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Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - December, 2010

"Meet The Fockers" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by Tyler Stripko

Synopsis

In this sequel to the hugely successful “Meet the Parents,” Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and Pam Brynes (Teri Polo) are back in action.  In preparation for their wedding Greg and Pam invite Jack and Dina Byrnes (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) to meet Greg’s rather unconventional parents, Bernie and Rozlin Focker (Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand).   As can be expected things don’t go well, as the two families quickly find their vastly different lifestyles at odds.

Commentary

While not as good as “Meet the Parents,” “Meet the Fockers” is still a pretty funny movie.   I’m not a big Ben Stiller fan, but it seems like he was born to play the role of Greg (Gaylord) Focker.  The rest of the cast plays their roles well, though the characters of Bernie and Roz seem to be a bit far-fetched.  While “Meet the Parents” excelled because it showed the daunting and often harsh reality of meeting your soon-to-be in-laws for the first time, “Meet the Fockers” takes that scenario just a bit too far.  Many of the situations appear to be forced in order to try and get a laugh out of the audience.  As a result some of the humor falls flat.  The scenes involving Jack Junior are also unnecessary.    I’m not sure why they even felt the need to add that character to the film as it just distracts from the true heart of the plot; the relationship between the Brynes and the Fockers.

Technical

I saw “Meet the Fockers” when it was first released on DVD and remember it being a pretty good looking disc.  The Blu-ray is a definite step up in quality though.  The image is sharp, with nice contrast and fairly vibrant colors.  Saturation is strong, and suits the tropical Florida setting where most of the movie  takes place.   My only minor gripe is that there is a moderate amount of film grain and the occasional speck or sparkle that keeps this from being a truly great transfer.   Audio is solid as well.  Dialogue is very clear and the soundtrack rings through when called for.  Surrounds and the LFE are used sparingly, but are appropriate for a comedy like this.

Extras

Included on the disc are deleted scenes, bloopers, a behind-the-scenes with Jinx the cat, an expose' on the “Manary Gland,” a Fockers’ Family Portrait, a featurette on handling babies on-set, Matt Lauer’s interview with the cast, and a feature commentary.

Class A

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