Meet the Fockers (2004)

Director:

Jay Roach

Writers (WGA):

Greg Glienna (characters) &
Mary Ruth Clarke (characters) ...

Release Date:

22 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

And you thought your parents were embarrassing.

Plot:

All hell breaks loose when the Byrnes family meets the Focker family for the first time.

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Miami | Teacher | Eavesdropping | Puppet

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Robert De Niro	...	Jack Byrnes
Ben Stiller	...	Greg Focker
Dustin Hoffman	...	Bernie Focker
Barbra Streisand	...	Rozalin Focker
Blythe Danner	...	Dina Byrnes
Teri Polo	...	Pam Byrnes
Owen Wilson	...	Kevin Rawley
Spencer Pickren	...	Little Jack 'L.J.' Byrnes
Bradley Pickren	...	Little Jack 'L.J.' Byrnes
Alanna Ubach	...	Isabel Villalobos
Ray Santiago	...	Jorge Villalobos
Tim Blake Nelson	...	Officer LeFlore
Shelley Berman	...	Judge Ira
Kali Rocha	...	Flight Attendant
Dorie Barton	...	Airline Clerk

Also Known As:

Meet the Fokkers (USA) (working title)
Meet the Parents 2 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language and a brief drug reference.

Runtime:

115 min | Turkey:106 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:12A (original rating) | Taiwan:R-12 | Indonesia:Dewasa | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Germany:6 | Iceland:L | Malaysia:18SX | Malaysia:U (cut) | Venezuela:PG-13 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | Norway:7 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

During production, the proposed title of "Meet the Fockers" was thought by the studio to be too vulgar. The spelling was briefly changed to "Meet the Fokkers", but that would have upset the franchise's continuity, so it was changed back.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): On the next day after the party, when Jack is sitting in the RV about to leave, Gaylord is shouting at him. While mentioning the injection of the truth serum, he points at the wrong side of his neck. The serum had been injected on the opposite side.

Quotes:

[the Fockers' outgoing message]
Bernie Focker: Hello, you've reached the Fockers. We're not around, so leave us a message. Goodbye. Roz, how the hell do you shut this thing off?
Roz Focker: I have no idea. Just press a button.
Bernie Focker: All right, I'm pretty sure it's off. Honey, you want a chimichanga?
Roz Focker: I thought they give you gas.
Bernie Focker: A little bit, but it's worth it.
Roz Focker: Yeah, worth it for you, but I'm the one that gets the fumes.
Bernie Focker: Honey, I'm in the mood for a chimichanga!
Roz Focker: So make a chimichang...
[beep]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Extras: Ben Stiller (#1.1)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

If I Were a Carpenter

An extension of the original film done bigger but to lesser effect

Firmly part of the circle of trust, Greg Focker is planning his marriage to Dina and has put off a big family get together for as long as he can. With no further excuses, Greg and Dina join Pam and Jack as they take their RV down to Florida to meet the Focker family. With an eye very much on his bloodline, Jack is keen to judge his future son-in-law by his parents, which spells problems when he finds himself living with two very liberal and touchy-feely Fockers.

I'm in my thirties now and it probably is not very impressive that I can put words together in a basic sentence. Whereas for a two year old it might be a real surprise if they were to discuss their opinions on political matters as such with you. What is the difference? Well it is simply one of expectation. Coming to the subject of films, expectation can often make or break a film, with perhaps a poor Pauly Shore movie being better received by viewers than a poor Spielberg film partly because you expect that standard from the former but more from the latter. So it does help this film that with the very title you are informed that you are not about to witness the sharpest of comedies.

With this in mind I went in with a forgiving eye, just hoping for laughs but I was not really prepared for how most of the film is unimaginative and base. In the first film we had Greg contrast with stern father Jack and hilarity ensues; here we have the same setup again but this time Greg is replaced as a device by his parents. What this means is that the film essentially aims at the same low targets as the first film and mostly hits them. To avoiding being too boorish on this subject I will admit that moments are funny and that the casting was a nice try but mostly I just found it obvious and dull. Toilet humour, a retread of the CIA stuff and so on supposedly provide the comedy while the drama is the same superficial relationship stuff as before.

The cast mostly do their best to try and lift it. Stiller mugs along well enough but the real fun (such as it is) comes from De Niro and Hoffman. The former more or less just does his stuff again but is enjoyable enough, while the latter is at least having fun with a silly character. Streisand and Polo have lesser roles but still have a bit of fun, while poor Danner is just a plot device to try and the give the film some sort of centre. Cameos from Wilson and Nelson don't add much to proceedings and don't even get me starting on the annoying Pickren twins who are not only irritating but made more irritating by the way the film overuses them, apparently in the belief that "Little Jack" is funny and/or cute when really he is neither. Roach's direction is nothing short of pedestrian – even the choice of theme music is obvious and easy.

Overall then this is a film that people who really liked the first film will enjoy. Those that just "liked" it may find that they didn't like it enough to watch it twice, which is what is happening here. The cast play it up as much as they can but really this is just an extension of the original idea done bigger but to lesser effect.