Little Fockers

This Christmas, we are treated the third instalment of the ‘Meet the Parents’ franchise but much like the American Pie series, the franchise has grown stale and weaker with each release and the jokes are beginning to wear thin.

Things are going well for the Fockers; Greg (Ben Stiller) has done well in his career since we last saw, being promoted to the head of nursing at his hospital and himself and his wife, Pam (Teri Polo), are about to celebrate the twins sixth birthday at their home in Chicago with the entire family.  But now that the in-laws are in town, things start becoming a little more complicated.

Jack Byrne’s (Robert De Niro) health is not what it used to be; he is now nursing a heart condition and he has become worried for the future and who will carry the mantle as the head of the family.  Greg becomes his choice of successor but to follow on from Jack and take up the role as the family’s patriarch, there are new expectations that must be met and tests that have to be passed.  But Greg’s struggling to cope with the new set of standards and on top of that, he’s been invited to become the spokesperson for the new drug “Surlengo” which is a proposed rival for Viagra which only adds to his stress.  Especially when he begins working with the gorgeous Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba), who is very interested in Greg, much to Jack’s disapproval.

As well as Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, the whole cast is back, including Owen Wilson, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman.  Hoffman though was underutilised this time round due to his initial decision to sit out on the movie which may have been a wise decision and one he probably should have stuck too.

The humour was more crude than funny and there wasn’t a fundamental plotline with story, and even the cast, looking tired.  Sexual performance jokes are the main humour theme this time around which may appeal to some but the apple has fallen a long way from the tree from the original ‘Meet the Parents’.