Meet the Parents

The time has come for "Greg" (Ben Stiller) to meet the parents of his girlfriend "Pam" (Teri Polo). He wants to marry her, indeed he even buys a ring - but when the airline makes him check in his bag, then lose the thing and a baby throws up over his shirt he might be forgiven for thinking he'd be better of staying at home. Nope, he perseveres and meets her folks - "Jack" (Robert De Niro) and "Dina" (Blythe Danner) and now his troubles really do begin. Rather than just the usual charming family repartee, "Greg" finds himself under a microscope of penetrative inquisition from his would-be in-law, and it gradually emerges that he has maybe held back on a few truths with "Pam" and he does (or doesn't) like cats. He's also a male nurse called "Focker" - further facts which don't really helps his cause, either. As the weekend progresses, "Greg" lurches from the frying pan to the fire, trashes a sentimental urn, get's stitched up by her brother "Denny" (Jon Abrahams) and I think if it'd been me, I'd have abandoned ship however much I might have loved the woman. Danner always manages to impose herself gently in comedy, her facial expressions and demeanour adding an approving or disapproving look that speaks volumes, and here she works well with De Niro whose controlling behaviour is really the source of much of the humour here. It's not laugh out loud funny, and there's far too much dialogue, but when De Niro is at his most controllingly mischievous, then this is worth a watch. Who doesn't like a bit of Peter, Paul & Mary too?