When I was taking guitar lessons, one of the songs I played was Puff the Magic Dragon, which prompted my teacher to ask if I’ve ever seen Meet the Parents.
He explained that the song’s marijuana-related interpretation was
discussed in the movie, which he deemed hilarious, so when a friend
decided to give away her VHS collection and Meet the Parents was on the list, I put in my request. Last night I finally got to see whether I agreed with his assessment.
Ben Stiller plays Greg Focker, a low-key, likable guy who works as a
nurse, a profession he enjoys because it allows him to have such close
contact with patients. He’s been dating Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), a
sweet-natured kindergarten teacher, and he’s cooked up an adorable
marriage proposal that gets her students in on the big moment. But
before he can pop the question, Pam gets a call from her sister Deborah
informing her of her engagement, which was preceded by her fiance’s
asking her father for permission. Hence, Greg decides that he needs to
ask permission as well.
He gets his chance two weeks later,
when he accompanies Pam home for the weekend for Deborah’s wedding.
After a fairly congenial initial meeting, Greg and Pam’s father, Jack
(Robert DeNiro), get off on the wrong foot when Pam lets it slip that
Greg hates cats. Then, on the way to the store, Greg cracks a joke about
Puff the Magic Dragon that offends Jack and makes him suspect
that his daughter’s boyfriend is a pothead. What follows is a weekend of
increasing disaster as keyed-up Greg manages to make just about every
possible mis-step.
My parents aren’t especially big fans of
Ben Stiller, but I usually find his performances pretty enjoyable. Here,
he’s easy to sympathize with; he certainly sells us on the awkwardness
of the situation. On the other hand, Greg does some incredibly stupid
things, like lying to Jack throughout the weekend even though he knows
how deeply this man values honesty and how skilled he is at knowing when
someone is lying. Most of his stupidest moves involve Jack’s beloved,
talented cat, Mr. Jinx, a thorn in his side from the moment they meet.
It doesn’t help that not only Jack but Deborah’s fiance and his father
all find it hilarious that he is a nurse. At least Pam’s mom (Blythe
Danner) is pretty accepting of Greg, but she doesn’t have the forceful
personality of those around her.
As amusing as Stiller is in
his role, it’s DeNiro who steals the show with his understated but
intimidating performance as a man who is deeply devoted to his daughter
and incredibly suspicious of anyone who wants to sweep her off her feet.
The dynamic between him and Greg is intense, with the latter constantly
feeling threatened despite Jack’s frequent friendly overtures. By the
end of the weekend, I found myself more sympathetic toward Jack than
Greg, since Greg is such a walking disaster who manages to wreak
incredible havoc on this man’s home in a couple of short days.
This movie, like the recently released Dinner for Schmucks
and dozens of similar movies, is largely dependent upon mass
destruction. A broken vase here, a broken nose there, and before you
know it you’re watching a sewage-filled backyard go up in flames. It all
gets to feel a bit excessive, especially since you can see most of the
disasters coming from a mile away. Still, many of the gags are funny,
and DeNiro and Stiller are great together. I also got a kick out of Owen
Wilson, who so often appears in movies alongside Stiller, as Pam’s
wealthy, affable ex-fiance Kevin, who is such an earnest Christian that
he has decided to take up carpentry, for which he has an exceptional
talent. While Kevin may be a bit over-the-top, I found nothing unlikable
about him, and I would be curious to see how he might be integrated
into the second and third movies in the series.
Meet the Parents
is a less offensive movie than I might have expected from Jay Roach,
who also directed the Austin Powers series. While there is some
innuendo, it’s certainly not at an Austin level, and there’s little
profanity, since this weekend is all about making a good impression on a
fairly conservative family - though the characters do have way too much
fun with Greg’s last name. What it does have in spades is cringe-worthy
scenes involving the obliteration of personal property, so if you find
that sort of thing gets old really fast, this movie might not be for
you. But alongside the mishaps is the story of two young people who are
deeply committed to one another and two parents who have very different
approaches but both want to see their daughter happy. For that, I’m
willing to wade through a little sludge.
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