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Since this is a comedy starring Ben Stiller, of course the comparisons are with the comedy masterpiece, There's Something About Mary. But my question is why? Why shouldn't people compare it with Stiller's other movies such as Mystery Men? Well, Meet The Parents really shouldn't be compared to either, and instead should be judged on its own merits. But just to please those of you out there looking for a comparison, There's Something About Mary is a better comedy. As to this movie, Meet The Parents starts off in Chicago with Greg Focker (Ben Stiller, Keeping the Faith) the male nurse falling in love with the beautiful young teacher Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo). Focker, sounds almost like fucker, then wants to wed Pam, but discovers that it is a good idea to get her father's permission first. So off the two love birds go to suburban New York to, Meet The Parents. Pam's dad is an ex-CIA operative by the name of Jack (Robert De Niro, Men of Honor), and the mother is Dina (Blythe Danner, The Love Letter). Pam also has a sister Debbie (Nicole DeHuff) who is getting married, which is why Greg and Debbie are visiting. Well once the two arrive, that's when the movie starts to get real funny. You have Greg lying to Jack, while having a rather crappy time. One minute he is breaking the urn that grandma occupies, then losing Jinx the family cat, hitting Debbie in the face with a spike in water volleyball, and catching the house on fire (not necessarily in that order). Meet The Parents does have some good comedic moments, mainly between De Niro and Stiller. But this Jay Roach film is not as funny as you might expect with both Stiller and De Niro involved. The screenplay for this picture was by Mary Ruth Clarke, which was based on a story by Greg Glienna. Others in the cast are Jon Abrahams as Pam's drug abusing teenage brother, Owen Wilson (Rushmore) as Pam's ex-fiancée Kevin, and even the headmaster from Scent of A Woman Mr. James Rebhorn as Larry Banks. Meet the Parents isn't bad, it just could have been better (i.e. funnier). As for the rating, it gets seven couches for the About-Movies.com scale of ten. By the way, there was no nudity, which would have been nice since Teri Polo is a very attractive actress and Wayne & Garth would definitely give her a schwing. Goodbye. Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:49:44 AM |
