Little Fockers

This movie is nothing but a setup for lame pratfalls, gross body humor and a pathetic physical showdown between Ben Stiller’s neurotic son-in-law, Greg Focker, and Robert De Niro’s psychotic patriarch. What started out as a mildly hilarious face-off between the two in the original film, Meet the Parents, has now deteriorated into something genuinely ugly and not at all funny. The plot involves some sort of garbage about De Niro’s character fearing he will die soon, so he must pick somebody to guide his family into the future. Stiller’s character is in the running, but not before his father-in-law subjects him to the sort of humiliation and stalking that would usually lead to criminal charges. Dustin Hoffman, who originally passed on the film, shows up in scenes shot and tacked on after initial filming had ceased. Dustin … you should’ve stuck to your guns and stayed far, far away. As for Barbra Streisand, I liked her in movies when I was a kid. I hate her now.