Meet The Parents film review

certificate_12

MEET THE PARENTS

Meet the Parents is an affable comedy which takes its lead from director Jay Roach's Austin Powers films as well as star Ben Stiller's There's Something About Mary. While it doesn't quite reach the highs of these smashes, it is a non-taxing affair which delivers more than a few laughs.

The film charts every budding Romeo's biggest fear: meeting his girl's parents for the first time. The unfortunately-named Greg Focker (Stiller) is an easygoing guy who has chosen nursing as a career instead of the more stressful life of a doctor. He has a beautiful girlfriend, Pam, who he wants to marry. Trouble is, he has to meet her folks first. And here his nightmare begins.

Instead of the expected retired gardener, Pam's father is ex-CIA interrogator Jack Byrnes (De Niro). Papa Jack is far from covert in his surveillance of his daughter and he wants to know all about her new beau. He immediately sets about testing Greg using his self-invented polygraph machine. He is also a rabid anti-smoker (needless to say, Greg is a pack-a-day guy), passionate about his cat (which Greg hates), and is perplexed by Greg's seemingly unambitious career choice.

Predictably enough, everything Greg tries to do to impress Jack ends in disaster. Although most of the gags are telegraphed well in advance, they hit the mark for the most part. This is chiefly due to De Niro's hilarious turn as the neo-fascist daddy: the method man's recent foray into comedy goes from strength to strength. It is refreshing to see this one-time serious man of American cinema unafraid to get drenched by the contents of his own cesspool in search of a laugh. Stiller is pretty much indistinguishable from his role in 'Mary' although his part calls for little more. Some quality supporting work from Blythe Danner (as De Niro's kooky wife) and Owen Wilson (Pam's hilariously tragic ex-boyfriend) makes this look like a film that the cast really enjoyed making.