Meet the Fockers
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| Meet the Fockers | |
 Theatrical Release Poster |
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| Directed by | Jay Roach |
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| Written by | Mary Ruth Clarke and Greg Glienna (characters) John Hamburg and Marc Hyman (story) James Herzfeld & John Hamburg (screenplay) |
| Starring | Robert De Niro Ben Stiller Dustin Hoffman Barbra Streisand Blythe Danner Teri Polo |
| Music by | Randy Newman |
| Editing by | Jon Poll |
| Distributed by | - USA - Universal Pictures - non-USA - DreamWorks |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 2004 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million |
| Gross revenue | $516,642,939 |
| Preceded by | Meet the Parents (2000) |
| Followed by | Little Fockers (2011) |
Meet the Fockers (2004) is a comedy film and a sequel to Meet the Parents starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, and Teri Polo. Both are directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers). In addition to De Niro, Stiller, and Polo, Meet the Fockers stars Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson.
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[edit] Plot
After being given permission to marry Pam, the daughter of a retired CIA agent, Gaylord "Greg" Focker travels to Miami, with his fiancée, her nephew "Little Jack," her parents and their cat to meet his quirky parents, Roz and Bernie Focker. Roz is a sex therapist for the elderly, while his dad is a prosecutor who stopped practicing when Greg was born to be a stay-at-home dad. On the other hand, Pam’s parents Jack and Dina are traditionally conservative, which produces many of the movie's set ups and comedic situations. This movie shows an evolution in Jack’s relationship with his family. In the first movie, Meet the Parents, Jack is always in control of his family, whereas this time he goes too far with his suspicious nature and covert operations to expose what he believes is Greg's secret past.
[edit] Characters
Jack Tiberius Byrnes (Robert De Niro): Pam's father and Dina's husband. Even though he is retired, he uses his "CIA" connections to track down information on Greg and others he thinks will reveal that Greg is a liar. The anal retentive Jack is also the inventor of a Motion Sensor Nanny-Cam, and the "Manary Gland" (a portmanteau of "man" and "mammary gland"), an invention that lets Jack "breastfeed" his grandson. His coverup job is a retired florist/horticulturist. Even though he has given permission for the two to marry, Jack still has a distrust of Greg and goes so far as trying to prove it by taking desperate measures such as injecting him with truth serum.
Gaylord "Greg" Myron Focker (Ben Stiller): The protagonist of the movie. A nurse living in Chicago with fiancée Pam, the daughter of a retired CIA agent. Gets into trouble and mischief. In his childhood, he had his foreskin shaved, had a crush on his babysitter Isabel Villalobos (to whom he eventually lost his virginity), and often finished in mediocre fashion in competitive events which was displayed in the "Wall of Gaylord" his father built. His father calls him Gay or Gaylord, which is a recurring joke within the film. He graduated from Williams College which is shown on the Wall of Gaylord.
Bernard "Bernie" Focker (Dustin Hoffman): The father of Greg. He was an attorney for a brief period of time, but became a homemaker after the birth of his son. Bernie lives on "Focker Isle" in Miami, with his wife Roz. He claims to be a practitioner of capoeira, the Brazilian martial art of dance-fighting. His fondness for chimichangas is a recurring joke within the film.
Rosalind "Roz" Focker (Barbra Streisand): The mother of Greg Focker, who is a sex therapist for senior citizens and often embarrasses Greg by going on about her knowledge on sex.
Pamela Martha Byrnes/Pamela Martha Focker (Teri Polo): Greg's fiancée. She is a second grade teacher in Chicago and lives with Greg. Before starting a relationship with Greg, she was engaged briefly to Kevin, with whom she is still friends.
Dina Byrnes (Blythe Danner): The wife of Jack Byrnes, and mother of Pam, Debbie and Danny. She balances the relationship with Jack as the soft spot, and the sympathetic voice of reason to her husband. In the movie, it can be seen that she is somewhat jealous of Roz and Bernie's sex addiction.
Little Jack (Spencer and Bradley Pickren): Jack's approximately one-year-old grandson by his other daughter, Debbie. Jack is grooming him to be a genius using unconventional child rearing methods. He communicates through baby sign language and the expletive asshole, which he accidentally picked up from Greg.
Isabel Villalobos (Alanna Ubach): Sexy former housekeeper and babysitter of the Fockers and current owner of a catering business. She had a brief fling with Greg when he was nineteen years old which resulted in Greg losing his virginity to her. This affair led Jack to suspect that Greg may be the father of her child.
Jorge Villalobos (Ray Santiago): The fifteen-year-old son of Isabel, he is a mechanical prodigy with a reputation for being able to fix anything. Jorge is also a liar, but his most definable attribute is his uncanny resemblance to Greg and his antics, which leads Jack to believe that Greg is Jorge's father. Another recurring joke in the film is that either Greg or Jorge look like a "young, Jewish/Hispanic Marlon Brando." It turns out that his father is former minor league baseball player Rusty Bridges, also played by Stiller. His Spanish name was redirected by Jack into its English translation: "George House-of-the-Wolves."
Moses (Terem): The Fockers' pet dog, a Chihuahua/Yorkie mix. [1] He has the sublime ability and urge to mate with anything that moves.
Mr. Jinx: The Byrnes' pet Himalayan cat. He is able to use the toilet and has extensive aquatic training. He once flushed Moses down the toilet in the Byrnes' trailer, but they are later seen eating wedding cake together in peace at the end of the film.
Owen Wilson reprises his role, Kevin Rawley, from the previous film, but this time as an ordained inter-faith minister.
[edit] Box office performance
The film was a commercial success and is the highest grossing live action comedy in history. According to Box Office Mojo, it grossed $46,120,980 on its opening weekend (3,518 theaters, averaging $13,110 per theater). At the end of the film's 149 days release, it grossed a total of $279,261,160 at the domestic market, and $237,381,779 overseas, for a total worldwide gross of $516,642,939. The film's budget was $80,000,000.[2]
[edit] Sequel
Plans have been announced to begin development of a sequel, through Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions.[3] Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Teri Polo will reprise their roles as Greg Focker, Jack Byrnes and Pamela Focker, respectively. Owen Wilson will also return as Pam's ex-fiance Kevin in a larger role. It is also likely that Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand will reprise their roles Dina Byrnes, Bernie Focker and Rozalin Focker, although no official cast has been released yet.[4] Jay Roach, however, will not be returning to the director's chair, taking a producing role only. The new director will be Paul Weitz.[5] Production for Little Fockers is set to begin sometime in July 2009.[5] An official released date has not been announced yet. Ben Stiller announced on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 15 May 2009 that the film may be called Meet the Little Fockers, where as it was previously reported to simply be called Little Fockers. Writer John Hamburg stated the film will deal with "themes of death and divorce and all these real things that as we get older, we start to think about, but in a really comical way."[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Movie Review - Meet the Fockers. Retrieved from http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/mr.phtml?fid=7624 on 2007-02-26.
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=meetthefockers.htm Retrieved 2007-08-20
- ^ "More 'Fockers' for Universal." Variety. February 22, 2007.
- ^ http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a147185/stiller-de-niro-return-for-little-fockers.html
- ^ a b http://reelloop.com/news/news/470-those-little-fockers-find-their-director.html
- ^ http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a159450/little-fockers-about-death-divorce.html
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Meet the Fockers at the Internet Movie Database
- Meet the Fockers at Rotten Tomatoes
- Meet the Fockers at Metacritic
- Meet the Fockers at Box Office Mojo
| Preceded by Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events |
Box office number-one films of 2004 - 2005 (USA) December 26, 2004 - January 9, 2005 |
Succeeded by Coach Carter |
| Preceded by Closer |
Box office number-one films of 2005 (UK) January 30 - February 20 |
Succeeded by Hide and Seek |
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