Cross dressing is verboten in your girl friend's house. Champagne is not sold in drug stores on Long Island. Former CIA operatives have a soft spot for Mom. Keep your briefs together during water volley ball. Director Roach presides over the film with a stylish hand.
Timing is excellent, settings on target, and the details enhance the action.
The script by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg milk the lexicon of suburban life with the delicious skill of a practiced farm maid. The actors have a field day under the sharp comic direction of Jay Roach. Ben Stiller is a natural as Greg Focker. Stiller's slightly off-center appearance and his ethnic energy make almost any situation believable. Comedy comes natural to Stiller.