Live Life Team
Does awkward equal funny, This is the question “Meet the Parents” dares to answer. It’s a classic “anything that can go wrong does go wrong” plot, in which Greg Focker, played by Ben Stiller in one of the most unfortunate character names in recent memory, meets his girlfriend, Pam’s, parents.
In any other movie, the bizarre events that result might seem too over the top to be believable, but what sets “Meet the Parents” apart from a typical “National Lampoon” movie is the uncomfortable style of the punch lines.
Director Jay Roach is known for the Austin Powers films, which also have the painfully dry feel of a British comedy. From the moment Greg gives Pam’s mother an awkward hello kiss on the cheek to the small talk, or lack thereof, in the den as they wait for dinner, the silence is deafening. Pam asks Greg, “How’s work,” to which he responds, “Good.” Pam tells her parents about Greg’s recent transfer. “Is that like a promotion,” her mother asks. “No,” he says, and that’s it.
Robert De Niro plays Pam’s father, Jack and is able to pull off comedy like a pro. Most of his more famous roles are for characters with absolutely no sense of humour. However, Jack is just as well defined as Jake La Motta, just funny.
Ben Stiller, as Greg, pulls off a balancing act of a character who has to be inept and prone to unbelievable calamity, while still being likable, which he does, resulting in a film that is painfully funny on many levels.
