Meet the Fockers
Tags: bleak, humor

Plot synopsis:
Set two years after the events of the first film, Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Stiller) and his fiancée Pam Byrnes (Polo) decide to introduce their parents to each other. They first fly to Oyster Bay, New York, on Long Island, to pick up Pam's father, retired CIA operative Jack Byrnes (De Niro), her mother Dina (Danner) and one-year-old nephew Little Jack (the son of Bob and Debbie Banks). But rather than going to the airport as planned, Jack decides to drive the family to Miami to meet the Fockers in his new RV.
Once they arrive, they are greeted by Greg's eccentric but fun-loving and amiable father, Bernie (Hoffman), and mother, Roz (Streisand), who is a sex therapist for elderly couples. Worried that Jack may be put off by the Fockers' lifestyle, Greg convinces Roz to pretend that she is a yoga instructor for the weekend. However, small cracks begin to form between Jack and the Fockers, due to their contrasting personalities. The meet gets off to a bad start when a chase between the Fockers' sexually active dog, Moses, and the Byrnes' cat, Jinx, culminates with Jinx flushing Moses down the RV's toilet, forcing Bernie to destroy it to save Moses. Later, Bernie accidentally injures Jack's back during a game of football.
Meanwhile, Pam informs Greg that she's pregnant, and the two decide to keep it secret from Jack. Jack again becomes suspicious of Greg's integrity and quality, when they are introduced to the Fockers' housekeeper, Isabel Villalobos (Alanna Ubach), with whom Bernie reveals Greg had a sexual affair fifteen years before. Jack later takes the RV to Isabel's fifteen-year-old son, Jorge (Ray Santiago), to fix the toilet, but is disturbed by Jorge's striking resemblance to Greg, and the fact that Jorge never met his father, and jumps to the conclusion that he may be Greg's son with Isabel. Meanwhile, Roz, Bernie and Dina realize Pam is pregnant, but promise not to tell Jack. Growing envious of Bernie and Roz's active sex life, Dina consults Roz on sex tips in order to seduce Jack, but none of them work.
Greg and Jack's relationship goes off with a bang when Greg is left alone to babysit Little Jack, whom Jack has been raising via the Ferber method. Despite Jack's instructions to leave Little Jack to self-soothe, Greg cannot stand to listen to Little Jack's cries and tends to the boy to cheer him up by hugging him, letting him watch TV, acting funny and inadvertently teaching Little Jack the word "asshole." Disaster strikes when Greg answers a brief phone call from Roz, which is long enough for Little Jack to wander out of his playpen (after Jinx opens it), put on Scarface and glue his hands to a bottle of rum. After a furious argument with the Fockers and his own family (though amends are quickly made), Jack resumes his spying on Greg and sends Greg and Jorge's hair samples for a DNA test, while inviting Jorge to the Fockers' planned engagement party in the hope of getting Greg to admit he is Jorge's father. At the engagement party, Jack, who automatically assumes that Greg knew about Jorge and has deliberately been keeping him a secret from Pam, introduces Greg to Jorge. Later, when Greg denies knowing anything about Jorge, Jack does not believe him and drugs him with truth serum to make him talk. On stage, Greg uncontrollably blurts out that Pam is pregnant and that Jorge is, without a doubt, his son (in a comically Darth Vader-esque manner) before losing consciousness.
The next morning, Pam questions Greg about Jorge, and Greg does not confirm or deny that he is Jorge's father, but insists that he knew nothing about him before the previous evening. Pam believes him, and is willing to work things out with him. Jack reaches his breaking point with Greg's dishonesty and demands that Pam and Dina leave the island with him. Dina refuses and reveals Jack's actions to everyone. Everyone turns against Jack, with Pam announcing her intent to marry Greg regardless of him having Jorge with Isabel, and Dina admits that they all knew of Pam's pregnancy. A shocked and hurt Jack leaves with his grandson.
Bernie and Greg pursue Jack, but are soon tasered and arrested by an incompetent deputy sheriff, Vern LeFlore (Tim Blake Nelson), for speeding. Jack returns to defend them after being informed Greg is not Jorge's father (his real father turns out to be a baseball player who also resembles Greg), but the overzealous LeFlore tasers and arrests him as well. In their cell, Greg, Jack and Bernie are released by the local judge, Ira (Shelley Berman), who is a client of Roz and close friend of the Fockers. Before they leave, Greg asks both Jack and Bernie to stop their feud. Jack admits that he made a mistake regarding Jorge and reveals his past career in the CIA to Bernie, before apologizing for his actions and making up with the two of them.
Greg and Pam are married that weekend by Pam's ex-fiancé, Kevin (Owen Wilson), who is now an ordained interfaith minister. During the party, Jack asks Roz for some sex tips and sneaks into the RV with Dina.
During the post-credit scene, Jack watches hidden baby-cam footage of the Fockers giving attention to Little Jack over Jack's previous objections: Roz gives Little Jack chocolate, Bernie advises him to use his crying to disagree with everything Jack says, and Greg pretends to drunkenly tell Little Jack to keep it a secret that he left to smoke pot, not answer the phone, when he left Little Jack unattended and that Pam is not really pregnant and only said it so that Jack would let them get married. Greg then pretends to only just discover the camera but then after making mocking gestures at it, Greg reveals that he knew about it all along and none of the things he said before were true.

Review: There are many movies where the performances are so good that the weaknesses of the movie itself are almost oblivious.The casting in this film, bringing together the stars of the original with Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Greg aka Gaylord Focker's parents, is sensational.While I admit that I believed I would read comments and reviews about the crudeness of the material, I believe the reason this is not a typically tragic Hollywood farce is due to the strength of the performances and the interaction of the characters.As you know, the premise of the movie is very simple.
You will believe that Bernie and Roz (amazing performances by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) are Greg Focker's parents.
Ben Stiller aptly conveys this while not backing down from his love for his parents.Meanwhile, stern Jack Byrnes scans the Fockers for clues to prove why he should not like them, therefore not allowing his daughter to be married into that family.
There is a very good example of this in a scene between Teri Polo and Ben Stiller, after some new information is exposed that could possibly tear them apart once again.All in all, when you know the cast is having a good time, the audience does too.
Clearly my expectations for this movie were not high and, maybe because of that, I found "Meet the Fockers" quite funny.Don't get me wrong.
Oh  also add in some baby low-brow by Spencer and Bradley Pickeren, two adorable twins playing Little Jack.So, go low, go loose -- or don't go at all -- but if you like Ben Stiller, go see "Meet the Fockers".
De Niro, Stiller, Hoffman and Streisand all look like they're having a great time.
After convincing his fiancée's parents to allow them to marry, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) now has to deal with what happens when her ex-CIA father Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) meets his own wacky ex-hippy parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand.I really wanted to see this film when it was first announced.
It gives necessary background exposition and characterization for this film.Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller) and fiancée Pam Byrnes' (Teri Polo) wedding is fast approaching, and their parents still have not met each other.
So Greg and Pam fly from Chicago to New York to meet her parents, Jack (Robert De Niro) and Dina (Blythe Danner), before heading off with them to Miami to meet his parents, Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Mother Focker Roz (Barbara Streisand).
For just one example, it's obvious that something is going to happen to Gaylord's rental car in New York as soon as we hear him opt out of purchasing insurance, blowing it off as a "scam" to make money.On the other hand, Roach and crew make it clear from the start that they're not exactly shooting for the same style of film as Meet the Parents.
Aside from the humor, this is the crux of Meet the Fockers.Another important subtext that occurs in various guises through the film (and for which the potential was there in Meet the Parents even if it wasn't capitalized on in quite the same way) is opening up to "free", honest expression of one's thoughts, feelings and desires versus showing a "proper" public face.
Despite all the comments in others' reviews about sex-oriented humor (how could you not expect that in a film with a title like this?), or general "low-brow" humor, the comic situations here are more sophisticated in many ways than a typical "outrageous" comedy.
In this very hilarious sequel, Gaylord Myron Focker (Ben Stiller), his pregnant fiancée Pamela Byrnes (Teri Polo), his future father-in-law and retired CIA agent Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and his future mother-in-law Dina Byrnes (Blythe Danner) travel to Florida to visit Greg's parents, Bernie Focker (Dustin Hoffman) and the sex-therapist Roz Focker (Barbra Streisand).
The dispute between the "Focker-ized" and very "Zen" family and the rigid and paranoid Jack Byrnes made me burst in a "non-stop laughing" mode not only along the movie, but also after, recalling the funny scenes and gags.
The talent of Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro as comedians is very well-known by the audiences, but Dustin Hoffman surprised me how funny he is.
When the writers sat down I think the only thing discussed was how many times they could throw the word focker in the movie.
If you plan on seeing this movie I really hope you still go to stitches every time you here the word focker and do not mind a mediocre sequel with cheap laughs.
In this sequel to 'Meet the Parents,' Gaylord Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) has finally invited his fiancée's parents, ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes and his wife (Robert DeNiro and Blythe Danner) to meet his parents.
(Spoiler) Meet The Parents was one of the funniest movies of the decade, as we witnessed put-upon everyman Ben Stiller terrorized by every guy's nightmare, the over-protective father-in-law, ready to believe the worst at all times, played famously by Robert DeNiro.
Nothing really rings true in Meet The Fockers, as the conflict between Stiller and DeNiro is replaced by Greg Focker's zany parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.
Ben Stiller repeats his Along Came Polly/There's Something About Mary/Meet The Parents persona, but he gets shoved to the background a little in favor of Hoffman and Streisand, and it costs the film big.
But a movie whose cast includes Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbra Streisand would SEEM to invite discussion.
Spielberg, Geffen, and Katzenberg resulted in the demise of both the TV and music units of the company; and as for the movie-wing of the operation, that creative bankruptcy has never been more clearly demonstrated than with *Meet the Fockers*.But, as I've said, *Fockers* appears to be making a lot of box-office dough, so the sheer awfulness is likely to continue.
The first film of the series, *Meet the Parents*, at least had the chemistry between De Niro and Stiller, and an overall funny premise: the nice Jewish guy desperately trying to fit into the suburban milieu of a pathologically WASPish family.
But on the other hand, the movie isn't focused on their interpersonal dynamic anyway, choosing instead to make De Niro the put-upon character, overwhelming him with the stereotypical "earthiness" (i.e., "Jewishness", I suppose) of the Focker parents.
This diminishment of De Niro totally misses the point of what worked in the first movie, which is that he was a larger-than-life maniac whose expectations were so high that nobody, especially not Ben Stiller, could hope to match them.As for Hoffman and Streisand, they bring nothing unique to their stereotypical roles: any pair of aging actors would have sufficed.
When I went to see Meet the Fockers I was expecting to see another bad Hollywood sequel, as Ocean's twelve, but luckily it was as good as the original.
The lowest point of this film were the scenes that involved the baby (Pam's sister son), instead of spend so much time with him ,the writers should have developed more Owen Wilson's character.
It may not be the best comedy ever made, but Meet the Fockers is a very good and funny movie, with excellent performances and a good script.My rating: 9/10.
I actually liked this movie a little better than 'Meet the Parents', and it is very rare for me to prefer a sequel to the original.
Make no mistake, this was definitely not a masterpiece, the script could have been better and the last 20 minutes of the film are a little overdone and cheesy, but all in all a decent, entertaining movie.One thing I found to be a little disturbing about this film is the message it sends, especially to the younger audience: 'It is wrong to be straight, to have strong principles and self-discipline (the Byrnes), whereas it is proper to have no inhibitions, no discipline, no job (somehow everybody is rich anyway) and the world is just a happy merry-go-round (the Fockers).
One of the most prolific actors and one of the most famous singers of all time both put on poor performances and fail to provide one laugh in all the film.The "jokes" all seem tired and laboured, the situations are all dragged on too long and seeming comedy opportunities are missed completely.At the end of the film, it seems to actually get worse...
No joke.With a cast like that, it could have been so much more, so funny, but in every way this was a letdown.There was not even one laugh-out-loud thing, and only a few that even brought out a snicker.
I had seen 'Meet the Parents' and thought it was good/funny and from the ads for this one, I was expecting an entertaining comedy.
What I got was the most boring, awful, hardly funny at all piece of junk I've seen in recent years.This movie has left me with such a bad taste that I have yet to go see another movie since.Bottom line: truly awful waste of time.
Stiller and De Niro just seem to be going through the motions, and for some reason, despite the 'resolve the differences' ending of the last film, the relationship between the two is still strained.The news that a third film is being planned (Little Fockers) is distressing, to say the least, having seen what this film does with one 'comedy child' role!
Meet the Parents was a funny and original movie.
One thing that especially bothered me about this movie was Deniro's character, In Meet the Parents he was not trusting of Gaylord, and despised him.
ANother is, "How did a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Deniro, and Ben Stiller turn out so bad?" Another question is, "Why did the movie makers feel it was necessary to Be so offensive?" The Focker parents are just Jewish stereotypes, and extremely offensive.
It is pathetic to see the great heroes like Nero and Hoffman..never noticed ...haven't they seen the preview...is it money that "Pappilon and Cape fear" acting in such a cheaply filmed movies...Sad to see great heroes going down.JFK.
I mean, a movie can be funny without constantly talking about sex (main part of the lines of Dustin Hoffman were about this subject).An other reason why part I was so funny was because Ben constantly did things wrong without having the intention to do those things.
Barbra and Dustin had a good time working together and clearly knew they were better than the material, but they couldn't save this movie.And shame on Tim Blake Nelson for making crap like this.
But in THIS movie, barely a year later, we see a dog flushed down the toilet by a cat, and we hear Dustin Hoffman utter the words "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down." Not to mention Robert DeNiro talking about making "number one" and "number two." So this lightweight comedy starts in the toilet and never gets far from it.
Robert DeNiro, however, looked like he knew how stupid this movie was and wasn't crazy about being there.Grade: C-.Fun things to watch for: statue with huge phallus, Ben Stiller's one-note performance, busty housekeeper..
"Meet the Fockers" probably looked good on paper and probably had a high demand since the original was so successful, but it failed to meet expectations and forgot what made the first one such a comedic hit."Fockers" stars the original cast with the addition of Dustin Hoffman (Bernie Focker) and Barbara Streisand (Roz Focker), as the Byrnes family takes a trip down to Miami to meet Greg's parents and plan the up coming Focker-Byrne wedding.
In the sequel, the main comedy was focused on the Byrnes family meeting the Focker family, trying to hit it off and with Greg caught in the middle still trying to impress Jack with his usual antics and trying to change his parents.The main reason this movie was near unbearable was the the intelligence insulting writing, especially the gag bits, that still revolved on Jack's borderline OCD and over protectiveness of his daughter, constant sexual innuendos, the drenching use of the word "Focker", and the just plain fact the whole situation was totally implausible.
Was there really a need to write in a scene where Greg has to stop his parents from having sex with Streisand covered with Cool-Whip from the waist up like strawberry shortcake, due to the fact his future in-laws where sleeping right below, on the first night?
Would a potential father-in-law jam a syringe filled with sodium pentathol (truth serum)into his daughter's finance during their engagement party just to solidify his "circle of trust?" During the entire movie I was chomping a the bit waiting for one of these parents to grow up, which was unfortunately in the final scenes.On a lighter note, the acting was quite good with DeNiro of course but the roles played by Hoffman and Streisand were quite impressive.
I did laugh 3 times during the film, but groaned and grimaced much more.Yes it looked like they were having fun doing such silly schlock, but for this to be Ms. Streisand's return to the screen - albeit alongside Dustin and DeNiro - it's a colossal letdown verging on sacrilege..
Not even the talents of Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbara Streisand can save this disaster of a film.
Streisand is totally wasted in this movie, and Ben Stiller has the same blank non-expression all through the film.
There was some weak laughter in the crowded theater.It was just so dumb, so ham-handed, so grotesque.Even a funny set-up -- a baby gluing his hands to a bottle of rum -- was handled in such a ham-handed way that I couldn't find it funny.A bunch of youngish males were sitting behind me, and they didn't laugh, either.I hope that Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand make other movies soon.
I really liked "Meet The Parents." I thought it was great, and it is one of those rare movies that I have seen many times, but never really got old.
Meet the Fockers is the sequel to Meet the Parents, which was a very funny movie starring Robert DeNiro, Blythe Danner, and Ben Stiller, in which Greg (Stiller) has to meet his fiancé's (Teri Polo) parents, Jack and Dina (DeNiro and Danner) so he can ask Jack for her hand in marriage.
Sadly enough, Meet the Fockers, even with the extra star power of Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand as Greg's parents, fails to deliver the goods as well as it's predecessor.This movie follows shortly after the first one, and Greg has planned a trip for his fiancé and her parents to meet his family before they get married.
There were many times in this movie when it was so close, and with Dustin Hoffman and the rest of the cast, it should have been funny.There may have been lots of funny stuff in the second hour, but I was not willing to wait it out.
When they do, it almost seems as they are not looking at each other.The writing for Meet The Fockers is sophomoric, which is great for teen sex movies but it is a let down for this cast.
At least meet the parents had a few funny lines, even though the rest of the movie sucked.But i cringed the whole way through meet the fockers.
There are a few laughs, the new characters work quite well, I found Dustin Hoffman to be particularly funny; but the movie lacks the edge of the original.
Hi,I was wondering if anyone here knows the name of sum song play in the movie!It's in the scene were Ben Stiller meets his son and son on,but the Fockers have a party at some small bar and at the start of it it's playing.It's something like "And If You Feel Like Dancing Dance"!I'm not too sure but it's not the song played when Dustin Hoffman is dancing and spinning round on his head!It's at the begging.So if anybody knows or may have a clue of what the song is called could you please tell me!I'm not sure if it's a old song or what and I didn't have clue of who was playing but anyway someone might know!Thanks!.
I can understand a flaw like this in a low budget independent film or a home movie but this is a big budget film with Hoffman, DeNiro, and Streisand for goodness sake.
Meet the Fockers is a monotonous exercise that, in turn, makes its mediocre predecessor appear worth of praise.Starring: Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand, and Alanna Ubach.
I mean all that stuff about Barbra Streisand's sex-therapy teachings, humping pets and De Niro's artificial boob, plus the not-even-funny-the-first-time play on words on the title family's name.Of the big star talent on show, I actually liked Hoffman and Streisand's turns as Stiller's touchy-feely (and then some!) parents, both having a romp with their crazy characters.
In this movie, Jack seems to be looking for reasons to bring Greg down, and instead of talking misunderstandings over like a mature adult, he simply results to despicable acts and temper tantrums to get his way.In addition to the stars of the original movie, this movie, of course, adds the Focker parents, played by Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman.
I just wonder who or what made quality actors like Robert de Niro, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman sign for this film.
With the casting of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Stiller's parents, Meet The Fockers is as funny, maybe funnier than the original film.A whole lot of Focker family secrets are exposed in this comedy and with three of the biggest movie names in the past 40 years in the cast there was definitely built in box office.
DeNiro, Hoffman, and Streisand show some incredible comic timing in this film.There's nothing these two families agree on.
If you don't like Ben Stiller and his comedy then just skip the movie because that's all you are going to get..