U.S. Release Date: 10/6/00
Running Length: 1:47
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mature themes, sexual innuendo, mild profanity)
Cast: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Nicole DeHuff, Jon Abrahams, James Rebhorn, Phyllis George, Owen Wilson
Director: Jay Roach
Producers: Nancy Tenenbaum, Jay Roach, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal
Screenplay: James Herzfeld and John Hamburg
U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
Cinemastuff Rating: *
My God, this movie sucked. It is astounding that the movie got as much publicity and positive reaction that it did. There is not one laugh in this movie. OK, I got a little bit of a chuckle when the cat pees in the ashes of the dead grandmother, but that was it and I felt guilty for laughing afterwards.
It is hard to find anything good about this movie. It was predictable and unoriginal. To make up for that it was poorly written and the onscreen talent was completely wasted. I am a huge fan of both Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, but they are completely wasted in this movie. I got more laughs out of watching De Niro in "Ronin" than I did from this movie. I hate to typecast an actor, but I think De Niro should stick to drama. Maybe he made this film because "Analyze This" was successful. That movie was a little bit funny. Indeed, it was a laugh riot next to this piece of work.
Every scene in this movie is about Ben Stiller making an ass out of himself in front of his girlfriend's father, De Niro. This sort of thing could be funny, but it is not. It plays out like a really bad sitcom that goes on for two hours with no commercials. And they use a bunch of stupid sitcom cliches that may have been a little bit funny the first time you saw them. However, in the 21st Century we could use something a little bit more original.
Try this one. Ben Stiller loses the family cat. He tries to look for it and when he can't find it, he tries to pass off a different cat from the pound as the real thing. Ho ho ho! What wit! I bet the cat is going to cause some mischief! What a surprise when it does. Every scene may as well have begun with the caption: "In this scene, Ben Stiller makes a fool of himself."
Also, Ben Stiller is a Jew among Christians in this movie. As we all know, Jews are always uncomfortable around Christians, especially when they are discussing religion. At one point, a devout Christian tries to cut the tension by patting Stiller on the back and saying that he is in good company because "J.C." (Jesus Christ) was Jewish. High Comedy!
And then, let's not forget about the name of Stiller's character. His last name is "Focker." Pronounced: F"ah"ker. How did they think of that one? De Niro, being a macho kind of guy, calls people by their last name in this movie. Are we supposed to giggle whenever the word "Focker" is uttered onscreen?
Other incredibly original comic devices included in this movie: The father interrupts the young couple when they are beginning to get it on. The father formally interrogates the potential son-in-law twice. An overbearing and overprotective father. What an original concept!
And surprise, surprise, the father and potential son-in-law come to an understanding by the end of the film and De Niro welcomes him into the family. Who would have guessed?
Stiller is totally wasted in this movie. This is especially tragic because I am a huge fan of his. I was a fan of his long before the fame and notoriety that came with "There's Something about Mary." He actually had his own TV show years ago called "The Ben Stiller Show." It was hilarious, but never quite found an audience. It was so good that it won an Emmy, despite being cancelled after a short run on TV. So I know of where I speak and this is not anywhere near Stiller's usual quality of work.
So rent a GOOD comedy tonight. Check out Bowfinger, Galaxy Quest, Bullworth or City Slickers. Anything but this.
The DVD:
First of all, I should state that this movie is horrible, so it would be difficult to redeem the disc with any extra features. Sure enough, the DVD is not redeemed by any special features. There aren't a lot of extras on this disc. You can check out some deleted scenes. These scenes are so bad that they couldn't even make it into THIS movie. Then there are some outtakes where you can watch the actors crack themselves up over material that is not funny. Then there is a "spotlight on location" feature where I suppose you can watch an exciting video about shooting a really bad movie in Anytown, USA. Aren't they supposed to do "spotlight on location" features when they shoot somewhere interesting, like Antarctica of Mars? There is a commentary track on the disc as well. So in case you were interested in how to make a comedy without laughs, you should definitely check out this feature. There are also some screensavers on the disc so you can be reminded of this movie any time your computer is idle. Oh joy.
Get this movie on DVD!
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