Ill-conceived Fokkers

The first thirty minutes of Meet the Parents, everything trough the destruction of the urn, makes for a fabulous short film. The audience feels Greg Fokker's discomfort thanks to Ben Stiller's perfectly timed stammering and Robert De Niro's intimidating presence (it's still, aside from Midnight Run, his best work in a comedy). That basic conflict made for a great half-hour of comedy - enough to sustain the feature length film even if it never equals its strong opening. Meet the Fokkers, however, falls apart quickly because of its basic premise. If the film had De Niro's character being made as uncomfortable by Dustin Hoffman's and Barbra Streisand's aging-hippies as De Niro made Stiller feel in the first film, the comedy would play better. The problem is that De Niro's character has no desire to win over the Fokkers so nothing is at stake. There is no dramatic (or comedic) tension. Sure there are moments that are funny - and Dustin Hoffman seems game for anything these days - but the film takes every opportunity to shower embarrassment on its characters without laying down the foundation to make the audience care for the characters. Yes lazy set-up can never quite be overcome no matter how many outrageous swearing babies, taser-happy cops, and sexual secrets show up.