By
Ian Caruth
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Stiller brings amusing nervous energy to winning comedy from "Austin Powers" director
Director Jay Roach scored an instant classic with his 1997 debut film, "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery." Combining skilled comic actors, an anarchic plot and lots of whimsical bodily fluids, the film was generally well-received by both critics and audiences, even as it introduced several heinous catchphrases into the nation's collective consciousness.
After last year's sagging Austin Powers sequel, Roach makes a fine return to form with the hilarious - and refreshingly catchphrase-free - "Meet the Parents."
Ben Stiller plays Greg, a nurse who wants to propose to his girlfriend Pam. However, his plans are delayed when he learns that Pam's father is an old-fashioned type who would prefer that Greg ask dear old dad's permission before popping the question. So unsuspecting Greg accompanies Pam to her sister's wedding in order to meet and charm her family - and rollicking comedy ensues.
Robert De Niro plays the film's comic centerpiece, Pam's father Jack. Ostensibly a retired expert on rare flowers, he's an inveterate hardass, suffocatingly overprotective and just the sort of person who makes boyfriends wake up screaming in a cold sweat. He and Greg clash the moment they meet, and things get progressively more uncomfortable for the nervous nurse over the course of a weekend at Pam's childhood home.
The film benefits from a wonderful plot, if one redefines plot to mean "a series of loosely connected excuses to push Greg to the very edge of insanity." There is only the barest wisp of storyline connecting the scenes in the movie -instead, this is pretty much a series of loosely connected comic vignettes.
And that's a good thing - the increasingly uncomfortable scenes depicting Greg interacting with Pam's family are by far the most engaging parts of the movie, and when the wedding plot edges momentarily into the forefront, things seem, well, boring. This is one of those rare films for which a full-blown plot would have been unnecessary and intrusive.
Perfect casting in the starring roles helps things immensely. De Niro is not traditionally a comic actor, but he gives a flawless performance as the unforgiving father-in-law from hell. His stony countenance and measured rhythms are the perfect counterpoint to Stiller's herky-jerky Greg - indeed, no one on the planet plays nervously energetic as well as Ben Stiller. Greg is basically Ted Stroehmann, Stiller's long-suffering character from "There's Something About Mary," but it is such a winning, sympathetic character that the lack of originality is forgivable.
The brilliant Owen Wilson has a cameo role as Pam's laughably perfect ex-fiancee - rich, charming and industrious, he is so "aw-shucks" great that even Jack loves him.
There are nits for the nitpickers. Pam's character is poorly developed, so it is difficult to really get a feel for why Greg is willing to endure the awful torment of her family. She is extremely photogenic, but that hardly seems like enough to justify his misery.
Some of the scenes also veer way over the line into comic excess, and there is that late-1990s comic kiss of death, the flying feces joke.
However, these are minor quibbles. It would not really be fair to review a movie like this on its artistic virtues - it is not going to change anyone's life, or even make any audience members think very hard.
However, with a few good comic actors, some sharp writing and a heartwarming kitty named Mr. Jinx, Roach has created a fine afternoon diversion - and one of the funniest films of the year.
