Meet the Parents Movie Review

Meet the Parents (2000)

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Written by: Greg Glienna & Mary Ruth Clarke (story by), Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg (screenplay by)
Directed by: Jay Roach
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, James Rebhorn, Tom McCarthy
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend's parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date's worst nightmare.

Verdict
It's a light comedy that manages to be consistently funny and relatable. Greg just wants to make a good impression on his future in-laws but can't win for losing. Every good deed he attempts ends up backfiring. Everything that can go wrong does. He's the likable loser facing a meddling father in law that's beyond belief. Despite his best efforts it all goes wrong. With each scene, the awkwardness builds until it's nearly unbearable. Who hasn't been there?
Watch it.

Review
Greg (Ben Stiller) wants to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), but he has to meet her parents first. Greg really wants to impress the parents, but he can never provide the right answers. When he's honest, they disapprove, when he tells them what they want to hear it's still wrong. It doesn't help that Jack (Robert De Niro) is so intimidating. Greg is is very nervous, and everything he says, Jack finds a way to spin it and put Greg down. That only exacerbates the tension and Greg's nervousness.

Ben Stiller plays Greg Focker

This movie has a lot of fun with Greg's last name. And it is funny every time Jack asks a question ending in "Focker." The movie had to prove Focker was a legitimate last name to prevent an R rating.

Greg steps into it every time. He ends up taking a polygraph test administered by Jack, and it's just as funny as you'd expect. If things weren't bad enough, Greg has to compete with Pam's ex-fiance Bob (Owen Wilson). Bob is rich, talented, and beloved by Jack. During a family water volleyball game Greg is chastised for not playing well. When he tries to spike the ball to impress the family he hit's Pam's sister in the face with the ball, preemptively ending the game.

Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro play Greg Focker, Jack Byrnes

This is a movie about a guy with the best of intentions that can't catch a break. Everything he does is wrong no matter how much effort he exerts. When he tries to impress the parents it goes sideways. That's what makes this so relatable. We've all been in that situation where we want to impress someone and it feels like the world is against us. In the end Jack realizes hes' been too tough on Greg and that Jack is only going to hurt his daughter by pushing Greg away. It's a nice and neat ending, and its works perfectly for this movie. We need that ending that finally dispels the tension.