Following the critical and commercial success of “Meet the Parents,” Universal Pictures & DreamWorks green-lit a sequel, “Meet the Fockers.” Released in 2004, (same year Anchorman came out) it received mixed reviews from critics. Regardless of divisive reactions, the sequel was a box office success. Six Years Later, “Little Fockers” ended The Meet the Parents Trilogy on a whimper.
Anyway, a fourth movie’s rumored to be in development with Ben Stiller & Robert De Niro reprising their roles. As of early 2025, no confirmation who’s directing. If it’s happening, I wanna share my thoughts on one of my guilty pleasures.
It doesn’t matter if SPOILERS are listed. Meet the Fockers mostly copies the first movie, but way funnier.
True & False Aspects
True: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo & Blythe Danner reprise their roles and they all did a decent job for their respective performances.
Dustin Hoffman & Barbra Streisand both did a great job for their respective performances. Dustin earns Bonus Points for stealing the movie. A reason why he won an MTV Movie Award for “Best Comedic Performance.”
Random Thought: Meet the Fockers was my first exposure to Dustin & Barbra when I was eleven.
Jay Roach (Austin Powers Trilogy, Dinner for Schmucks) did a solid job directing.
To prepare for their roles as Bernard & Roz, Jay hired a sex consultant for Dustin & Barbra giving them research on how to act sex obsessed with no filter. A lot of the sexual humor went over my head as a kid.
Although most of the jokes are recycled from the first movie, I thought they were funny as heck. A few memorable lines listed below.
- You want a chimichanga?
- That’s my brother from another mother!
- If it’s yellow, let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.
- I didn’t know they made ninth place ribbons.
- He is a handsome little Focker!
- Morning, partner!
- Greg is gonna feel like a big asshole.
- Asshole.
- Mr. Moose likes to say good words!
- He doesn’t like you to say bad words!
- Mom, you were riding him like Seabiscuit!
- Well, I’m lookin’ and I’m likin’!
- Focker out!
- Punch it Gay, we’re gonna catch that dude! (my favorite line)
- He’s got a rubber boobie!
- We Fockerized him.
Gary Glitter’s Rock n Roll Part 2 plays during a football game. It was later used in the infamous staircase scene from “Joker.” Plus Robert De Niro was in it. The song was also used in other movies.
- Reality Bites (Ben’s directorial debut)
- D2: The Mighty Ducks
- Sudden Death
- Happy Gilmore (Mr. Stiller played a mean hospital orderly)
- Kingpin
- The Full Monty
- Small Soldiers (a guilty pleasure growing up)
- Any Given Sunday
- Bedazzled
- The Replacements
- Like Mike
- Friday Night Lights
- Ice Princess
- Boyhood
Randy Newman orchestrated the soundtrack. He also wrote two songs. “We’re Gonna Get Married” & “Crazy ‘Bout My Baby.”
Cinematography didn’t succumb to technical issues.
Primary Themes are Awkwardness, Secrecy & Trust. For a comedy, each one’s handled carefully.
Greg says “I am your father” in Spanish. “Revenge of the Sith” was in production. Plus, “Star Wars: Battlefront” came out in 2004.
Greg compares Roz fixing Jack’s back to “Seabiscuit.” Back in 2004, Tobey Maguire played the Webhead in “Spider-Man 2.”
Roz says, “Go get ’em tiger!” What a co-inky-dink. Mary Jane Watson also said it in Spider-Man 2.
Alana Ubach (Cassie Howard’s mom from Euphoria) appears as the Fockers’ former housekeeper, Isabelle. Ms. Ubach’s an underrated actress.
Owen Wilson reprises his role as Kevin. He becomes an interfaith minister when Greg & Pam gets married towards the end.
Tim Blake Nelson & Cedric Yarbrough (Deputy S. Jones from Reno 911) make cameo appearances.
False: I couldn’t find nothing wrong. I’m giving the cast and crew an Extra Point for making a flawless sequel as possible.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX!
It’s gonna sound controversial, I think Meet the Fockers is superior to the original. It’s one of my guilty pleasures. Meet the Fockers is a very rare example of a comedy sequel better than the original along with other ones like “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” & “Shrek 2.” It’s ten times better than Little Fockers. If a fourth entry in the Meet the Parents movie is happening, I hope it better than the aforementioned threequel.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 