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"Look, Little Jack was crying so I picked him up and gave him some hugs. Then I went into the kitchen to answer the phone and when I came back, he had let himself out of the playpen, put on Scarface and glued his hands to the rum bottle. OK?"
Worlds collide in rudely titled sequel Meet The Fockers, a charming, funny film with an incredible ensemble cast whose chemistry together lights up the screen. Whether you loved, liked or didn't much care for Meet The Parents, this hilarious follow-up remains essential viewing, considerably better than the first with bigger laughs, loads more heart and an even more twisted take on modern family values.
Highly strung and prone to acts of madness, the nightmare continues for poor Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller), already on shaky ground with his fiancée's parents Jack and Dina (ex-CIA nutcase Robert De Niro and ultimate wasp Blythe Danner), now forced to introduce them to his own: larger-than-life, louder-than-rock-music, Jewish-to-the-max couple Bernie and Roz (casting coups Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand).
"Can you believe I fathered him with just one testicle?" asks Bernie of Jack, who's not so sure he wants his daughter mixed up with such a crazy family. "What kind of parents would name their child Gaylord Focker?" he asks quite reasonably. But Pam puts her foot down. "No!" she yells. "After next month, I am going to be Pamela Martha Focker. I know how that sounds but I don't care!" And so it goes for a whole weekend, the worst of Jack's life, but for us it's comedy gold, surprisingly affectionate yet merciless with it and really quite rude as well.
"The response to the first movie was so overwhelming," says producer Jane Rosenthal, "that it was hard to find a story that could live up to our expectations for a sequel. We were genuinely thrilled that Parents had struck such a chord with audiences. So it was always about finding the best story." Director Jay Roach, who helmed Meet The Parents as well as the Austin Powers trilogy, said he "...needed to be convinced that there was a reason to make another film." And quite right too, agrees Rosenthal. "There has to be a compelling reason to tell this story. It was never just a sequel for sequel's sake." Fortunately it isn't, thanks largely to the considerable presence and comedic driving force of Bernie and Roz, the ultimate embarrassing parents.
"In our fantasy world," remembers Rosenthal, "Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand were our ‘dream team'. The fact that they were initially intrigued with the idea was beyond our wildest dreams." Though friends for over forty years – they were at acting school together, where Hoffman dated Streisand's roommate – the two Hollywood giants had never worked together before. And if you want to know exactly why this movie is so much better than the first, you need look no further than this dynamic duo.
"Who Dustin is and who Bernie came to be were in perfect synchronicity," observes Roach. "Dustin has no personal space issues whatsoever. He'll eat the food off your plate and you can eat the food off his. After talking with his wife, Lisa, I realised that he is the Jewish mother of his own family, similar to Bernie's relationship with his family. And that dynamic is in direct contrast to Jack's alpha male – not wanting to relinquish control of his family. With that set, I knew the core of the movie was in place."
As for Roz, "...we wanted someone who was a truth-speaker," continues Roach. "Very direct and uninhibited – also very open and affectionate. And Barbra just brought an amazing complexity to the character. Roz is the breadwinner and Barbra has this strength that was right for Greg's mum. Barbra Streisand in real life is incredibly sweet and incredibly loving and also very direct. She just says exactly what she thinks and has strong opinions about things – as with Dustin and Bernie, the character and the actress were perfectly in tune."
"It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to act with these people," says Stiller, though it was, in the beginning, a surreal experience. I would just step back and take in the enormity of it. But the really surprising thing for me was that after the first week or so, it really felt like a family." Good vibes for the cast and crew translate into a genuine, feelgood experience for us. For once, everybody wins.
An affable movie with universal appeal – who among us can say we've never been mortified by our parents or driven crazy by our kids? – Meet The Fockers is quality entertainment. Packed with wild visual gags and no end of inventive one-liners, not to mention an appealing roster of a-list talent at the height of their powers, it is well worth a place on your list. |
