Meet the Fockers

How can you liven up another standard (though unpredictable) comedy screenplay, again with routine directing and the generally exhausted possibilities arising from the chemistry between Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller? By throwing Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand into the mix! De Niro and the possibilities of his character catch a second wind with the arrival of Hoffman and the duo of American legends play off of each other in a wonderful symphony of opposites. And Streisand is a great addition to freshen up the franchise. In order for a sequel to be better than the original, it’s not enough to just serve up more of the same; it is also necessary to refresh it and enhance it in the right places. With Meet the Fokkers, the filmmakers did an exemplary job of that. (03/05/2005)

I admit that I'm a bigger fan of British dry conversational humor than the kind produced by the ensemble under Jay Roach's direction. However, as a rational person, I also know that the humor used in this film is (unfortunately) above average nowadays. I didn't notice any fart jokes, just a moderate amount of vulgarity and only one fall from a chair. The plus of the film is the participation of Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, with most of the best jokes arising from the clash of their differing value systems as fathers. On the other hand, Barbra Streisand's performance doesn't resonate with me and deducted about 10% from the film. Compared to the first installment, I see a clear increase in quality, so those who enjoyed the first film won't be disappointed. Overall rating: 55%. (07/10/2006)

I expected something much worse. In the end, this collision of two different worlds with great performances from Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman is more than good. Even though the first one was a tiny bit better, I still give this a nice 4 stars. (10/20/2007)