MEET THE PARENTS (2000) / **
Directed by Jay Roach. Screenplay by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg, from a story by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke, based on an earlier screenplay by Glienna and Clarke. Starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Teri Polo. Running time: 112 minutes. Rated PG for mild language by the MFCB. Reviewed on October 23rd, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
I started to get a sinking feeling about half an hour into "Meet The Parents". I won't lie: it was a reasonably funny movie. There had already been a number of amusing little set pieces -- like one where Ben Stiller accidentally shatters an urn containing the remains of Robert De Niro's mother and De Niro's beloved cat uses it as a litter box. There was just one problem: I had already laughed at these scenes, two or three months ago, when the previews came out.
Yes, "Meet The Parents" is yet another victim of its own publicity. In between the various theatrical and television promos for the film, the ad men seem to have successfully spoiled just about every joke in the movie. Comedy relies on being unexpected; unless it's done exceedingly well, if you can see a gag coming, your reaction to it is usually muted. And that's the main problem with "Meet The Parents" -- the funny bits are either in the trailers or are so blatantly telegraphed that they can be predicted far in advance of the actual scene. (De Niro warns Stiller not to flush the toilet in the bathroom adjoining his sleeping quarters; what are the odds that, at some point, Stiller will forget and yet more chaos and embarrassment will result?)
The premise of "Meet The Parents" is straightforward, but has a lot of potential as a comedy vehicle. The unfortunately-surnamed Greg Focker (Stiller) is in love with Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), but decides he needs to seek her father's permission before he asks her to marry him. Pam's sister Debbie (Nicole DeHuff) is to be wedded soon, providing the perfect opportunity for Pam to bring Greg home to meet the parents. Unfortunately for Greg, Pam's father Jack (De Niro) turns out to be an intimidating, no-nonsense figure whose sole concern is for the best interests of his daughter. He seems to be utterly immune to Greg's affable attempts to make friends.
What follows is a mounting series of catastrophes, as Greg tries desperately to ingratiate himself to Jack. But Greg's initial little white lies soon turn into wholesale deceptions, and other forces conspire to make Jack think that Greg is about as far removed from proper son-in-law material as is humanly possible. Everything that could go wrong does -- Greg makes himself look like an ass in front of Pam's rich and multi-talented ex-fiance (Owen Wilson), inadvertently sabotages Debbie's wedding on several occasions, and so on -- and it soon appears that not only Greg's engagement plans but indeed his whole relationship with Pam is in danger.
Preview spoilage or not, "Meet The Parents" could have been a delightful little romantic comedy in surer hands. I can easily picture Jimmy Stewart in the Focker role -- or, better yet, Buster Keaton -- bumbling his way from misadventure to misadventure. But Stiller, although a good comedian, does not possess an enormous reserve of innate charisma. Actors like Stewart and Keaton generate sympathy naturally, but Stiller has yet to learn how to do this. Unfortunately, the screenplay by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg seems to operate under the assumption that we will naturally root for Greg, no matter how absurd or extreme his behaviour.
For my part, though, I never really responded to Stiller in this way. In "There's Something About Mary", we could at least see that Stiller's Ted was a nice guy who became caught up in an unfortunate set of circumstances. In "Meet The Parents", Stiller's character is defined only in terms of his affection for Pam. Is he really the right guy for her? Should Pam's parents be accepting of him? This is assumed to be the case, but is never really justified. Indeed, based on Greg's antics throughout much of the movie, I found myself siding with Jack -- I wouldn't want this guy marrying my daughter either!
De Niro is "Meet The Parents'" saving grace. He has seemed awkward in previous comedies -- "Analyze This" and "The Adventures Of Rocky & Bullwinkle" are two recent examples -- but here he has found a character that suits him to a tee. He is not parodying his own past roles (as in both the films cited), but is instead crafting something new and interesting in its own right. As Jack Byrnes, he hits all the right notes. He is neither too soft nor obscenely tough, and finds just the desired level of exaggeration to portray every beau's worst nightmare.
Director Jay Roach does an acceptable job, but lets things drag in spots, a situation further compounded by the sheer repetitiveness of the storyline. "Meet The Parents" would have benefitted from the same manic energy Roach helped bring to the "Austin Powers" movies, but ends up as too lackadaisical. Only a hilarious encounter between Greg and a flight attendant (Kali Rocha) in the movie's latter stages -- one of the few comedy bits not spoiled by any of the advertising I saw, it must be noted -- really embodies the kind of comic intensity missing from a vast proportion of the running time.
"Meet The Parents" is not a bad movie, exactly, and will no doubt appeal more to those who have avoided the trailers and therefore will encounter its major set pieces for the first time. But even getting beyond that, it is still an all-too-formulaic movie which seems designed more for the video shelves than for the big screen. Still, "Meet The Parents" does finally demonstrate that Robert De Niro can be a good comedy actor. Now he just needs to find the right movie in which to strut his stuff.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/MeetTheParents.html
_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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