Meet the Fockers

If the thought of seeing Robert De Niro strapping on a homemade rubber breast to feed a coddled baby sounds side-splittingly hilarious to you, then Meet the Fockers may be just your cup of Similac. But if you're more pained by the idea of watching a formerly great actor embarrass himself in an infantile, desperately uncreative film that will do anything for a cheap laugh, then you may want to skip this sequel to 2000's Meet the Parents, which not only boasts the comic sensibilities of a 12-year-old, but also features Ben Stiller's sixth nearly identical performance of 2004. Seemingly tired of his own worn-out schtick, Stiller halfheartedly mugs in anxious, eyebrow-stitching baby faces as he nervously introduces his retired-hippie parents (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) to De Niro's Jack Byrnes, the intimidating ex-CIA spook who is soon to be his father-in-law. But other than making Stiller's folks embarrassing polar opposites of stiff, serious straight-man De Niro (Hoffman is full of hugs, Streisand teaches tantric sex to septuagenarians), Meet the Fockers just recycles plot points from its predecessor (De Niro interrogates and spies on Stiller throughout) and serves up obvious, exhaustingly over-telegraphed jokes from the uncomfortable circumstances. Not recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include audio commentary by producer-director Jay Roach and editor Jon Poll, deleted scenes (16 min.), outtakes (11 min.), a cast interview by Matt Lauer (8 min.), “The Adventures of a Baby Wrangler” featurette about the babies' helper (6 min.), a short about Jinx the cat (4 min.), a featurette about the designing of “The Manary Gland” (3 min.), and a “Focker Family Portrait” with three interviews with costars Ben Stiller, Barbra Streisand, and Dustin Hoffman (2 min. each). Bottom line: a solid extras package for a disappointing sequel.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Dec. 21, 2010— Universal, 116 min., PG-13, $26.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2004's Meet the Fockers features a great transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 audio. Blu-ray extras are nearly identical to the previous DVD release, including audio commentary by filmmaker Jay Roach and editor Jon Poll, deleted scenes (16 min.), bloopers (11 min.), a cast interview by Matt Lauer (8 min.), “The Adventures of a Baby Wrangler” (6 min.), an “Inside the Litter Box” segment on Jinx the Cat (4 min.), “The Manary Gland” prop featurette (3 min.), a “Focker Family Portrait” with three interviews with Stiller and costars Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman (6 min.), and trailers. Newly included is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid Blu-ray debut for a disappointing sequel.]