MEET THE FOCKERS

REVIEWED BY SHANNON H.

Our rating: 2 out of 5

Because of: sexual content and innuendoes, crude language

Rated:

When we were little kids, we thought our parents were superheroes. They cleaned up our messes, kissed our boo-boos, read us bedtime stories, and scared away the monster in the closet. When we were teenagers, our parents were the LAST people we'd want to hang out with. When we started dating, we kept our significant others as far away from our parental guardians as possible. The reason why was that we found our moms and dads to be quite embarrassing because of the usual quirks they have.  Such is the case with this comedy.

Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller) is a male nurse engaged to be married to Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), the daughter of a retired C.I.A. agent Jack Byrnes (Robert DeNiro). After finally winning over the parents of his fiancee, Greg now must have his parents meet his future in-laws. He's worried that Pam's normally conservative parents would object to his liberal, hippy parents (plus they have a lot of embarrassing habits). After traveling to Miami with their daughter and their grandson, "little Jack," Jack Byrnes and his wife Dina (Blythe Danner) at first find Greg's parents to be a bit quirky. Bernie Focker (Dustin Hoffman) is a retired lawyer who appears to be somewhat effeminate. His wife, Roz (Barbra Streisand) is a sex therapist for elderly couples. The happy couple were enthusiastic to meet the future in-laws and even showed them Greg's less-than-mediocre accomplishments in school competitions (he had many ribbons for "9th place"; his parents felt that it was good to celebrate effort rather than actual competition) and his embarrassing baby pictures. 

While Dina and Pam warmed up to the Fockers' hospitality, Jack still felt indifferent. After meeting a 15-year-old Mexican boy who fixed his RV, Jack suspects that Greg may have fathered a child in his youth (the kid looked almost like Greg) after learning that Greg had lost his virginity to a Mexican housekeeper/foreign exchange student when he was 19. This causes Jack to distrust the Fockers and dislike them even more. To add insult to injury, Greg discovers that his fiancee Pam is pregnant and tried to keep the secret away from Jack (who expects his daughter to stay a virgin until marriage) until after they got married. 

The film, although doesn't have any actual sex or nudity (except in some of the art that the Fockers keep in their home), contains a lot of sexual references that are too numerous to mention. It is implied that Greg and Pam sleep together before they married. Greg's parents brag about how their son lost his virginity at 19 (referring to him as a "late bloomer"). Greg's mom, Roz, is a sex therapist for elderly couples and there are shots of one of her classes teaching her students various sexual positions. Dina and Jack ask Roz (not together but separately) for advice on how to keep their bedroom life alive. Greg walks in on his parents fooling around (they are clothed but covered in whipped cream). There are some shots of the clothed breasts of the Fockers' Mexican housekeeper. It is implied that Greg fathered a child with the said housekeeper 15 years ago (later on Jack finds that it isn't true). Bernie and Roz also show the Byrnes pictures of Greg's circumcision (the Fockers are Jewish) and the end results are a little too graphic to describe. 

Profanity is moderate: there are outbursts of s**t, d*mn, and a**. Greg accidentally uses a** in front of his soon-to-be baby nephew, causing him to say it as his first word. There is alcohol present in the film but no one becomes intoxicated. Roz advises Greg to put a little alcohol in his "nephew's" milk bottle to stop his crying (the little tyke accidently glues a bottle of rum to his hands as a result). The objectionable content barely toes the line between PG13 and R. Morally speaking it is unsuitable for young teen-agers. When Greg lost his virginity at 19, his parents didn't mind that he had sex outside of marriage. This is the complete opposite of what parents should be teaching their kids. Jack Byrnes expects his daughter to be a virgin until marriage and is not so forgiving after learning his daughter is pregnant. Later, Jack sucks up his pride and forgives his daughter while waiting to welcome another grandchild in the family. The movie encourages forgiveness, which isn't bad but the objectionable content still rules out.

I wouldn't have actually seen this film on my own (I didn't even see the first one yet due to lack of interest) but my mom wanted to see it so she literally dragged me to the theater. Despite the fact that I find it morally objectionable, I also discovered it's the funniest thing I've seen in years. There were times when I just could not stop laughing. The last time I really went to a hilarious movie was when Grumpier Old Men came out in theaters. It's a funny movie but one must be careful about watching it.  It's definitely not for anyone under 17 years of age. From watching the film, I learned one thing. I realized how fortunate I am that my parents aren't as humiliating as Roz and Bernie.