while Danner's character's cheeriness is usually diminished by the sternness of her husband. The glaring effects of the male characters on the female characters is an interesting dichotomy, especially seeing as the female characters are the whole reason everyone is brought together.
Other than that, and some surface relatability based on the basic premise of the film rather than the actual details, Meet the Parents is one long sitcom. The film houses a barrage of overblown sight gags, caricatures instead of characters, and a case of "maximum antics, minimum laughter," where the writers continue to dogpile awkward scenarios on the characters while forgetting to humanize the characters in order for the gags to actually work. This is less a film and more an assortment of asinine events that work to beat the audience down with slapstick and a great deal of comedy that is almost too desperate to be funny.
Meet the Parents will get empathy points from many, but the points it receives from its obvious brand of comedy should be relatively minimal. There's an appalling lack of human interest here outside of the film's concept, which is a big problem when you have a film that has the ability to resonate very deeply with people. Many of us have been in Greg's situation and many of us have found ourselves to be the worst enemy at times, but these elements, while substantial and ripe for exploration, can even be taken in a haphazard manner.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson. Directed by: Jay Roach.