Meet Greg Focker (Ben Stiller), a male nurse living in Chicago who is absolutely in love with his elementary school teacher girlfriend. All he wants to do is propose to her, and live happily ever after.
Meet Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), Greg’s girlfriend. Pam is the eldest child of the Byrnes family, a family living in ritzy Oyster Bay, New York. Pam’s little sister, Debbie (Nicole DeHuff), gets engaged and Pam has to go ’’home" to the wedding. She, of course, invites Greg with her after not-so-subtly letting him know that her father appreciates when a boyfriend asks her father for her hand in marriage. Greg gets the idea and agrees to go to NY to Meet the Parents.
What ensues is utter chaos. Poor Greg has to deal with Pam’s dictator father Jack (Robert DeNiro), flighty mother Dina (Blythe Danner), pothead brother Denny (Jon Abrahams), former fiance Kevin (Owen Wilson), and a Himalayan cat he can’t stand! It’s Murphy’s Law for this poor fellow: What ever can go wrong, does.
There was a great deal of physical comedy in this film, which sometimes edged on my nerves. I can only see so much of Ben Stiller falling down, pacing and talking to himself. There are some one-liners that just cracked me up, and situations that will make your sides hurt with laughter.
You’re probably wondering why this film was so painful for me to watch. Well, Robert DeNiro’s character absolutely exemplified my Uncle Tony. I feel so bad for anyone that may want to marry me, and I hope they don’t have to go through what poor Greg did! On top of that, the audience can’t help but feel sorry for Greg. We really pull for this character, but things just don’t seem to want to go his way.
Teri Polo, an actress I don’t usually like, is actually quite good in this film. Her straight comedy is a welcome next to Stiller’s slapstick. She was an excellent choice to play DeNiro’s daughter.
I don’t necessarily think that you should rush out and rent Meet The Parents. If you happen to catch it on TV, that’s fine. If not, you’re really not missing out.