IMDb > Meet the Parents (2000)
Meet the Parents
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Meet the Parents (2000) More at IMDbPro »

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Meet the Parents (2000) -- Sinematurk - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   77,672 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Up 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Jay Roach

Writers (WGA):

Greg Glienna (1992 screenplay) &
Mary Ruth Clarke (1992 screenplay) ...
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Contact:

View company contact information for Meet the Parents on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA) more

Genre:

Comedy | Romance more

Tagline:

First comes love. Then comes the interrogation. more

Plot:

Male nurse Greg Focker meets his girlfriend's parents before proposing, but her suspicious father is every date's worst nightmare. full summary | add synopsis

Plot Keywords:

more

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 wins & 14 nominations more

NewsDesk:
(213 articles)

Harvey Keitel Joins DeNiro in “Little Fockers”
 (From Filmofilia. 13 November 2009, 11:42 AM, PST)

Harvey Keitel joins Little Fockers
 (From The Hollywood News. 12 November 2009, 4:28 PM, PST)

User Comments:

a truly marvelous comedy more (469 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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Additional Details

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug references and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

According to Teri Polo, in the scene where she and Ben Stiller are making out on her bed and he fondles her breast, she stuffed cookies into her bra as a gag. more

Goofs:

Continuity: During the car race, both drivers "rev" their engines at a red light while stopped. Neither seems to be driving a car with a Standard Transmission. One would have to put their car into Neutral in order to rev the engine without the car moving. Neither is seen putting their car into Neutral or switching back to drive. more

Quotes:

[Jack's Poem]
Jack Byrnes: "My Mother", by Jack Byrnes. You gave me life, / You gave me milk, / You gave me courage. / Your name was Angela, / An angel from Heaven, / But you were also an angel of God, / And he needed you, too. / I selfishly tried to hold on to you, / While the cancer ate away at your organs, / Like an unstoppable rebel force, / And now we'll meet in Heaven, / And I shall see you / Nevermore, nevermore, nevermore.
Pam Byrnes: Dad, that's beautiful.
Greg Focker: That's amazing, so much love, and also so much information.
more

Movie Connections:

References Annie Hall (1977) more

Soundtrack:

California Girls more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful.
a truly marvelous comedy, 19 August 2001
Author: Roland E. Zwick (magneteach@aol.com) from United States

Funny as well as touching, `Meet the Parents' blazes forth as one of the outstanding comedies of recent years.

Co-writers Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke, along with director Jay Roach, have managed to make a film that is often laugh-out-loud hilarious without ever becoming overbearing or obnoxious, the style of choice for far too many other comedies made in this day and age. Although the film overflows with madcap situations and even outright slapstick at times, these comic elements are always tethered to the reality of the premise and to the emotional states of the characters involved.

The foundation for any great comedy must, first and foremost, be its ability to connect with its audience on a personal level. `Meet the Parents' does so from the very start by tapping into the universal dilemma we all face at one time or another of desperately trying to make a good impression on someone we feel holds nothing less than the fate of our lives in their own two hands. For some of us this person might come in the form a boss or a potential employer or, as in poor Greg Focker's case, those most dreaded figures of all – the prospective in-laws. The comedy arises from seeing the chain of ever more preposterous events and circumstances that come along to sabotage his efforts. Greg is a goodhearted, well-meaning nebbish who wants nothing more out of life than to marry Pam, the girl he loves. First, however, he must climb over the rather formidable barrier of her eccentric father, Jack Byrnes, played to perfection by Robert De Niro, who certainly has his own offbeat way of looking at the world.

The triumph of this film is that it never overdoes anything. The people in Pam's family and in their coterie of friends are all twisted it's true, but twisted in sly, subtle ways that knock both Greg and us slightly off our balance. Like Greg, we never quite know where these people are coming from and this greatly enhances the comedic quality of the film. Tone is everything in comedy and here the tone is just right. Byrnes can seem at one moment to be a reasonable loving father, then turn immediately around and make the most unbalanced comments about the most trivial matters. Even when the movie is at its most outrageous in terms of plot complications and slapstick, it never veers off the scale into incredibility. Part of the reason is that we feel so much empathy for Greg, the best Everyman character I have seen in a movie in a long time. Ben Stiller gives a beautifully understated comic performance in the main role. Greg's completely understandable feelings of nervousness, intimidation and growing frustration help to keep the film anchored in reality, even as the story threatens to spiral off into undisciplined absurdity. Luckily, the filmmakers never let this happen. They are also blessed with the genius of Mr. De Niro, who never makes a false move as the seemingly crazy ex-CIA agent who may or may not be harboring a few secrets of his own. Above all, De Niro never lets us bank on the extent of his character's eccentricity, which brilliantly enhances this `weekend from hell' scenario. For crazy and maddening as he can be at times, we can't help loving this character.

Finally, unlike in many other romantic dramas and comedies, the relationship between the young couple in this film is both believable and touching. Greg and Pam are so likable - and the odds against them seem so staggering - that we find ourselves rooting them on from first moment to last. Their moments together are genuinely touching at times, particularly in the film's closing stretches.

Kudos go out to everyone involved for making `Meet the Parents' one of the slyest, wittiest and flat-out funniest movies to come our way in a long, long time.

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