Little Fockers (98 minutes, Universal Pictures)
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo,
Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Jessica Alba, Laura Dern
Director: Paul Weitz
Writers: John Hamburg, Larry Stuckey
Producers: Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Jay Roach
Ben Stiller reunites with his “father-in-law” Robert De Niro in the third installment of the Fockers tale, Little Fockers.
The antics of Gaylord “Greg” Focker (Stiller) while trying to impress his girlfriend’s parents — especially her father Jack Brynes (Academy Award winner Robert De Niro) — in the 2000 film Meet the Parents attracted large audiences around the globe.
The film’s success was followed four years later with the release of a sequel, Meet the Fockers, which sees Greg introducing his eccentric parents to his future parents-in-laws and attempting to convince his future father-in-law that he is good enough to be a part of the Brynes clan.
The two releases were based on the “rivalry” between Greg and Jack. It seems that the third film also relies on the same recipe. This time, Paul Weitz (American Pie, About A boy, In Good Company) takes over the directorship from Jay Roach.
In Little Fockers, Greg is now the chief nurse at his hospital, while his spouse Pam is a housewife.
The film revolves around the marriage of Greg and Pamela (Teri Polo) and how they settle down and raise their twins, Samantha and Henry Focker. The couple is also planning to purchase their first house and looking for ways to tackle any financial burdens that might come up as they need to get their kids into a top private school.
In the beginning of the flick, it seems that Greg and Jack, a retired CIA operative, have finally come to terms with being part of the same family and the tension between them eases.
Jack puts high hopes in Greg being the one who can lead the next generation as heir to the throne when he decides that his other son-in-law, Dr. Bob (Tom McCarthy) is no longer suitable for the position. For Jack, keeping the family legacy is important.
Owen Wilson reappears in this flick as Pam’s ex-fiancé Kevin Rawley, who has become Greg’s friend. Even though they are now friends, Greg remains on the alert whenever Kevin starts to get too close to Pam.
Kevin is like the antagonist in this film, someone you want to hate, but you can’t because even though in some ways he’s a bit weird, he’s a good guy.
Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman reprise the roles of Greg’s carefree parents Roz and Bernie Focker.
In a bid to freshen up the movie, the filmmakers have introduced some new faces to the cast, such as Jessica Alba and Laura Dern.
Alba plays Andi Garcia, a lighthearted, drop-dead gorgeous pharmaceutical representative, who keeps encouraging Greg to be a speaker at a medical conference to make extra money, while Dern plays the role of a principal at a prestigious private school.
From the title, at first you may presume that the third installment is more about the twins, but just like its predecessors, the core story of Little Fockers is more about the rivalry between Greg and Jack.
After smooth yet “normal” relations, the seemingly healthy relationship between them does not last long as they begin to point fingers at each other for circumstances happening within the family and reveal each others’ bad side.
Greg and Jack once again go head-to-head just a few days before a bash organized for the twin’s birthday.
The big set piece of this film might be the twins’ birthday party, but we don’t see much action from the two kids, which may have been more interesting to watch.
The Focker twins are said to have completely different characters. Henry (played by Colin Baiocchi, who played Vince Vaughn’s son in comedy Couples Retreat) is a sweet yet adorable boy who is more like his father, while Samantha, portrayed by Daisy Tahan (TV series Nurse Jackie) is a tough tomboy who is much closer to her Grandpa Jack than Greg.
With the film’s monotonous storyline and cliché slapsticks scenes, it takes quite a long time for the filmmaker to even put smiles on moviegoers’ faces. There are barely no moments in which make us laugh out loud.
Instead of comedic, some scenes turn out to be horror for some moviegoers as they reveal blood and vomit.
Even the appearance of the sultry Jessica Alba fails to draw significant attraction to this film. After the third installment, hopefully, there is no further Focker story in the pipeline.
Verdict: Don’t put high expectations in this movie. The only bonus you may get is the beauty of Jessica Alba.
