Meet The Fockers vs Flirting With Disaster

Meet the Fockers—let's just cut to the chase here—is the least necessary sequel since Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, and the worst sequel, period, since Batman and Robin. It's brazen in its stunt casting, indulgent in its overdone schtick, and lazy about every other conceivable thing. Actors came out of retirement for this?

Now, obviously, there's material here for a sequel. After all, in Meet the Parents, we had a couple, and we only got to Meet one set of Parents. So there must be another set out there, right? Sure there is. Ever seen Dharma and Greg? It's that. In Meet the Parents, we met Greg's parents, and in Meet the Fockers, we get Dharma's. That's it. Exactly. Quick, what's your favorite episode of Dharma and Greg? Anyone? Any random two hours of Dharma and focking Greg that you would pay to see?

It's just so bad. I can't tell you. So. Bad.

You see, in Meet the Parents, Greg (Ben Stiller) met Pam's (Teri Polo) parents, and some pretty funny stuff happened. Greg was put into situations that were uncomfortable, yet understandable: the volleyball game in the tiny swimsuit, his attempts to sneak a cigarette, and his endless hassles at the airport. Meet the Fockers takes every laugh from the first movie and tries to up the ante for the second. Not realizing it's a sequel and not a remake, director Jay Roach has positioned Meet the Fockers with a babysitting scene to top the cat-sitting scene in the first movie. Instead of a lie-detector test, this time we get truth serum. Instead of a volleyball game, we get a football game. Pam's dad mentioned the Circle of Trust in the first movie, so this time he brings it up again and again. He did the “I'm watching you” gesture a couple times in the first, so he does it in nearly every scene here. And on and on.

Oh, and Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman play Dharma's—I mean, Greg's—parents. They make a believable couple, and look tan and rested. There, I said something nice. There's also a talking baby (not necessarily a baby who learns to talk, but more of a talking baby. If you've seen enough shitty movies, you'll know the difference), and a dog that gets flushed down the toilet. Jokes are set up, but given no punchlines. Other jokes are all punchline, with no set-up whatsoever. Ben Stiller has played this part over and over, and could probably do it in his sleep. It's a shame he felt the need to prove it. Never has an actor looked more bored or disappointed with a film during the actual film. I'd mention Polo or the actors who played her parents, but given almost the exact same material as the first movie, they responded by giving the exact same performances.

Boo.

Once upon a time, Ben Stiller made a movie with two sets of parents, one laid back and funny, the other uptight and nervous. He had not one, but two female costars with which he shared chemistry and comedy, and the script actually felt alive with moments of humor and originality. It had a director with a point of view. It had a pulse. It had a brain. Of course, Meet the Fockers is a box office record-breaker, and hardly anyone I know has seen Flirting with Disaster. And that's a shame.

Flirting with Disaster is not perfect, mind you. But it's got something to say, and it believes in its characters enough to let them say it. Ben Stiller plays Mel, a new father who is starting to feel uneasy about never having known his real parents. He has a loving wife (Patricia Arquette), but something's missing, and he feels like he won't be a good dad until he settles this part of his life. So, with a foxy case worker (Tea Leoni) along for the ride, they set out to find his birth parents.

It's the craziest thing. Funny stuff happens. Smart, funny stuff. Stuff like clever dialogue, and comic timing, and plots that unfold like in the movies, rather than something that seems designed to include commercial breaks. There's direction, and acting, and when there's slapstick or bathroom humor or embarrassing situations, they're presented with originality and humanity. Characters are humiliated, but the actors playing them are not. And those wacky parents? They're played by Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda, and they should be proud.

Flirting with Disaster is much more complicated than I've let on, and more fun too. It was directed by David O. Russell, who probably doesn't strike anyone as the romantic comedy type. I'm guessing that's why he's so good at it, and why he doesn't fall prey to many of the clichés of the genre. The best thing about it just might be that you won't guess what's going to happen next. If you can't name at least ten things that are going to happen during Meet the Fockers just by looking at the poster, well then, you just got yourself kicked out of my circle of trust.

Meet the Fockers: D-
Flirting with Disaster: B