The In-Laws (2003)

Right before his daughter's wedding, a mild-mannered foot doctor discovers that his future son-in-law's father is a free-wheeling international spy.

Director:

Andrew Fleming

Writers:

Andrew Bergman (screenplay "The In-Laws"), Nat Mauldin (screenplay)

Stars:

Albert Brooks, Michael Douglas, Ryan Reynolds

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Douglas	...	Steve Tobias
Michael Bodnar	...	Cherkasov's Bodyguard
Vladimir Radian	...	Cherkasov
Robin Tunney	...	Angela Harris
Albert Brooks	...	Jerry Peyser
Boyd Banks	...	Patient
Susan Aceron	...	Nurse
Lindsay Sloane	...	Melissa Peyser
Maria Ricossa	...	Katherine Peyser
Ryan Reynolds	...	Mark Tobias
Tseng Chang	...	Quan Le
Tamara Gorski	...	Yadira
Matt Birman	...	Agent at Restaurant
A. Russell Andrews	...	Agent Will Hutchins (as Russell Andrews)
Richard Waugh	...	Agent Thorn

Storyline

In four days, Jerry Peyser and Steve Tobias will become in-laws when their respective offspring, Melissa Peyser and Mark Tobias, get married. Married Jerry is a Chicago area podiatrist. He is risk averse to an extreme, afraid of heights including being in tall buildings and flying, even watching airline commercials. He is also extremely controlling, having organized the lavish wedding against the simple affair Melissa had envisioned. He is aggravated that he has not yet met Steve, who has missed one family function after another. Divorced Steve is a photocopy machine salesman... or so Mark says. In reality, Steve is a deep undercover CIA field agent, something that Mark knows but is unable to divulge to anyone, even Tracy and her family. His work, which has always overtaken his life, is the reason Steve has missed all these family events. Steve is unwilling to hand over reigns of his cases to his junior partner, the capable Angela Harris. Steve finally meets the Peysers, which Steve ...

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Plot Keywords:

wedding | father in law | private jet | cia | hyphen in title | 

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Taglines:

He's not losing his daughter. He's gaining a madman.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for suggestive humor, language, some drug references and action violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Production Notes

Country:

USA Germany Canada

Language:

English French Mandarin

Release Date:

23 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Wedding Party

Filming Locations:

Showline Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,222,334, 26 May 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$20,440,627, 27 July 2003

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,905,032, 7 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Franchise Pictures,Gerber Pictures,Furthur Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The alias code-name given to Dr. Jerome Peyser (Albert Brooks) to go undercover as an assassin was "Fat Cobra".

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Goofs

A submarine would never be able to get into the Great Lakes undetected as Lake St. Clair's deepest point is 27 ft. The conn tower would be showing the entire way of the trip through the lake.

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Quotes

Jerry Peyser: Six people on a beach! I could have saved a fortune.
Steve Tobias: Jer, they're gonna be fine. In fact, the whole family's gonna be just fine.

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Crazy Credits

As the end credits start, the camera moves out over the water. After a while, we see and hear Angela Harris (Robin Tunney) waving and calling for help.

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Connections

References Jerry Maguire (1996)

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Soundtracks

Sunshine of Your Love
Written by Pete Brown (as Peter Brown), Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton
Performed by Ella Fitzgerald
Courtesy of Universal International Music, B.V.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Why remakes shouldn't be allowed

I wanted to laugh while watching this movie, and I actually did laugh ... when it was over ... from relief. All of the ingredients were there: great cast, the same writer as the original -- Andrew Bergman. But every line fell flatter than a ruined soufflé. Plus, the plot wasn't as plausible as the original with Peter Falk and Alan Arkin (1979).

Granted, the original begins with a long scene that is somewhat difficult to follow, but eventually every viewer is on board and enjoys the show. And there's one of the greatest spy lines of the 20th Century: "You knew Jack Kennedy?" "Bay of Pigs. My idea." I laughed so long and loud during the summer of 1979, I was almost kicked out of the theater.

Hollywood really needs to think about their inability to make quality movies overall, much less remakes. Prior to VHS and DVD sales, top grossing movies were re-released from time to time. This should have happened with the In-laws. The story is just as connected with our world today as it was in the late 70s, and the chemistry between Falk and Arkin is superior to Douglas and Brooks.

And, there are thousands of novels, non-fiction books and screen plays out there waiting to be adapted to movies. The original In-laws was an inspired piece of writing and acting. Hollywood needs to go after more "original" stories instead of sloppy retreads! No wonder theaters are so empty these days.