Meet the Parents

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Meet the Parents

International poster
Directed by Jay Roach
Produced by Robert De Niro
Jay Roach
Jane Rosenthal
Nancy Tenenbaum
Written by Greg Glienna (1992 screenplay)
Mary Ruth Clarke (1992 screenplay)
James Herzfeld
John Hamburg
Starring Ben Stiller
Robert De Niro
Teri Polo
Blythe Danner
Owen Wilson
Music by Randy Newman
Editing by Jon Poll
Studio TriBeCa Productions
Distributed by North America:
Universal Studios
International:
DreamWorks
Release date(s) October 6, 2000
Running time 108 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $55,000,000
Gross revenue $330,444,045
Followed by Meet the Fockers (2004)

Meet the Parents is a 2000 American comedy film written by Greg Glienna and directed by Jay Roach of Austin Powers fame. Starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, the film chronicles a series of unfortunate events that befall a good hearted but hapless male nurse while visiting his girlfriend's parents. Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson also star.

Meet the Parents is a remake of a 1992 film of the same name that was co-written and directed by Glienna and in which he played the main protagonist. After Universal Studios purchased the rights to the original film, James Herzfeld expanded the short script but development was halted for some time. There was initial interest in the film by Steven Spielberg, who wanted to direct the film, and by Jim Carrey to play the lead role. The offer to make the film was not extended to Jay Roach until it had become clear that Spielberg and Carrey would not be able to take on the project.

Released on October 6, 2000 and distributed by Universal Studios and DreamWorks, the film's initial budget of $55 million was earned back in eleven days and the film went on to become one of the highest grossing films of 2000, earning over $160 million from opening weekend until December 31. The success of Meet the Parents inspired a 2004 sequel Meet the Fockers and, in 2007, Universal Studios announced another sequel titled Little Fockers. It also inspired a reality television show entitled Meet My Folks and a situation comedy In-Laws, both of them debuting on NBC in 2002.

Meet the Parents was well received by film critics and viewers alike, receiving mostly positive reviews from critics and earning the Favorite Comedy Motion Picture award at the 2001 People's Choice Awards.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Gaylord M. "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller) is a nurse living in Chicago. He intends to propose to his girlfriend Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), a schoolteacher. His plans are disrupted by the news that Pam's sister Debbie (Nicole DeHuff) is getting married and Greg and Pam are invited to spend the weekend before the wedding at Pam's parents' house in Oyster Bay, New York (on Long Island). Hoping to make the best of the situation, Greg now plans to propose to Pam in front of her family and brings the engagement ring he bought for Pam with him.

At the Byrnes family home, Greg meets Pam's father Jack (Robert De Niro), mother Dina (Blythe Danner) and their beloved cat Mr. Jinx. Jack takes an instant dislike towards Greg and, subtly at first but more openly as time goes by, criticizes Greg for his choice of career as a male nurse and anything else he sees as a difference between Greg and the Byrnes family. Greg's surname remains a running gag throughout the film as characters frequently refer to Greg by his surname only. Greg desperately tries to impress Jack but his efforts fail one by one. Greg presents the family with a bottle of cheap champagne he purchased at a local drug store; while trying to open the bottle, the cork flies out of the bottle and hits the urn containing the ashes of Jack's beloved mother, breaking the urn and spilling the ashes on the ground, which Mr. Jinx then uses as a litter box, upsetting Jack even further.

Greg becomes even more uncomfortable after he receives an impromptu lie detector test from Jack and later learns from Pam that her father is a retired CIA operative and not a florist. Adding to Greg's problems is the fact that the airline company lost his bag in which he packed the engagement ring thereby putting on hold his plans to propose to Pam.

Meeting the rest of Pam's family and friends, including Pam's ex-boyfriend Kevin Rawley (Owen Wilson), Greg still feels like an outsider. Despite honest efforts to impress the family, Greg keeps doing things to make himself an easy target for ridicule and even anger; he inadvertently causes Debbie a broken nose and a black eye just before her wedding, he uses a malfunctioning toilet and causes the Byrnes' back yard to become flooded with sewage, he sets on fire a wedding altar that was recently delivered to the Byrnes' home back yard, and several misunderstandings cause Jack to believe Greg is a marijuana user. Later, Greg inadvertently lets Jinx out of the house and is unable to catch him again. As the terrified Byrnes family launches into a frenzied search, Greg, desperate to prove himself worthy to the family, finds a similar stray cat at a local animal shelter and spray paints its tail to make it look like Jinxie. Hailed as a hero, Greg quickly becomes the villain again when a neighbour of the Byrnes' calls with the news that Jinx wandered into the house next door and Jack discovers Greg's cover up scheme.

By now, the entire Byrnes family, including Pam, agrees that it's best for Greg to leave Long Island until the wedding is concluded. Unwillingly, Greg leaves in order to go to the airport where he is detained by airport security for insisting that his bag, the same one previously lost by the airline company, stay with him rather than be checked. Back at the Byrnes household, Jack tries to convince Pam that Greg was lying to her about everything and, as proof, he explains that his friends at the CIA were unable to find proof of anyone named "Greg Focker" ever taking the MCAT which Greg claimed he had passed (with the initial intention of becoming a doctor). Upon learning that Greg's real first name is Gaylord and being presented with proof from Pam that he did in fact pass the test, Jack realizes that Pam loves Greg and that she wants to marry him. Jack rushes to the airport, convinces the airport security to release Greg and brings him back to the Byrnes household to a grateful Pam.

As Greg is proposing to Pam, Jack and Dina listen in on their conversation from another room, agreeing that everything did, in fact, turn out in the best interest of their daughter and the only thing left to do is to meet Greg's parents. After the conclusion of Debbie and Bob's wedding, the film ends with Jack viewing footage of Greg recorded by hidden cameras that Jack had placed strategically around the house. One of which is Greg, looking at the camera, well aware that Jack is watching him and is calling him out.

[edit] Cast

Robert De Niro was cast upon the suggestion of Universal Studios.
  • Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes: Pam's father and a retired CIA operative who is overly protective of his family and has a hard time warming up to his daughters' love interests. The script was not written with De Niro in mind as Jack Byrnes since the first draft of the script was completed in 1996, well before De Niro had done any comedy work.[1] However, shortly after De Niro finished filming The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, the Universal Studios suggested to Roach that he should cast De Niro for the role to which Roach agrees that he had "no reservations whatsoever."[2] Screenwriter James Herzfeld revealed that, after committing to the project and reviewing the script, Robert De Niro was actually the person who came up with the idea for the famous polygraph test scene.[1]
  • Ben Stiller as Gaylord "Greg" M. Focker: A nurse who loves his girlfriend and tries desperately to impress her parents by any means, even if that includes telling little white lies about himself which are then covered up with bigger lies and elaborate cover-up schemes. Roach admits that Stiller was the best choice for this role because "nobody plays that kind of material better than Ben"[2]
  • Teri Polo as Pam Byrnes: A schoolteacher, Pam is Greg's girlfriend. She acts as a mediator between Greg and the Byrnes family, especially her father Jack.
  • Owen Wilson as Kevin Rawley: Pam's ex-fiancee, a financial investor who is recently rich and has a love for woodworking.
  • Jon Abrahams as Denny Byrnes: The youngest child of the Jack and Dina Byrnes.
  • James Rebhorn as Larry Banks: Bob Banks' father, Larry is a close friend of Jack's and takes almost as much pleasure in ridiculing Greg as Jack does.

[edit] Production

Meet the Parents is a remake of a 1992 independent film of the same name which has since been pulled from all distribution.[3][4][5] Greg Glienna co-wrote (with Mary Ruth Clarke), directed and starred in the 76 minute film which was filmed on 16 mm film in 1991 and released the following year.[6][7][8] The 1992 film also marked one of only several film roles played by comedian Emo Philips which he also helped produce.[5][4][8][9] Film producer Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards, listed the original Meet the Parents on his personal Top Ten list of favorite films where he called it "much funnier and tighter than the Hollywood version".[10] The 1992 film was a featured entry in the 1995 Raindance Film Festival.

Universal Studios had purchased the rights to Greg Glienna's 1992 film and then approached screenwriter James Herzfeld to re-write the screenplay.[1] Herzfeld expanded the modest script, completing the first draft as early as 1996, and he initially presented it to Roach who had, up to that point, finished the first two Austin Powers films. Roach admits to have liked the script from the beginning and was very much willing to make the film even though he thought "it needed more work."[2] Universal declined to have relatively inexperienced Roach take on the project due to interest from Steven Spielberg who wanted to direct and produce the film with Jim Carrey playing the role of Greg Focker.[2][1] However, most likely due to scheduling conflicts, Spielberg and Carrey never took the project past the planning stages.[2] The script was then returned to Roach who had by now taken on his next project of Mystery, Alaska but was still interested in making Meet the Parents.

Upon the suggestion of Universal Studios, Roach cast De Niro in the role of Jack Byrnes due to critical acclaim of De Niro's recent comedy work in films such as Analyze This and in the live-action/animated film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.[2] Stiller was cast after De Niro and Roach claims to have cast him for the role of Greg Focker because he could think of no one better. Additionally, Roach was also impressed with Stiller's improvisational and ad lib abilities and the film contains at least one scene where the dialogue was completely improvised by Stiller.[2]

The role of Mr. Jinx the cat was played by two five year-old Himalayan cats named Bailey and Misha. The American Humane Association oversaw the filming of all scenes where the cats were used and ensured the animals' obedience and well-being by keeping two trainers and a veterinarian on set at all times.[11]

[edit] DVD release

Meet the Parents was released on DVD on March 6, 2001.[12] The single disc "Collector's Edition" edition contains two audio commentaries, one a light-hearted and humorous discussion between Roach, Stiller, De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal and the other a more formal technical commentary on the film-making aspects by the director. As well, the DVD features a ten minute outtake section, five minutes of deleted scenes and Universal's Spotlight on Location featurette about the making of the film including interviews with the cast members and behind-the-scenes footage. It also contains two games called Take The Lie Detector Test and The Forecaster Game as well as PC material such as wallpapers and screensavers.[13] The region 2 edition of the DVD was released on October 22, 2001. A region 1 "Bonus Edition" was released on December 14, 2004 and contains three additional feturettes: Silly Cat Tricks, The Truth About Lying and a 12-minute long Jay Roach: A Director’s Profile.[4]

The DVD sales for the film were successful, taking in over $200 million for the year 2001.[14]

[edit] Soundtrack

The original motion picture soundtrack for Meet the Parents was released on September 26, 2000 on the DreamWorks Records record label.[15] The soundtrack features 14 original compositions by Randy Newman as well as additional tracks by Bobby Womack, Lee Dorsey, and Dr. John and a hidden bonus track. Newman's original song "A Fool in Love" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song — Newman's 14th Oscar nomination[16] — at the 73rd Academy Awards but it ultimately lost to Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed" for Wonder Boys.[17] Dan Goldwasser, in his review of the soundtrack for SoundtrackNet, gave credit to Newman and the soundtrack for doing "an excellent job keeping the humor level high."[18]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Box office performance

Meet the Parents was a financial success, taking in USD $28.6 million during its opening weekend and averaging $10,950 per theater in a total of 2,614 theaters. It spent four weeks as the #1 film at the U.S. box office[19] and, by the close date of March 29, 2001, the film had grossed $166.2 million in the United States and a total of $330.4 million worldwide,[20] making it the seventh highest grossing film of the year both domestically[21] and worldwide.[22]. The film's opening weekend earnings were the highest ever for any film released in the month of October as well as the marking the highest opening weekend earnings for a Robert De Niro film.[23]

[edit] Critical reception

"Making a funny but not mean, smart but not smug, broad but not lazy ensemble comedy about contemporary people in a realistic setting is hard. For which Meet the Parents is to be commended — it's a bouncy, loose-limbed, families-do-the-darnedest-things sitcom that elicits ungrudging laughs without invoking water boys, pet detectives, or Klumps."
—Lisa Schwarzbaum[24]

As of October 14, 2008, the aggregate review website Rotten Tomatoes registered an 84% positive response based on reviews from 137 critics[25] while at the same time Metacritic, another aggregate review website, registered a rating of 73 out of 100, based on 33 reviews,[26] which is classified as Generally favorable reviews by the website's rating system.[27] Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine called the film "flat-out hilarious"[28] and Neil Smith of bbc.co.uk proclaimed that "there's not a weak scene in this super-funny picture."[29] Film critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four comparing the film to Roach's previous work on the Austin Powers film series and offering his opinion that "[Meet the Parents] is funnier because it never tries too hard."[30] Critic Christopher Null of AMC's Filmcritic.com claimed that "Meet the Parents is one of the funniest comedies I've seen since Annie Hall".[31] Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly called the script "unforced" and concluded that the film "goes down like a flute of Champagne, leaving an aftertaste of giggles."[24]

However, Internet film critic James Berardinelli, in spite of awarding it two and a half stars out of four, gave the film a somewhat scathing review. On his website, Berardinelli wrote that "Meet the Parents is put together like a TV sit-com," that Roach "strings together a series of hit-and-miss lowbrow gags with little care for whether any of the connecting material is coherent, interesting, or enjoyable (in most cases, it's none of those three)" and concluding that "even with Stiller and De Niro, Meet the Parents is an encounter that can be postponed until it's available on video."[32] Jeff Vice of the Deseret News, another detractor of the film, proclaimed Meet the Parents "only erratically funny" and accused Roach of taking "the cheap way out with a series of unfunny jokes."[33]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Wins

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Legacy

The success of Meet the Parents was initially responsible for a 2002 NBC reality television show entitled Meet My Folks in which a young woman's love interest, vying for her family's approval, is interrogated by the woman's overprotective father with the help of a lie detector machine.[40][41][42] In September 2002, NBC also aired a situation comedy entitled In-Laws. During the development of the sitcom, NBC called it "a Meet the Parents project" which prompted an investigation by Universal into whether or not NBC was infringing on Universal's copyright.[43] Universal did not pursue any action against NBC but neither show lasted more than one season.

In 2004, Meet the Fockers was released as a sequel to Meet the Parents.[44][45] Directed again by Jay Roach with a screenplay by James Herzfeld and John Hamburg, the sequel chronicles the events that take place when the Byrnes family meets Bernie and Roz Focker, Greg's parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand respectively. The producers intended for Greg's parents to be the opposite of the Byrnes' conservative, upper class, WASPy demeanor; to that effect, producer Jane Rosenthal explains that "Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand were our dream team."[46] Meet the Fockers proved to be another financial success grossing $280 million domestically and $516 million worldwide,[47] outperforming Meet the Parents by a large margin and finishing as the fourth highest grossing film of 2004.[48]

In February 2007, Universal Studios announced that they will be making a second sequel in the franchise, tentatively titled Little Fockers.[49][50][51] The film will, again, be directed by Roach but the screenplay will this time be written by Larry Stuckey, Roach's former assistant.[49][51] The studio intends to bring back De Niro, Stiller, Polo, Danner as well as Hoffman and Streisand.[49][51]

[edit] American Airlines flight 605

On July 18, 2005, a regularly scheduled American Airlines flight from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to San Juan, Puerto Rico had to be diverted back to Fort Lauderdale shortly after take-off due to a bomb threat. The pilot turned the airplane around approximately 40 minutes into the flight after a flight attendant found a crumpled napkin that read "Bomb, bomb, bomb ... meet the parents", a clear reference to the scene in which Ben Stiller's character repeatedly shouts the word "bomb" while being detained by airport security.[52][53] The airplane was met by a bomb squad of the local sheriff's office as well as the FBI whose agents questioned the plane's 176 passengers about the note.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Gunn, Elston. Ten Questions with MEET THE PARENTS screenwriter Jim Herzfeld, screenwritersutopia.com, March 11, 2004. Accessed October 9, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jay Roach talks about his hit film Meet the Parents and spewing sewage on Robert De Niro, Barnes & Noble, March 5, 2001. Accessed October 9, 2008.
  3. ^ Chyn, Stina. Meet The Parents, Film Threat, June 7, 2005. Accessed May 26, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Shaffer, R.L. Meet the Parents: Bonus Edition (2000), dvdfuture.com. Accessed December 20, 2009.
  5. ^ a b Adams, Sam.Meet the Parents, Philadelphia City Paper. Accessed August 20, 2009.
  6. ^ Ayscough, Suzan. Meet the Parents, Variety, August 13, 1992. Accessed May 28, 2008.
  7. ^ Wooten, Amy. Greg Glienna: Meet the Comic, Windy City Times, May 31, 2008. Accessed May 28, 2008.
  8. ^ a b Brown, R. Chris.Emo Philips Talks with R. Chris Brown. Comedy Newswire, March 23, 2009. Accessed August 20, 2009.
  9. ^ Local Film Producer Brings America's #1 Film School To Detroit, Reuters, July 8, 2009. Accessed August 20, 2009.
  10. ^ Elliot's Top Ten, raindance.co.uk. Accessed August 20, 2009.
  11. ^ Movie Review - Meet the Parents, American Humane Association. Accessed August 14, 2009.
  12. ^ Meet the Parents, New York Times. Accessed August 14, 2009.
  13. ^ Suarez, Greg. DVD Review - Meet the Parents, The Digital Bits, March 29, 2001. Accessed August 14, 2009.
  14. ^ Hernandez, Greg. Home Video Booms VHS Blockbusters, DVD Sales Fuel Rise, The Free Library, 2002. Accessed August 20, 2009.
  15. ^ Goldwasser, Dan. Meet the Parents Soundtrack, SoundtrackNet, September 22, 2000. Accessed August 17, 2009.
  16. ^ Dylan, Björk, Sting Get First Oscar Nods, ABC News, February 13, 2001. Accessed August 17, 2009.
  17. ^ a b Oscar nominees in full, BBC News, February 13, 2001. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  18. ^ Goldwasser, Dan. [1], SoundtrackNet, September 22, 2000. Accessed August 20, 2009.
  19. ^ Associated Press. 'Blair Witch' sequel has disappointing box-office debut, CNN, October 29, 2000. Accessed May 26, 2008.
  20. ^ Meet the Parents (2000), Box Office Mojo. Accessed May 26, 2008.
  21. ^ 2000 Domestic Grosses, Box Office Mojo. Accessed August 19, 2009
  22. ^ 2000 Worldwide Grosses, Box Office Mojo. Accessed May 30, 2008.
  23. ^ De Niro's parental charms, BBC News, October 9, 2000. Accessed October 9, 2008.
  24. ^ a b Schwarzbaum, Lisa. Vetting Day Blues, Entertainment Weekly, October 6, 2000. Accessed May 30, 2008.
  25. ^ Meet the Parents, Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  26. ^ Meet the Parents, Metacritic. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  27. ^ About Metascores. How We Calculate Our Scores: The Short Summary, Metacritic. Accessed May 26, 2008.
  28. ^ McCarthy, Todd. Meet the Parents, Variety, October 1, 2000. Accessed October 9, 2008.
  29. ^ Smith, Neil. Meet the Parents (2000), bbc.co.uk, December 11, 2000. Accessed October 9, 2008.
  30. ^ Ebert, Roger. Meet The Parents, Chicago Sun-Times, October 6, 2000. Accessed May 26, 2008.
  31. ^ Null, Christopher. Meet the Parents, Filmcritic.com. Accessed August 14, 2009.
  32. ^ Berardinelli, James. Meet the Parents, ReelViews.net. Accessed October 8, 2008.
  33. ^ Vice, Jeff. Meet the Parents, Deseret News, October 6, 2000. Accessed October 8, 2008.
  34. ^ The Associated Press. Gibson, Green Mile Find Favor, CBS News, January 8, 2001. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  35. ^ MTV Movie Awards 2001, MTV.com. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  36. ^ American Comedy Awards Air Tonight on Comedy Central, Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2001. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  37. ^ Top Box Office, ASCAP.com. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  38. ^ The 58th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2001), GoldenGlobes.org. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  39. ^ Dutka, Elaine. Arts and Entertainment Reports From the Times, News Services and the Nation’s Press, Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2001. Accessed October 14, 2008.
  40. ^ Gallo, Phil. Meet My Folks, Variety, July 21, 2002. Accessed May 27, 2008.
  41. ^ Fenwick, Alexandra. Meet My Folks brings a fiance's worst nightmare to television, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, September 13, 2002. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  42. ^ Isaac, Steven. Meet My Folks, Plugged In, February 2003. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  43. ^ Lynette Rice and Dan Snierson. On the Air, Entertainment Weekly, August 9, 2002. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  44. ^ Clinton, Paul. Review: Formulaic 'Fockers' fitfully funny. Sequel has moments, but a comedown from original, CNN, December 22, 2004. Accessed May 27, 2008.
  45. ^ Tyrangiel, Josh. High Drama, Low Comedy, CNN, December 6, 2004. Accessed May 27, 2008.
  46. ^ Universal Studio. "Meet the Fockers" Movie Production Notes, Entertainment Magazine, December 22, 2004. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  47. ^ Meet The Fockers, Box Office Mojo. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  48. ^ 2004 Yearly Box Office Results, Box Office Mojo. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  49. ^ a b c Michael Fleming, Diane Garrett. More 'Fockers' for Universal. Tribeca deal paves way for third movie, Variety, February 22, 2007. Accessed May 26, 2008.
  50. ^ Third Fockers Movie On The Horizon, Empire, February 23, 2007. Accessed May 28, 2008.
  51. ^ a b c Martindale, Stone. 'Little Fockers' given the go from Universal, Monsters and Critics, February 23, 2007. Accessed October 10, 2008.
  52. ^ Candiotti, Susan. Suspicious note diverts flight, CNN, July 19, 2005. Accessed August 14, 2009.
  53. ^ Carey, Bridget. Bomb Threat Diverts American Airlines Flight Back to Fla, Associated Press. Accessed August 14, 2009.

[edit] External links