Meet the Parents

Imagine asking Robert DeNiro for his daughter's hand in marriage. (Shudder!) Now imagine he's an ex-CIA agent who keeps a lie detector in his basement. (Eek!) Now imagine you're Ben Stiller, and you can see where Meet the Parents gets its best laughs. A middling comedy-of-the-uncomfortable escapade in which casting is the key, Austin Powers director Jay Roach's latest follows Stiller as a very nervous boyfriend going through a nightmare weekend of Murphy's Law catastrophes and parental interrogations at the childhood home of his girlfriend (Teri Polo). When Stiller and DeNiro are playing off each other, the film's hilarious, but more often than not the movie's tension gets in the way of its giggles, making for a mixed viewing experience. Also starring Owen Wilson and Blythe Danner, this sell-through priced box office smash is a strong, optional purchase. (R. Blackwelder)[Note: DVD Review--January 11, 2005--Universal, 108 min., PG-13, $29.98--Making its second appearance on DVD, Meet the Parents: Bonus Edition ($29.98)--vailable in either widescreen or full screen versions--includes audio commentary by director Jay Roach and editor Jon Poll, 35 “all-new outtakes” (6 min.), outtakes (12 min.), three minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary, the seven-minute polygraph featurette “The Truth About Lying,” the animal trainer featurette “Silly Cat Tricks” (5 min.), the two-minute song segment “De Niro Unplugged,” the  brief montage “Jay Roach: A Director's Profile,” and a weblink. Bottom line: refurbished to coincide with the release of the sequel Meet the Fockers, this seems a little overpriced for a mere 20 extra minutes of so-so tomfoolery.][Blu-ray Review—Dec. 21, 2010—Universal, 108 min., PG-13, $26.98—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2000's Meet the Parents sports a great transfer and DTS-HD 5.1 audio. Blu-ray extras are nearly identical to the previous DVD release, including two audio commentaries (one by director Jay Roach and editor Jon Poll; the other by Roach, costars Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, and producer Jane Rosenthal), a “Spotlight on Location” making-of featurette (25 min.), outtakes (18 min.), the polygraph featurette “The Truth About Lying” (7 min.), the animal trainer featurette “Silly Cat Tricks” (5 min.), deleted scenes (3 min.), the song segment “De Niro Unplugged” (2 min.), the “Jay Roach: A Director's Profile” montage (2 min.), and trailers. Newly included is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for the first film in this popular comedy franchise.]