Hilarious, Entertaining Comedy Hit

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 2004)

"Meet The Parents" succeeds marvelously at the hands of two brilliant, engaging comic actors, Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro, period. Their amusing collaboration as would-be in-laws is nothing short of absolutely convincing and flat out hilarious! From the moment Greg is introduced to the intimidating Byrnes family, he is enthralled by every snare, every ridicule, and every miserable catastrophe that is inevitable to befriend this "critical acquaintance". Talk about the desire to impress your fiancé's family going horribly, miserably wrong! It seems that every possible mistake, every possible "gotcha", and every possible "slip of the tongue" conceived by man befalls the hapless Greg, and all he set out to do was leave a good impression to his future in-laws. This is such a hilarious premise to begin with, but the execution is bounds and beyond what you might expect in a comedy such as this. The acrimony and uneasiness between Stiller and DeNiro is so convincing, so apparent, and so amusing that they work as a team to virtually steal the show! You just couldn't imagine any other pair of actors collaborating so effectively and so hilariously in a comedy such as this, and Stiller and DeNiro are the real reasons to watch this film. All I can say is, I can't wait until their next outrageous outing in the upcoming "Meet the Fockers"; I can't see how the sequel can surpass such a hilarious and amusing film as this. From the polygraph tests, to the catastrophe with DeNiro's mother's ashes, to the striping of the cat, to the mishap with Stiller's name "Gaylord Focker", this is one classic comedy of misadventures, brilliant comic collaboration, and an ingenious barrel of genuine laughs! **** out of ****