"Meet the Parents" – A Pleasing Experience by Homer Yen (c) 2000
For any groom on the verge of proposing marriage to his girlfriend, there are certain rules that he needs to follow. Firstly, fill her life with happiness and romance during the courtship. Secondly, buy her a beautiful ring that glitters as brightly as her eyes. Thirdly, find the perfect moment and location to propose. Finally, the groom-wannabe should probably get her parent's blessing. Of these four, the last one can be a nightmare. Meeting parents is a rite of passage, fraught with unexpected questions, bouts of nervousness, the reality of being disliked, and the inability to make a positive impression. If you're lucky, things will go smoothly. But, if you're Greg Focker (Ben Stiller), everything will go wrong. And with a name like that, how could it not?
When Greg first meets his fiancée's father, Jack Byrnes (the grimacing Robert DeNiro), Greg immediately feels overwhelmed and is put on the defensive. When he tells Jack that he's a male nurse, the incorrigible Dad shoots back, "Not many men in your profession, huh, Greg?" It's definitely not a good start. But Greg is determined to win him over, and it's this desire that fuels the movie. He first takes small steps such as agreeing to say grace before dinner. It doesn't matter that he's Jewish. If Daddy Byrnes asks him to say grace, then that's what he's going to gamely do. "Oh God...you're such a good God", he moons. His discomfort at trying to force out a simple prayer will make you chuckle, but when Jack gives him the "DeNiro Squint" (that familiar, unsettling gaze that gives DeNiro that aura of invincibility), it's pretty hard not to grin.
Things get progressively worse for Greg. And that's too bad because he's a genuinely likable guy with a romantic heart. Eventually, he begins to try so hard that he starts to mess everything up, committing a host of gaffes that embarrass, humiliate or injure other people. It's a never-ending ordeal of missteps, miscues, and mistakes. He buys some champagne, but uncorking the bottle leads to disastrous circumstances. He tries to find Jack's missing cat. But his method of solving the problem leads only to more trouble. And there are several other episodes, each one trumping the next in outrageousness. The more our well-meaning beau screwed up, the more the audience groaned in sympathy. We liked Greg. And, we liked this movie.
"Meet the Parents" is a farcical comedy that certainly has its moments. Just sit back and watch Greg get into trouble. No matter what the situation, whether its playing a harmless game of water volleyball or sneaking a smoke on the roof of the house, things will horribly go wrong. We laugh at Greg's expense, but love often makes a person do dumb things, and Ben Stiller has the knack of playing the romantic fool. DeNiro is also affable, tough on the outside yet sentimental on the inside. Their tug-of-war is often funny, the slapstick is elaborate, and there are several topical throwaway gags (mostly targeted at the airline industry) to make this film an amusing yet smart lampoon about future in-laws from Hell.
Grade: B
S: 1 out of 3 L: 1 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
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