MEET THE FOCKERS by Jay Roach

Meet the Fockers (2004) NO STARS

Director: Jay Roach. Screenplay: John Hamburg and James Herzfeld; from an original story by Herzfeld and Marc Hyman. Cast: Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson

THE DISPLEASURE OF THEIR COMPANY

Meet the Fockers by Jay Roach Four of the six principals in the Meet the Fockers cast — namely, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, and Blythe Danner — have among themselves five Academy Awards and an additional ten nominations for acting, one Tony win and six additional nominations, and numerous other acting awards and nominations from around the world. What to do with all that honor and prestige? Throw them into the fetid garbage dumpster of a Ben Stiller flick about chopped foreskin, babies that say "asshole," and dogs that get flushed down the toilet. You won’t believe it unless you see it.

In Meet the Fockers, a sequel to Meet the Parents, two disparate families, the hippie-ish Fockers (Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand) and the conservative Byrneses (Robert DeNiro, Blythe Danner) meet before the wedding of their children, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo).

Besides being incredibly stupid, Greg is also a walking bad-luck amulet. Whatever can go wrong with him, does. If that weren’t enough, the constipated right-wing Republican and former CIA agent Jack Byrnes (DeNiro) will do whatever it takes to prevent Greg from marrying his daughter.

Papa Byrnes could have solved the matter the CIA way, but sadly no assassinations take place in the film. Stiller’s Greg is still very much alive at the end, ready for the next neuron-killing sequel.

Notes:

Meet the Fockers is Barbra Streisand’s first time on-screen with either Robert DeNiro or Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman and DeNiro had played opposite one another in Wag the Dog (1997) and they both had supporting roles in Sleepers (1986).

Academy Award wins: Barbra Streisand - Funny Girl (1968); Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988); Robert DeNiro - supporting actor in The Godfather Part II (1974) and as a lead in Raging Bull (1980).

Academy Award nominations: Barbra Streisand - The Way We Were (1973); Dustin Hoffman - The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Lenny (1974), Tootsie (1982), Wag the Dog (1997); Robert DeNiro - Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), Awakenings (1990), Cape Fear (1991).

Barbra Streisand also won an Oscar for co-composing (with Paul Williams) the song "Evergreen" from A Star Is Born (1976). Additionally, Streisand was nominated in 1991 for co-producing the Best Picture nominee The Prince of Tides, and in 1996 for co-composing the song "I’ve Finally Found Someone" from The Mirror Has Two Faces. She directed both films.

ALFIE (2004)

JFK

MARATHON MAN

VOCES INOCENTES / INNOCENT VOICES

MATCH POINT

MUNICH

ALEXANDER

CLOSER

YESTERDAY

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

by Andre Soares | December 20, 2004 | Filed Under American Cinema / Hollywood, Film, Film Reviews

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