| Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller) and fiancee Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo) are very much hand-in-glove in love despite their diametrically opposite family backgrounds. Jack and Dina Byrnes (Robert de Niro and Blythe Danner) are polite society parents, nice, correct and well-mannered if a bit uptight, while Bernie and Roz Focker (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) are spontaneous, gregarious and rather bohemian in outlook. Gaylord and Pam together with Pam's parents and infant nephew drive to Florida in the Byrnes's opulent trailer to be with the Fockers for a weekend. As might be expected of a retired CIA agent, Jack has actually designed that trailer to be a private laboratory which, for this weekend at least, could help him unearth possible skeletons in the Fockers' closet-he is not one father who will just give away a dear daughter to any-well, Focker.
A sequel to Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers espouses solid family values although it's camouflaged in humor that could go from funny to tasteless. Mega names Hoffman and de Niro alone could draw quite a crowd. Add wackos like Stiller and Streisand and crown it with that "Fockerized" title and if it doesn't come off with a bang, there must be something very, very wrong with it. Half of the movie's glossy appeal is due to the lead stars' obvious enjoyment in gamely playing their parts, making their characters real-life believable. The other half comes from a good plot which, though predictable and CGI-boosted, still offers a number of entertaining-if sometimes yuck-inducing-comic turns.
Do oil and water mix? Can the Byrneses and Fockers of this world ever live in peace? Meet the Fockers tries to show that while oil is oil and water is water, there is a happy middle ground where both extremes can open up their arms, minds and hearts and hug in harmony, and yes, forgive the sloppy welcome kisses and the strait-laced suspicions. That middle ground is founded on (1) trust in others' innate good nature and intentions; (2) the humility to accept that one could not always be right; and (3) the kind of love that wills to look beyond the self so that others may grow. These values are made to stand out through timely, no-nonsense close-up moments. For instance, when Gaylord dramatically says, "This is no longer about the Byrneses and the Fockers. It's about Pam and me; we'll soon be a family!" Let's hope viewers see the gift diamond wrapped in tabloid pages in this movie.
(Date Reviewed: January 21, 2005)
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