I will admit that `Meet the Fockers' is funny; in fact it's really funny. If I were judging this film of pure comedic effect alone I'd have to say that this truly nails it. You see, it's not a question of landing jokes and gags here for each and every one lands fine, it's just that sadly this film is nothing new. `Meet the Fockers' is more like `Meet the Parents' rehash with a few new faces. Taking as its own film it's genuine and hilarious yet when taken alongside its superior predecessor it can prove disappointing. If only the script had been as ingeniously constructed as `Meet the Parents'.



This film picks up right where `Meet the Parents' left off. This time it's more a game of meet the in-laws as the Byrnes family travels to meet Greg's parents. Greg's parents are obviously complete opposites of Pam's. Bernie and Rozalin are loud and obnoxious and, for lack of a better word, `loony'. They love their son regardless of his flaws and failures, in fact they celebrate everything he's ever done, which is not something that sits well with Jack. Add to this the fact that Pam and Greg have a big secret that threatens to dismantle her father and you have all the makings of a very tense visit.



My issues with `Meet the Fockers' lie solely in the script. The decision to revisit Jack's untrusting paranoia was frustrating to me. By the end of `Meet the Parents' we feel that maybe finally Greg has broken into Jack's ridiculousness and that they are going to move forward in their relationship. Having Jack resort back to his scheming and manipulating and deceiving all over again seemed kind of forced and repetitive. The clash between the Byrnes and the Fockers was funny and Hoffman and De Niro play off one another well, but Jack's character is not as enjoyable the second time around. There is no real character development. It's like the writers said `hey, this worked last time so lets do it all over again'.



The cast all works well, everyone returning as well as the new faces. This film belongs to Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman. I can't think of two actors better suited for the roles. They are hysterical and add layers of genuine sincerity to the roles, much like what De Niro did for Jack Byrnes in `Meet the Parents'. Teri Polo has more to do this go around, but she still a backseat to the more memorable performers, Blythe Danner being one of them.



I enjoyed this film and I think if you watch it as just another comedy then you will too. The jokes land one right after the other beautifully. Like I said, it's that pesky problem of remaining stagnant that hits this one. There is no progression of comedic entertainment here. `Meet the Fockers' is `Meet the Parents Part II' and that said it's bound to be funny. Sometimes that's good enough.