Greg (Ben Stiller) has survived Jack's (Robert DeNiro) intense CIA scrutiny and stayed within sniffing distance of the coveted Circle of Trust. Greg and Pam (Teri Polo) are now officially married with a couple of little Fockers of their own running around. Enter Jack. He's got a few problems. Not only is Jack suffering from some heart woes, he's been let down by daughter Debbie's hubby. That son-in-law slipped out of the ole Circle of Trust when he cheated on darling Debbie. Now, Jack turns to Greg to emerge as the family's patriarch. Apparently, Denny, Jack's son from part one, has gone permanently AWOL. Still confused on that one, but I digress. Meanwhile,Greg's doing quite well for himself. Unfortunately, Jack's expectations far exceed 'doing well'. Greg's got to get the kids in a top-notch school, which is just one of a whole host of lofty items on a long and demanding checklist. Yadayadayada the humor unfolds all climaxing with the two squaring off in a no-holds barred battle royale.
Sequels are tough, especially with comedies. You head to the theatre with a pretty good idea of what you're going to see. You know what made you laugh before so you're certainly willing to experience it again. The same, but different, right? That's what you get here. The story has not really evolved. The characters have evolved somewhat, but the premise surrounding them is the same. The difference with Meet the Parents, and where they really seem to try to expand on the franchise, is in the introduction of new characters. That worked brilliantly when transitioning from Meet the Parents to Meet the Fockers. Roz (Barbara Streisand) and Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) were brilliant. Playing the off-the-cuff liberals to Jack's uptight conservative with plenty of humor in tow. With Little Fockers, the same effort is made. Laura Dern is introduced as school administrator. Greg wants to enroll his kids in her school...he's trying to impress her while subsequently impress Jack...yadayadayada. Good thought with plenty of potential funny. However, Dern's role is so limited and goes so undeveloped, it's almost a wasted effort. Yes, Owen Wilson returns in a more prominent way, which was great. All things considered, however, those new/old characters did not factor into elevating Little Fockers in the same manner that the new additions did for Meet the Fockers.
There's plenty out there to see Big and this one is performing well at the Box Office. I'll give it 2.5 Stars. It's okay and certainly worth a rental. If you like the ole "same but different" approach in a movie, you might want to go Big on this one; otherwise, set your sights on a March 2011 release for the Blu-Ray.
True...OUT!
No comments:
Post a Comment