Meet the Parents
Tags: bleak, comedy, humor, entertaining, stupid

Plot synopsis:
Gaylord "Greg" Focker is a male nurse living in Chicago. He intends to propose to his girlfriend Pam Byrnes, but his plan is disrupted when he learns that Pam's sister, Debbie's fiance had asked Pam's father for permission before proposing. Greg and Pam travel to Pam's parents' house to attend Pam's sister's wedding. Greg hopes to propose to Pam in front of her family after receiving her father's permission. But this plan is put on hold when the airline loses his luggage, including the engagement ring.
At the Byrnes' home, Greg meets Pam's overbearing father Jack, mother Dina and their cat, Jinxy, a seal-point peke-faced Himalayan with an all-black tail. Jack takes an instant dislike to Greg and openly criticizes him for his choice of career as a male nurse and whatever else he sees as a difference between Greg and the Byrnes family. Greg tries to impress Jack, but his efforts fail after he recites the lyrics to "Day by Day" from "Godspell" when asked to say grace at dinner (as he is Jewish), making up a story of milking a cat, finding out Pam was engaged and accidentally breaking an urn holding the remains of Jack's mother which Jinx then urinates in. Greg becomes even more uncomfortable after he receives an impromptu lie detector test from Jack and later learns from Pam that her father is a retired CIA counterintelligence officer.
Meeting the rest of Pam's family and friends, Greg still feels like an outsider. Despite efforts to impress the family, Greg's inadvertent actions make him an easy target for ridicule, disdain and anger: He accidentally breaks Debbie's nose during a volleyball mishap; uses a malfunctioning toilet that floods the Byrnes' back yard with sewage; sets the wedding altar on fire and inadvertently leads Jack to think he is a marijuana user. He also feels inferior to Kevin, Pam's ex-fiance who, unlike him, receives nothing but warmth and friendliness from Jack. Later, Greg loses Jinx and replaces him with a feral cat whose tail he spray paints to make him look like Mr. Jinx while desperately seeking Jack's approval.
After a failed attempt to beat Jack home from a restaurant to hide the evidence, (and the feral cat destroyed the living room) the entire Byrnes family, including Pam, agrees that it is best for Greg to leave. Unwillingly, Greg goes to the airport where he is detained by airport security for making a scene on the plane while trying to stow his recently-found bag into the overhead storage hold (and for saying "bomb"). Back at the Byrnes household, Jack tries to convince his wife and Pam that Greg would be an unsuitable husband. But he receives retribution from both Pam and Dina, who reminds him that he is only caring about himself, not Pam's happiness, and that he was also equally vicious to Kevin until Pam ended her relationship with him. Jack realizes that Pam truly loves Greg. Jack rushes to the airport, convinces airport security to release Greg and brings him back to the Byrnes household.
Greg proposes to Pam. She accepts, and her parents agree that they should now meet Greg's parents. After Debbie's wedding, Jack views footage of Greg recorded by hidden cameras that he had placed strategically around their house.

Review: Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is a male nurse, poised to propose to the woman he loves, Pam (Teri Polo) but the right thing to do would be to ask her father's permission first.
Her father (Robert De Niro) isn't quite what Greg has been led to believe, and right from the start he seems to have it in for his daughter's partner.De Niro and Stiller play off each other brilliantly, and both of them give fine comic performances, with a surprising level of depth for comedy characters.
Pam's parents, Jack and Dina Byrnes (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) learn about Greg's unusual last name, that he does not like cats, and is a male nurse, all facts that do not settle well with Pam's father.
The movie does not completely develop romantic chemistry between Ben Stiller and Teri Polo, thus there were times when I simply did not believe the two were really in love.
Robert De Niro is perfect in a role he was born to play, with serious attitude that results in the main portion of the film's funny moments.
Our story begins when a male nurse named Greg Focker (Stiller) is about to propose to his girlfriend, Pam (Teri Polo); unfortunately, things come to worst and before Greg can say, "Will you marry me?" he finds out that Pam's father, Jack (Robert De Niro) approved of Pam's sister's fiancé because he asked Jack's permission to marry her first.
People are yelling at Greg to do something, and when he finally does it, it backfires and everyone looks at him like he's stupid, even though he did exactly what he was told.That's the kind of thing that makes this movie so great--not only is it extremely funny, but we can easily identify with the main character countless times throughout the film.
Full of classic lines that my wife and I constantly use on daily bases, like "if it has teat then you can milk it, puff the magical dragon, the circle of trust and so on..." Meet The Parents is full of those phrases that makes me laugh every time I think about it.
In Meet The Parents the whole story is basically about the relation between Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro.
Co-writers Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke, along with director Jay Roach, have managed to make a film that is often laugh-out-loud hilarious without ever becoming overbearing or obnoxious, the style of choice for far too many other comedies made in this day and age.
Part of the reason is that we feel so much empathy for Greg, the best Everyman character I have seen in a movie in a long time.
Their moments together are genuinely touching at times, particularly in the film's closing stretches.Kudos go out to everyone involved for making `Meet the Parents' one of the slyest, wittiest and flat-out funniest movies to come our way in a long, long time..
Most of the funny moments in 'Meet the Parents' involve painful scenes with Ben Stiller.
Most of this movie is wonderfully predictable, and aside from a few deliberately clumsy drug references and maybe a sexual innuendo or two, it was good clean fun from start to finish.Most of all, I'd say it's a good date flick to prepare yourself for the inevitable agony of meeting your own boyfriend/girlfriend's parents.
While there are plenty of funny gags to go round, they are really just dressing on an already funny premise: the story of an underdog who just cannot fit in to a judgmental bourgeois family no matter how hard (and usually because of how hard) he tries.Ben Stiller shows his acting diversity (while on a different movie set playing the terminally airheaded Zoolander) as a dorky protagonist whose best intentions are always poorly timed or received completely the wrong way.The antagonists, in this case, everybody else in the movie, tread the fine line of comedy and irritation.
Like I said earlier, Robert De Niro is the anchor that makes this possible, and any casting short of him (well, or maybe Christopher Walken) would have resulted in the film falling apart due to the demands it puts on our willingness to accept a complete jerk like the character he plays.
Other similar films focusing on severely dysfunctional families trying to act normally include De Niro & Billy Crystal in "Analyze This", a great Andy Garcia movie called "City Island" and--this may be a stretch but--I think fans of "Meet the Parents" would really enjoy the original British "Death at a Funeral" (2007).
Well scripted and maintained through out the entire story, this one with Owen Wilson was a spectacle to look and laugh and cringe at all at the same time while feeling awkward and gawky and nervously smiling with the rest of the nervous fiancée's out there.This was a one of a kind fun-filled slightly bend out of shape picture with an original feel, that makes it not equal to all the other cinema fare out there that 'comes and goes' with little staying power.Jay Roach is a cool and talented director.
Rating-7/10 Meet the Parents is a comedy and almost kind of romance movie that boats a stellar cast and some funny lines.
Teri Polo as Pam, Greg's finance, is well cast and so even is Blythe Danner including people like Owen Wilson too to create a first rate bunch of characters.
Now Meet the Parents isn't the funniest film you will ever see, if it is then there is much else out you need to see, but it does stand tall when it comes to comedy, and laughs can be had a plenty everywhere.
I think although it is a typical comedy type plot, the jokes and the cast involved+ some memorable scenes create a movie that is new when it comes to jokes and even maybe creates a new type of Rom-Com.On the jokes side again, pretty much any scene where it goes wrong for Greg is funny, whether he is hurt, hurts somebody or basically does something to destroy something, It makes not only Stiller's reactions funnier, but also how the cast react, just hilarious on that side of things.
Nevertheless I can't recommend this more, whether you like Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro or any of the cast involved, your sure to have a great time and laugh a lot along the way..
"Meet the Parents" is a hilarious movie which has to do with a male nurse who is getting to know the parents of his girlfriend and there his nightmare begins because her father is a very suspicious man who wants the best for his daughter.
I also liked it because of the interpretation of Ben Stiller who plays as Gaylord 'Greg' Focker (boyfriend of Pam) and I believe that he made one of his best interpretations.
Another good interpretations made by Robert De Niro's who plays as Jack Byrnes (suspicious father) and he was simply outstanding, Teri Polo's who plays as Pam Byrnes (daughter of Jack) and of course Owen Wilson who plays as Kevin Rawley an old boyfriend of Pam.Lastly I have to tell you that "Meet the Parents" is one of the best comedy and romance movies which is really hilarious and I believe that everyone have to watch it because it's really worth seeing..
Meet The Parents is a brilliant movie with a terrific storyline,cast,characters,plenty of cringe moments and some very funny scenes that make this such a great movie,and some of Ben Stillers finest.There where two more sequels so far,Meet The Fockers and Little Fockers,a lot of critics feel they didn't live up to the original,but I think there all great and that they continue to make more.Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is going to meet his girlfriend Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo) parents.He is prepared for her sisters wedding and just know her parents will like him,however he didn't expect her to have a father like Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro),and things don't go exactly as planned for Greg..
Meet The Parents is a comedy.Now, keep telling yourself this while you sit through the film, otherwise it can become very easy to forget that you're supposed to be laughing and not slipping in and out of consciousness.The plot could be written on the back of a postage stamp (as could the details of every successful joke), the acting quite frankly ain't upto much and the script could have been written by an 8 year old.The only positive comment I could possibly make about this film is that it was quite short.0 out of 10..
But then again, 'Meet the Parents' is about the tension between Greg and Jack and both De Niro and Stiller do well with their comic abilities.
But, in spite of the flaws there are a few genuine funny moments and I liked the 'race' scene towards the end, Greg's problems with the flight attendant, and Greg's attempt to propose to Pam at the beginning of the movie.
I hate to see the "hero" of a movie being a character who is chronic liar (Stiller's "Greg Focker") but that's not unusual in the world of films.
Meet the Parents (2000) Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Nicole DeHuff, Jon Abrahams, James Rebhorn, Phyllis George, Owen Wilson, D: Jay Roach.
The casting is pretty standard having Stiller (who is very hit and miss in a lot of his films) as our main guy with Robert De Niro who continues to destroy his once gracious career as the spiteful father.
Meet the Parents is a good movie.Directed by Jay Roach.And the actors for the movie are perfectly picked.Everybody fits in his own character.It is a story about the love but this love is a tough job.The main character is Greg Focker.He is a nurse in the literally meaning of the word.His girlfriend is Pam who is a teacher of little children.They are both in love.The problem is that Greg has to live in Pam's family's house.And her family is not that good.Actually her mother is very nice woman who just want to help for the happiness of her daughter.The problem is Jack.Her father.He is a man of his word.He loves his daughter and he can kill if somebody hurt her.The meeting begins good but the first mistake that Greg makes is that he says,he doesn't like cats and then a fluffy little cat goes in the hands of Jack.There are many jokes and fun.Even some intensive moments.The movie is one great big fun.Robert De Niro himself is the strict father and Ben Stiller is Greg.I give this movie 8 cause it is really a classic in the comedy genre.Enjoy..
Most of the jokes and situations are predictable but they are executed so well that it's funny nevertheless.The key element of the movie are the two male lead characters played by Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro.
Also Greg's run-in with the flight attendant is great.Maybe the thing that really did it for me in this movie is that, despite their weirdness, Pam's family is completely believable and real.
Actually, that's not strictly true - the plot is actually realized pretty well; it's the supposed timing and unrelenting nature of the events that, for me, make this film no better than mediocre.The premise is simple: About to propose to Pam (Teri Polo), his girlfriend, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) realises he's expected to ask her father's permission first.
well i will keep my review simple as i am not very good in written English.Meet the parents is a wonderful movie and it can be regarded as a classic as i have watched it in 2011 after 11 years of release.the cast is beautiful especially Ben Stiller,Robert De Niro and Teri Polo.Teri Polo is a beautiful actress and i am surprised that i haven't seen much of her in other movies.it was really great to see Robert De Niro in a comedy and it has been proved that he can act in a any role and will produce a masterpiece.Owen Wilson has a very short role but as always he was a wonderful addition to the movie.it's really difficult to express your exact thoughts in words but Meet the Parents is a kind of movie which you will enjoy every time you want to see a comedy with a beautiful touch of romance..
This is a film that takes misunderstandings and awkwardness to new levels with a Jewish male nurse named Greg Focker (Stiller) visiting his girlfriend's parents' house during a wedding about to take place for her sister.
He attempts to fit in to the social circle of this traditional family, who has their own set of rules and specific ways of living that keeps him thinking on his toes and attempting to fake it till he makes it.Greg tries to make an impression with the overly protective father, Jack Byrnes, played by Robert De Niro, who has a clandestine past and is growing suspicious due to mix-ups that put Greg in a negative light for being the right man for his prized daughter.
Great Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro Comedy.
Greg "Gaylord" Focker played by Ben Stiller is a male nurse who is invited to meet is fiancé to be Pam's parents so that he can get their permission.
Ben Stiller (There's something about Mary) stars as Greg Focker, a simple nervous soul put in a vulnerable position when his girlfriend takes him to meet her parents.
I often felt embarrassed for the characters as this film has plenty of those 'awkward' silence moments none of us want to be involved in when meeting the parents but the fact that this conforms to every person's nightmare by the central character Stiller making a complete hash of everything is comic genius.
Synopsis.Meet the parents conforms to the comedy genre brilliantly and through the sensationally stereotyped Robert De Niro as the dominant intimidating father the film is a joy to watch.
Best Film Of The Decade So Far. This so far is the greatest film of the decade, it is great.Robert De Niro I personally would of thought he would have been too serious an actor for this film but was a great person to have as Jack Byrnes.Ben Stiller also was a great asset to the film although the name Gay Lord Focker is a bit over the top because i assume very few people would in their right mind would call their child Gay Lord and those few have a very small chance of being blessed with the surname Focker that was the only thing i could find wrong with the movie.The supporting cast did a very good job as well Teri Polo as Pamela Martha Byrnes soon to be Focker(ha ha) Blythe Danner as Dina Byrnes, Owen Wilson as Kevin(Pam's ex but what seems to be like Jacks best pal)and many more make up a good cast for an even better film!!!.
The only thing that made me believe this one was better, was because my friends didn't like the sequel all that much either.In this movie we see Gaylord 'Greg' Focker (Ben Stiller) who wants to ask his girlfriend (Teri Polo) to marry him.
Normally meeting the parents of your fiancée shouldn't be too bad, but Jack Byrnes is a former CIA agent who never has liked any of his daughter's boyfriends and Greg Focker won't be an exception to that rule.
Even though I'm not a big Ben Stiller fan (I hated "Zoolander" and wasn't all too keen on "Duplex" and "Meet the Fockers"), I must say that he did a great job in this movie.
Anything that can go wrong goes wrong when Greg Fokker (Ben Stiller) meets his father in law (Robert De Niro).
Ben Stiller plays the unfortunately named Greg Focker, who is on his way to meet the parents of the woman he loves.
Greg is desperate to make a good impression on his girlfriend's parents and his general anxiety turns into full-blown terror when he meets Pam's father, Jack Byrnes.
Meet the parents is a movie about a male nurse named Greg Focker who wants to propose to his girlfriend.
The story is about a man, Greg Focker played by Ben Stiller, who sets out to gain approval to wed from the father of his girlfriend, Pam Byrnes played by Teri Polo.
Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is a happy male nurse who has a great girlfriend Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo).
This film was great but I needed some time to get use to idea that Robert De Niro is playing in comedy.
Meet the Parents is the original of the two movies that deal with the relationship of Gaylord 'Greg' Focker (Ben Stiller) and Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo).
Robert De Niro is normally known as a serious actor and even though he may come off as a little serious in this movie, he definitely is funny as hell when he plays Jack Byrnes.
Ben plays Greg Focker, a male nurse who after becoming engaged to a schoolteacher (Teri Polo) nervously agrees to accompany her to her sister's wedding in order to meet his future father-in-law (DeNiro).
Anyway, Gaylord "Greg" Focker(Stiller) is a nurse that wants to propose to his girlfriend Pam Byrnes(Polo) but first must meet her parents.
Don't get me wrong; some parts of "Meet the Parents" were very funny, but the movie as a whole seemed like a slow train wreck.I was waiting throughout the movie for Ben Stiller to be a man and stand up for himself while all of his girlfriend's family dumped on him.
it's not funny at all and ben stiller is so annoying in it...come on i can't believe people actually liked this movie.
Ben Stiller is about to meet the parents of his girlfriend for the very first time and he is about to ask permission to marry the daughter of de Niro.