This is is the 3rd in the series about a family (the Fockers) with "ECCENTRIC" in-laws...
BEN STILLER plays Greg (Gaylord) Focker, head of a nursing department at a Chicago hospital. His wife Pam (TERI POLO) is a loving and supportive companion who enjoys raising their twin "Little" Focker kids – smart & tall Samantha (DAISY TAHAN) who's angry at Ben & not speaking to him, & her short, klutzy lizard-loving brother Henry (COLIN BAIOCCHI) Ben's rich-but-nutty friend Kevin Rawley (OWEN Wilson) calls him from Europe via a computer connection, happily announcing that he's met someone & intends to get married -- news which pleases his ex-lover Teri Plans are under way for a 5th-Birthday party for the kids-- but Ben is upset that his hired contractor Randy Weir (HARVEY KEITEL) has been doing a poor job getting his newly-bought place ready for the event At work, Ben meets a pretty drug company rep Andi Garcia (JESSICA ALBA) who wants him to tout her new sex-assisting product at an upcoming industry conference, but he's undecided about the idea of doing it to improve his financial situation Speaking of sex, Ben's mother Roz (BARBRA STREISAND) is happily running a sex-ADVICE show on TV (which tends to continue embarrassing Ben to a degree). His equally-embarrassing sexually-open father Bernie (DUSTIN Hoffman) is busy following his own "muses" over in Europe As you may remember, Teri's parents are the virtually-polar-OPPOSITES of Ben's folks, with her ex-CIA-type investigator dad Jack Byrnes (ROBERT De NIRO) usually "UPTIGHT" about something, & his wife Dina (BLYTHE DANNER) keeps working to try to "calm" him down What's got Robert especially upset are the actions of another son-in-law, Dr. Bob (THOMAS McCARTHY) who's worked to leave his OTHER daughter. That & other stresses start to cause Robert to have some HEART problems (which he naturally tries to "SELF-medicate") All that has made Robert especially eager to find someone he can "trust" to eventually take-over "MANAGING" his extended family. He is thus especially "dwelling" on BEN as a possibility for that "position", which he grows to call a "GOD-Focker" He starts his usual tactic of secretly "INVESTIGATING" Ben when he & Blythe come to town for the upcoming Birthday party It should come as no "shock" to you that Robert's "research" eventually learns of the existence of JESSICA in Ben's life If that weren't "confounding" enough, OWEN comes to town, & -- since his new love "dumped" him --, he's now re-absorbed with the idea of TERI as a perfect "companion" for him (witness a new tattoo he's gotten, etc.) Will anything be really "GOING-ON" between Ben & Jessica?... Will Owen's "assistance" help or actually HURT Ben & Teri's attempts to get their kids into a ritzy private school run by Owen's ex-lover Prudence (LAURA DERN)?...
Will Robert's intensity & obsessions cause more PROBLEMS in the Focker world?... Will the arrival of Barbra & Dustin for the party cause even more "COMPLICATIONS" for the family dynamics?...
There's a lot of quite FUNNY scenes in the film. Yes, there's a bunch of "exaggerations", but Ben plays his role "straight" (rather than just for "laughs") & thus is a fine "FOIL" for Robert & the situations that arise with him & Jessica & the kids It would've been nice to have even more interactions with Barbra & Dustin, whose roles are somewhat small The cast all seem to be having a GOOD TIME with their roles, thus coming across as "enthusiastic" & believable with the often-swirling nuttiness For a sequel, it's surprisingly EFFECTIVE-- & the ending might well presage a hoped-for ADDITIONAL continuation of the story (with an intensified "harping" / nagging / interference by the inlaws) It's not a "great" comedy-- but it's FUN, & thus I'm rating it 8 out of 10 stars
BEN STILLER plays Greg (Gaylord) Focker, head of a nursing department at a Chicago hospital. His wife Pam (TERI POLO) is a loving and supportive companion who enjoys raising their twin "Little" Focker kids – smart & tall Samantha (DAISY TAHAN) who's angry at Ben & not speaking to him, & her short, klutzy lizard-loving brother Henry (COLIN BAIOCCHI) Ben's rich-but-nutty friend Kevin Rawley (OWEN Wilson) calls him from Europe via a computer connection, happily announcing that he's met someone & intends to get married -- news which pleases his ex-lover Teri Plans are under way for a 5th-Birthday party for the kids-- but Ben is upset that his hired contractor Randy Weir (HARVEY KEITEL) has been doing a poor job getting his newly-bought place ready for the event At work, Ben meets a pretty drug company rep Andi Garcia (JESSICA ALBA) who wants him to tout her new sex-assisting product at an upcoming industry conference, but he's undecided about the idea of doing it to improve his financial situation Speaking of sex, Ben's mother Roz (BARBRA STREISAND) is happily running a sex-ADVICE show on TV (which tends to continue embarrassing Ben to a degree). His equally-embarrassing sexually-open father Bernie (DUSTIN Hoffman) is busy following his own "muses" over in Europe As you may remember, Teri's parents are the virtually-polar-OPPOSITES of Ben's folks, with her ex-CIA-type investigator dad Jack Byrnes (ROBERT De NIRO) usually "UPTIGHT" about something, & his wife Dina (BLYTHE DANNER) keeps working to try to "calm" him down What's got Robert especially upset are the actions of another son-in-law, Dr. Bob (THOMAS McCARTHY) who's worked to leave his OTHER daughter. That & other stresses start to cause Robert to have some HEART problems (which he naturally tries to "SELF-medicate") All that has made Robert especially eager to find someone he can "trust" to eventually take-over "MANAGING" his extended family. He is thus especially "dwelling" on BEN as a possibility for that "position", which he grows to call a "GOD-Focker" He starts his usual tactic of secretly "INVESTIGATING" Ben when he & Blythe come to town for the upcoming Birthday party It should come as no "shock" to you that Robert's "research" eventually learns of the existence of JESSICA in Ben's life If that weren't "confounding" enough, OWEN comes to town, & -- since his new love "dumped" him --, he's now re-absorbed with the idea of TERI as a perfect "companion" for him (witness a new tattoo he's gotten, etc.) Will anything be really "GOING-ON" between Ben & Jessica?... Will Owen's "assistance" help or actually HURT Ben & Teri's attempts to get their kids into a ritzy private school run by Owen's ex-lover Prudence (LAURA DERN)?...
Will Robert's intensity & obsessions cause more PROBLEMS in the Focker world?... Will the arrival of Barbra & Dustin for the party cause even more "COMPLICATIONS" for the family dynamics?...
There's a lot of quite FUNNY scenes in the film. Yes, there's a bunch of "exaggerations", but Ben plays his role "straight" (rather than just for "laughs") & thus is a fine "FOIL" for Robert & the situations that arise with him & Jessica & the kids It would've been nice to have even more interactions with Barbra & Dustin, whose roles are somewhat small The cast all seem to be having a GOOD TIME with their roles, thus coming across as "enthusiastic" & believable with the often-swirling nuttiness For a sequel, it's surprisingly EFFECTIVE-- & the ending might well presage a hoped-for ADDITIONAL continuation of the story (with an intensified "harping" / nagging / interference by the inlaws) It's not a "great" comedy-- but it's FUN, & thus I'm rating it 8 out of 10 stars