Meet the Parents

Starring Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson. Written by James Hertzfield and John Hamburg. Directed by Jay Roach.

I don’t understand what the fuss was all about. I hated this film. Mostly because it was stupid and mean-spirited. I found the jokes to be about as funny as having a bowel movement, which I suppose if you find having a bowel movement funny, then you’ll find this film funny.

Stiller plays the entirely unlikable Greg Focker, a male nurse who’s living with Pam (Teri Polo). Greg decides to marry Pam, but before his has the chance to pop the question, her sister announces her intentions to marry. Greg and Pam then have to go to visit her parents, played by DeNiro and Blythe Danner. Hijinks ensue when it turns out that DeNiro is actually a former CIA agent, and is none to willing to let Greg marry his darling daughter.

As with most movies of this type, the best gags are in the trailer. I think I laughed about twice. It’s one thing to have potty humor in your film, but it’s actually another thing to ACTUALLY HAVE feces and other bodily fluids have a major role in the jokes.

I normally like Stiller, and I actually go out of my way to catch his flicks, but when I saw the trailers, I thought I’d give it a pass, especially when it went on to make a mint at the box-office (just of $166 million, over three times the budget of $55 million). Either DeNiro got hit a few too many times while making Raging Bull, or he just can’t choose films anymore. His most recent films have been this one, 15 Minutes, Flawless, and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. These films he made coming off of a terrific performance in Ronin, and I don’t even want to mention Analyze This, simply because I’d like to keep my appetite for lunch.

Bleech.

My Rating: * ½ out of 5 stars.