Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, returns from a spiritual quest to investigate the disappearance of a rare white bat, the sacred animal of a tribe in Africa.
A Jewish male nurse plans to ask his live-in girl friend to marry him. However, he learns that her strict father expects to be asked for his daughter's hand before she can accept. Thus begins the visit from Hell as the two travel to meet Mom and Dad, who turns out to be former CIA with a lie detector in the basement. Coincidentally, a sister also has announced her wedding to a young doctor. Of course everything that can go wrong, does, including the disappearance of Dad's beloved Himalayan cat, Jinxie.Written by
John Sacksteder <jsackste@bellsouth.net>
In the movie, Jack's drink of choice is a Tom Collins. "Tom Collins" is also the alias of De Niro's character in Casino (1995), Sam "Ace" Rothstein, uses to register his personal safe deposit box. See more »
Goofs
Jack's deception revolves around trying to get visas for the honeymoon on Koh Samui. Americans don't need a visa to travel to Thailand. They are given 30 days visa-free on entering the country, certainly long enough for a honeymoon. See more »
Quotes
Jack Byrnes:
[Jack is giving Greg a polygraph test]
Did you fly on an airplane today?
Greg Focker:
Yes, I did.
Jack Byrnes:
No peeking. Did we eat potroast for dinner tonight?
Greg Focker:
Yes.
Jack Byrnes:
Was it under-cooked?
Greg Focker:
No, it was rare.
[polygraph starts spiking]
Greg Focker:
It was a little rare for my taste.
Jack Byrnes:
I'm just kidding
[chuckles]
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
During the opening logos, the singers in the theme music are lyrically commenting "Look at the light coming out of the earth" during the Universal logo, and "Look at the boy sitting on the moon" during the Dreamworks logo. See more »
Alternate Versions
In the version that airs on the ABC Family channel, the scene near the end in which Greg gets into an argument with the airline stewardess and his subsequent interrogation by an airline official removes all references to the fact that Greg mentioned the word "bomb" on the airplane. See more »
California Girls
Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love
Performed by The Beach Boys
Courtesy of Capitol Records under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets See more »
Most of the funny moments in 'Meet the Parents' involve painful scenes with Ben Stiller. He plays Greg Focker, a male nurse who loves Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo). He wants to marry her with her father's permission. He hasn't met her parents yet. The movie shows us the weekend where Stiller meets the parents. Pam's father is Jack (Robert De Niro) and her mother is Dina (Blythe Danner). The more Greg tries to impress the parents, especially Jack who is a former CIA-agent, the more he humiliates himself. Not only with his actions, also with his words and stupid lies to look better.
Stiller is perfect in this kind of role. We already saw that, especially in 'There's Something About Mary'. The more he gets in trouble, the more painful it gets, the better Stiller gets and the more we laugh. There is also a fine little part from Owen Wilson as Pam's former lover. Stiller and Wilson have made a lot of films together and for some reason their scenes always work, they at least make you smile. De Niro doesn't try very hard to be a strict person who doesn't give Greg a chance and therefore succeeds even better. The way he slowly gets harder and harder on Greg is good for a new laugh every time. 'Meet the Parents', directed by Jay Roach who also directed the 'Austin Powers' trilogy, is a fine comedy with a lot of sequences where you might feel a little uncomfortable.
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Most of the funny moments in 'Meet the Parents' involve painful scenes with Ben Stiller. He plays Greg Focker, a male nurse who loves Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo). He wants to marry her with her father's permission. He hasn't met her parents yet. The movie shows us the weekend where Stiller meets the parents. Pam's father is Jack (Robert De Niro) and her mother is Dina (Blythe Danner). The more Greg tries to impress the parents, especially Jack who is a former CIA-agent, the more he humiliates himself. Not only with his actions, also with his words and stupid lies to look better.
Stiller is perfect in this kind of role. We already saw that, especially in 'There's Something About Mary'. The more he gets in trouble, the more painful it gets, the better Stiller gets and the more we laugh. There is also a fine little part from Owen Wilson as Pam's former lover. Stiller and Wilson have made a lot of films together and for some reason their scenes always work, they at least make you smile. De Niro doesn't try very hard to be a strict person who doesn't give Greg a chance and therefore succeeds even better. The way he slowly gets harder and harder on Greg is good for a new laugh every time. 'Meet the Parents', directed by Jay Roach who also directed the 'Austin Powers' trilogy, is a fine comedy with a lot of sequences where you might feel a little uncomfortable.