Ben Stiller is such a great, natural actor. Some may argue that he always plays the same character (see "Your Friends and Neighbors" if you wanna see a very different Ben Stiller), but he's so damn good at it, I don't think he should stop. He has this way of saying his dialogue that's just brilliant, and he always hits the right note when he's gotta be nervous or frustrated. Then there's Robert De Niro, one of the best actors in the world, and one of the most intense. The concept of "Meet the Parents" is great, and you couldn't ask for a better job at casting. Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro are perfect, as is their chemistry.
I'm gonna interrupt for a moment because I'm gonna let you all in on a secret. This movie is a remake. Not of a foreign film or a classic film, but of an independent film that was released just 8 years ago! That's right, "Meet the Parents" was an independent film in 1992 with no name actors (well, Emo Phillips had a small role in the movie, but I would hardly call him a big name). I'd like to see it eventually. I'm curious to see how it differs from this "Hollywood" version. I'll be honest with you, it'll be tough to beat.
Robert De Niro has been doing a lotta comedies lately, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's that as he gets older, he wants to expand his horizons, I dunno, but I gotta say, he's great at comedy. I liked him in "Analyze This" (though he DID get over the top at times, especially during the crying scenes), and he was good in "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle," but in "Meet the Parents," this is the best I've ever seen him in a comedy. It seems that he's at his best when he's the straight man, and he's not in on the joke. As a matter of fact, that ends up being some of the funniest stuff in the movie. Anytime he and Ben Stiller are together, and De Niro does his intense father thing, and Ben Stiller does his nervous future son-in-law thing, they're hilarious.
The story was written by Greg Glienna & Mary Ruth Clarke, the same people who wrote the 1992 version, so I'm assuming that they're actually referring to that script. By the way, that 1992 version was directed by one of the writers, Greg Glienna. The screenplay was by James Herzfeld (helped write "Meet the Deedles," which I never saw) and John Hamburg (wrote and directed "Safe Men," which I never saw). As for the director, it was Jay Roach, the guy who directed the two "Austin Powers" movies (I didn't like the first one all that much, but "Austin Powers 2" was a masterpiece of raunchy toilet humor).
I've already mentioned the great performances by Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, but there was also good stuff by Blythe Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow's mom), who plays Robert De Niro's wife, Teri Polo (she's done lots and lots of TV work... I've never seen her before, though), as Robert De Niro's daughter and Ben Stiller's wife-to-be, and then there's a great performance by Owen Wilson. He doesn't play the kinda character he usually plays, but he's still fun to watch.
"Meet
the Parents" is a very, very funny movie, but it suffers from getting
ridiculous at times. But damn... who cares? It's REALLY funny.
You'll have a good time with it.