Family plot

>> Meet the Parents is as dumb as it looks

by SIOBHAN O'CONNOR

Take a universal fear--say, meeting your intended's parents--throw in some star power, a very big budget, some dirty jokes and voila! You've got Meet the Parents, the latest comedy from Jay Roach, director of Austin Powers. While this kind of formula can make for a few good laughs, Meet the Parents doesn't; as all the trailers seemed to warn, the film's just plain dumb.

Meet Gaylord Focker (Ben Stiller), a male nurse hoping to tie the proverbial knot with his goody-goody live-in, Pam (Teri Polo). The only hurdle between them and the altar is Pam's ferocious dad (Robert De Niro) who, we learn, is a former-CIA spy who can smell a lie like a fart in a car. What ensues are two hours of gross-out humour as we watch the desperate Gaylord trying to win his future in-laws' respect.

While Stiller's done some really funny work in the past, he's obviously miscast here. His talents as a wry wit go to waste. And it's almost like he knows it--one feels, while watching him, that he's two steps back, laughing at you for having to sit through the movie.

The film's saving graces are De Niro (dead-on, as always) and Owen Wilson, who's proven himself a comic gem for his work in Wes Anderson's Bottlerocket, and as co-writer of Rushmore. Playing the wood-whittling, stock-market-playing ex-boyfriend, Wilson has that New England golf-playing prep down pat.

The main trouble is that Roach doesn't realize who he's working with. Stiller, De Niro and Wilson are all seasoned comics who, if left alone a while, can save even the bleakest of films. Instead, he's got them delivering belly-flop jokes and flat dialogue. But just when it can't get cornier, Roach has the common sense to let go the leashes for an improvised final act. Stiller and De Niro both come through with some brilliant and candid moments.

There's no use getting upset about it--millions of people are going to see this movie. And they're going to laugh and talk about it and replay their favourite parts over and over once they've got their own copy tucked away in their "home entertainment libraries." But if you have any good sense, pass on this one. God knows De Niro should have. :

Meet the Parents opens Friday, Oct. 6