Stiller "Meets" DeNiro in well-directed movie |
Becca Doten |
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LOS ANGELES, Calif. (U-WIRE) - Ah, true love. The time has come to propose to that special someone and only one thing remains: meeting her parents to ask for her hand in marriage. Quaint, but that's the way that the Byrnes family operates, and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) wants to do everything right when proposing to his girlfriend, Pam (Teri Polo). So it is off to the country to spend the weekend with the prospective in-laws. However, things don't go as Greg had planned, and as the weekend goes from bad to worse, his screw-ups might just cost him the love of his life. "Meet the Parents," the most recent film from "Austin Powers" director Jay Roach, is a well-crafted, intelligent comedy that provides some exceptionally hilarious moments. Stiller and Robert DeNiro (as Jack Byrnes, the father-in-law-to-be and interrogator extraodinaire) make a wonderful comedic team, both pushing the limits of their personas to increase the conflict and humor. Stiller is every bit the bumbling, uncomfortable loser with the heart of gold that audiences have grown to know and love, while DeNiro plays his character with a delicious evilness, hard-edged with just a hint of sarcasm lying below the surface. The delight that he takes in tormenting his daughter's love is brilliant, and his ability to relish the tenuous silences prove that he has what it takes to make smart comedies. Congratulations also must be given to Blythe Danner as Dina Byrnes, Pam's loving, yet not quite all there, mother. Her quiet reserve is a perfect blend of tacked-on appeasement, cluelessness and joy to make for a thoroughly charming character and a wonderful foil to Jack's hard edge. It is the direction of the film, however, that makes it work so beautifully. Time and time again, Roach forces the audience to squirm through uncomfortable silences and laugh at Greg's misery. The forced kindness between parents and potential son-in-law are absolutely golden and Roach optimizes the laughs, showing near impeccable comic timing in the strained silences that are horribly uncomfortable yet incredibly funny and, what's more, believable. It is this believability that makes "Meet the Parents" complete. Outrageous, slapstick situations occur, but they are almost always so well set up the build (or downward spiral, if you will) toward the final, disastrous culmination may raise an eyebrow but still can be accepted within the context of the story. Screenwriters Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg must also be commended for their ability to take risks and exploit little moments of everyday annoyance. A scene in an airport where Greg is forced to wait to board his plane while no one else is around is hilarious in that it is not far from the absurdity of what really occurs in everyday life. Again, an underlying truth permeates the film, although it has so many extreme situations. The characters and their motivations, for the most part, ground the film in a reality that many other films cannot sustain. In fact, the most glaring problem of "Meet the Parents" occurs when the film briefly deviates from this way of working to attempt to tack on an overly sappy yet emotionally fulfilling culmination that simply does not work. It forces characters to become what they are not to show they are all these wonderful people at heart, but it breaks the flow of what has been built up. Causing the film to shift in tone, it sorely sticks out and undermines what is otherwise a solid, well-constructed comedy. However, the underlying tension between Greg and Pam's parents, with his desperate attempt to impress and please them, assures a continuation of the dramatic tension. But it is the spark, wit and charm of the characters that keeps one laughing throughout. In the end, Roach truly knows the essence of this comedy of errors - real people in real situations - while the circumstances skyrocket beyond the characters' control. He never allows the film the death of humor. Instead he allows the audience to become caught up in the film, and the humor comes out of the pain and foibles of what has become Greg's weekend from hell.... | |