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:

The cake is going to hit the fan

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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

On the subject of surviving your own in-law troubles, one of the movie's stars, Albert Brooks, offered this practical advice: "It's best to find some way to like your in-laws or at least accept them, no matter what. Now, if they live with you, that's a different story."

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Goofs

The stolen Soviet submarine could not have appeared in Lake Michigan unnoticed because it would have to pass through several locks on the St Lawrence Seaway to get there.

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Quotes

Angela Harris: Is that a fanny pack?
Steve Tobias: It's cute, isn't it?
Angela Harris: It's adorable.

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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

Featured in Atop the Fourth Wall: ROMtrospective: ROM Spaceknight #1-40 (2015)

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Soundtracks

Kalpa Taru (Tree of Wishes)
Written by Martin Franklin and Mykl O'Dempsey
Performed by Tuu
Courtesy of Fathom/Hearts of Space Records

User Reviews

Another 'Haunting' Disaster

. . . meaning that a classic movie (in the case of the original 1963 Robert Wise directed 'Haunting') or solid comedy (in the case of the original 'In Laws',) has been covered by a heavy-handed, ham-fisted 'improvement' that lacks all the subtlety that made the first picture memorable.

To state the most obvious, but hardly the only, major flaw, in the original, the 'zany' father-in-law - played unimprovably by Peter Falk - was as puzzling to the audience as he was to his conservative partner (Alan Arkin, also unimprovable). Who is he? What is he? Is he on the level? The basic movement of the plot is resolving these issues. Here, for reasons that can only be guessed at, the movie begins with a long, James Bondish chase that establishes the reality of the zany and thus gives the game away.

Both Michael Douglas (zany) and Albert Brooks (conservative) stink. The villain is characterized erratically and totally unbelievably, the wedding action makes no sense, etc., etc., etc. This is a completely worthless movie.