CAST: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro; Jessica Alba; DIRECTOR: Paul Weitz; SCREENPLAY: John Hamburg, Larry Stuckey; PRODUCER: Jane Rosenthal, Robert de Niro, Jay Roach, John Hamburg; EDITING: Greg Hayden, Leslie Jones; MUSIC: Stephen Trask; GENRE: Comedy; DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures; LOCATION: Chicago; RUNNING TIME: 107 minutes
Technical Assessment: 3
Moral Assessment: 2.5
CINEMA Rating: V14 (For viewers 14 and above)
Little Fockers is the 3rd franchise of the Meet the Parents series. This time Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and wife Pam (Teri Polo) are proud parents of 5-year-old twins Sam and Henry. Apparently, patriarch father-in-law Jack Brynes (Robert De Niro) is having some health issues and must pass on the headship of the family to a successor. And he chooses Greg to be the “Godfocker”. The rest of the movie is a series of skits wherein Greg tries to authenticate his upcoming role and Jack tries to prove his theory that Greg is having an affair with a sexy pharmaceutical representative Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba).
Little Fockers is a pathetic and lame attempt to cash in on a film that made some money when it first came out. The movie is clean and acceptable technically but fails miserably on the creative side. The story is boring, corny and flat. The characters are caricatures matching the over the top performances. And because of a full pack cast, the attempt to provide a storyline for everyone further confused the story. The script and plot are almost nonsense and characters are placed in the scene merely to create a joke that unfortunately is not even funny. Apparently, the writers loved the “Godfocker” joke so much that they made sure it was repeated constantly throughout the movie.
This 3rd installment of the movie franchise repeats the message in the very first movie: in-law problems are caused by prejudice, self-centeredness and the refusal to open up and reach out. In-laws are important in the family as they provide support and assistance as proven by Greg saving Jack’s life at the end of the movie. The imperative joke about father and son-in-law (or daughter and mother-in-law) clashing with each other to provide the comical situation is actually a dangerous stereotyping of the relationship because people may begin to be wary even before getting to know their would be in-laws. This movie once again reiterates how much happier a home can be when in-laws get along and actually love and trust each other.
The pro-family message is passable, but the sex jokes, toilet humor, the nonsensical turkey carving mishap and other failed attempt to create comedy makes the film inappropriate for young audiences. Perhaps it would make for adult entertainment, as demonstrated during a full-house Sunday night showing at a Makati theater where the audience lapped up the jokes. And you’ve got to give it to De Niro and Hoffman—it takes some guts for respectable actors to appear for the third time in a comedy series that’s wearing thin.—By Pie Mabanta
