DVD Review: Meet the Fockers

By Patrick Luce Apr 23, 2005, 16:01 GMT

The sequel picks up two years after Meet the Parents and treads over much of the same ground as the original plot while maintaining the laughs. The basic plot of the movie is Gaylord “Greg” Focker, played again by the brilliant Ben Stiller, has to deal with even more stress than the first time around as he takes the Byrne family – this time consisting of his fiancé Pam Byrnes, played by Teri Polo, her mother Dina Byrnes, played Blythe Danner, and of course her ex-C.I.A. father Jack Byrnes, played by De Niro – to meet his own family. Also thrown into the mix this time is Jinx the cat, Moses the Focker family dog, and the Byrnes new grandson, Little Jack – who steals every scene he is in with the other actors.

After a few minor setbacks on a road trip to Focker Island, Stiller arrives with his future family in tow to unleash them to his bizarre parents, Bernie Focker, an ex-lawyer turned stay-at-home dad, and Roz Focker, a sex therapist who works out of their home.

Meet the Fockers Main Menu screen

The comedy from there goes into overdrive as the Focker’s bohemian lifestyle clashes with the ultra-conservative style of the Byrne’s family– especially that of De Niro. The two families quickly discover that they have nothing in common, and Jack Byrne’s C.I.A.- driven suspicions are raised to a fever pitch when he suspects that the Fockers are hiding a deep secret about Greg’s past and even a possible illegitimate son. Jack, who thanks to the arrival of Little Jack, has become obsessed with the idea of family legacy.

Similar to the “Circle of Trust” theme of Meet the Parents, De Niro is now worried that the Focker gene could put a chink in the Byrne genetic chain and therefore his precious Pam should not married Greg. What he doesn’t know is that Pam is already pregnant and that is the dark secret that Stiller is actually trying to hide from him.

Although the movie pretty much follows the same formula as the original Meet the Parents, it has some fresh laughs - mostly thanks to the oddball behavior of Hoffman and Streisand.***image5:Center***

The problems that Stiller experienced with Jinx the Cat in the first film have been replaced by a whole set of new situations between the bumbling Greg and Little Jack. Those scenes, such as when De Niro comes home to find Little Jack watching Scarface and glued to a half-empty bottle of rum, are some of the funniest moments in the film.<!--page-->

Meet the Fockers Special Features menu

The only thing that doesn’t work in the movie is De Niro’s character, and I never thought I would say that about the actor. Instead of playing the straight man, De Niro has become almost as nutty as Stiller and his parents thanks to Jack’s obsession with his grandson. His character suffers because of the change and some of the laughs are lost because he doesn’t come off as intimidating as he did in the first movie. The one thing that illustrates this change more than anything is Jack’s new method of feeding his grandson while the boy’s mother is away.

Instead of just giving the baby a bottle, Jack has developed a synthetic breast, molded from the actual mother, to help Little Jack avoid any nipple confusion. While it is hilarious the first time De Niro turns around wearing the device and sporting one boob, it becomes old by the end of the movie and is used too many times as a cheap gag.

Stiller samples Jack’s unique feeding method

For all of the films faults and retold jokes from the first film, the sequel does manage to bring as many laughs as Meet the Parents, and is entertaining. The addition of Hoffman and Streisand was brilliant casting, and all the elements that made the first movie funny are still in Meet the Fockers.

The DVD comes loaded with special features including 65 bloopers, 20 deleted scenes, an extended version of the movie, a Fockers’ family portrait, Inside the Litter Box: Behind the Scenes with Jinx the Cat, The Manary Gland, the Adventures of a Baby Wrangler, and commentary by Jay Roach.

The extended version of the film contains scenes that were cut from the theatrical version cut back into the movie. This feature didn’t work for me because, similar to the first X-Men DVD release, the new scenes pause the movie at the beginning and end of each cut. It would have added to the movie if they had just been cut smoothly with the film. Instead, they become more of a distraction rather than something you can enjoy.

The deleted scenes and blooper reels are almost as funny as the movie itself, and demonstrate how the cast really had a good time on the set. It is always fun to watch such legends as Hoffman and De Niro messing up their lines and losing their composure on the set.

Hoffman dries Moses after his dip in the toilet

The other features, such as the behind the scenes look at Jinx and the Manary Gland, are meant more to provide some additional laughs than to be taken really serious. The adventures of a Baby Wrangler was interesting to me just because it shows how difficulties of working with children in a movie.

Overall, Meet the Fockers is not as good as Meet the Parents. A lot of the jokes are the same, and the entire film seems to follow the same formula. It is, however, still a very funny film with a great cast of actors. It also doesn’t leave you dreading Meet the Baby that has to be coming somewhere down the line. I would recommend the movie to any fan of the first movie or anyone who likes a comedy with plenty of slapstick and outrageousness.

Meet the Fockers is now available in the US via Amazon. It will be available on May 16th in the U.K. and you can pre-order at Amazon.UK.