Little Fockers
I was wondering if Greg Focker and Jack Byrnes were ever going to just get into a fist fight with each other…
These are the depths of inspiration that has hit the comedy franchise that began (unassumingly) with 2000’s sleeper hit “Meet the Parents” and continued with 2004’s “Meet the Fockers.” The first two films (directed by “Austin Powers’s” Jay Roach) had laughs to spare as we got to know the Byrnes and Focker clans. Now under the direction of Paul Weitz (“About a Boy,” “In Good Company,” “American Dreamz”), there are no new familial characters to introduce (except the kids, but honestly the film doesn’t seem to care about them after a while, so why should we?), meaning “Little Fockers” is basically a 22-minute sitcom stretched to 90-plus minutes. At least they didn’t go another hour like “Sex and the City 2” did.
Part of me wants to delve into the story, but truthfully, I don’t really care. If you saw either of the first two films, you know what to expect: misunderstandings; Greg trying to do his best by Jack and his family, Jack getting suspicious of Greg, and did I mention Greg sticking Jack in the penis with a needle after he took erectile dysfunction medicine? Oh right, you know that from the previews. What a lovely holiday treat for the whole family.
I can’t even say there are laughs to be had in this film. Chuckles maybe, but out-and-out laughs? Don’t bet on it. Stiller and DeNiro have their little “battle of wills” schtick down, but there’s no real point to it anymore; can’t we all just get along? And don’t even get me started on Jessica Alba’s ultra-flirty drug rep (even if the much better “Love and Other Drugs” hadn’t come out a month ago, her character is still an obvious plot roadblock) or Harvey Keitel’s cameo as a building contractor (yes, I’d love to see “Taxi Driver” nemeses Keitel and DeNiro square off again, but, dear God, not like this), who embarass themselves for the sake of a paycheck. And yet throughout this trainwreck of a movie, one gets the feeling the filmmakers are setting us up for one more film– “The Godfocker,” which Jack continually calls Greg in this film. What next? Is Al Pacino going to be Greg’s long-lost uncle who teaches him the family business? All I have to say to that is if any Universal higher-ups read this and say to themselves, “Oh my God, THAT’s a great idea!,” just make my financial compensation for the idea sizable… and my story credit anonymous.
