MEET THE FOCKERS

'''Meet the Fockers''' (2004) is a comedy film and a sequel to ''Meet the Parents'' starring Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller. Both are directed by Jay Roach (''Austin Powers''). In addition to DeNiro and Stiller, ''Meet the Fockers'' stars Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, and Owen Wilson. The series will continue with another sequel, ''Little Fockers'', due for release in 2008.[1]

Contents

Plot

Characters

Box office performance

Trivia

References

External links

Plot

After being given permission to marry the daughter of a retired CIA agent, Gaylord "Greg" Focker, his fiancée Pam and her parents travel to Miami, Florida to meet his quirky liberal parents, Roz and Bernie Focker. Roz is a sex therapist for the elderly, while his dad is a lawyer who retired when Greg was born to be a stay at home dad. On the other hand, Pam’s parents Jack and Dina, are traditionally conservative, which produces many of the movie's set ups and comedic situations. This movie shows an evolution in Jack’s relationship with his family. In the first movie, ''Meet the Parents'', Jack is always in control of his family, whereas this time he goes too far with his suspicious nature and covert operations to expose what he believes is Greg's secret past.

Characters

'Jack Byrnes' (Robert DeNiro): Pam's father and Dina's husband. Even though he is retired, he uses his "CIA" connections to track down information on Greg and others he thinks will reveal that Greg is a liar. He is also the inventor of a Motion Sensor Nanny-Cam, and the "Manary Gland" (a portmanteau of "man" and "mammary gland"), an invention that lets Jack "breastfeed" his grandson. His coverup job is a retired florist/horticulturist. Even though he has given permission for the two to marry, Jack still has a distrust of Greg and goes so far as trying to prove it by taking desperate measures such as injecting him with truth serum.
'Gaylord "Greg" Myron Focker' (Ben Stiller): The protagonist of the movie. A nurse living in Chicago with fiancée Pam, the daughter of a retired CIA agent. Gets into trouble and mischief. In his childhood, he had his foreskin saved, had a crush on his babysitter Isabel (to whom he eventually lost his virginity), and often finished in mediocre fashion in competitive events which was displayed in the "Wall of Gaylord" his father built. His father calls him Gay or Gaylord, which is a recurring joke within the film. He graduated from Williams College which is shown on the Wall of Gaylord.
'Bernard "Bernie" Focker' (Dustin Hoffman): The father of Greg. He was an attorney for a brief period of time, but became a homemaker after the birth of his son. Bernie lives on "Focker Isle" in Miami, with his wife Roz. He claims to be a practitioner of capoeira, the Brazilian martial art of dance-fighting, but what he actually shows is only remotely similar to capoeira. His fondness for chimichangas is a recurring joke within the film.
'Rozalin "Roz" Focker' (Barbra Streisand): The mother of Greg Focker, who is a sex therapist for senior citizens.
'Pamela Martha Byrnes' (Teri Polo): Greg's fiancée. She is a second grade teacher in Chicago and lives with Greg. Before starting a relationship with Greg, she was engaged briefly to Kevin, with whom she is still friends.
'Dina Byrnes' (Blythe Danner): The wife of Jack Byrnes, and mother of Pam, Debbie and Danny. She balances the relationship with Jack as the soft spot, and the sympathetic voice of reason to her husband.
'Little Jack' (Spencer and Bradley Pickren): Jack's approximately one-year-old grandson by his other daughter, Debbie. Jack is grooming him to be a genius using unconventional child rearing methods. He communicates through baby sign language and the expletive asshole, which he accidentally picked up from Greg.
'Isabel Villalobos' (Alanna Ubach): Former housekeeper and babysitter of the Fockers and current owner of a catering business. She had a brief fling with Greg when he was nineteen years old which resulted in Greg losing his virginity to her. This affair led Jack to suspect that Greg may be the father of her child.
'Jorge Villalobos' (Ray Santiago): The fifteen-year-old son of Isabel, he is a mechanical prodigy with a reputation for being able to fix anything. Jorge is also a liar, but his most definable attribute is his uncanny resemblance to Greg and his antics, which leads Jack to believe that Greg is Jorge's father. Another recurring joke in the film is that either Greg or Jorge look like a "young, Jewish/Hispanic Marlon Brando." It turns out that his father is former minor league baseball player Rusty Bridges, also played by Stiller. His name translates from Spanish to English as "George House of the Wolves".
'Moses' (Terem): The Fockers' pet dog, a Chihuahua/Yorkie mix. ^[1] He has the sublime ability and urge to mate with anything that moves.
'Mr. Jinx': The Byrnes' pet Himalayan cat. He is able to use the toilet and has extensive aquatic training. He once flushed Moses down the toilet in the Byrnes' trailer, but they are later seen eating wedding cake together in peace at the end of the film.

Box office performance

The film had a massive commercial success and is the highest grossing comedy in history. According to Box Office Mojo, It grossed $46,120,980 on its opening weekend (3,518 theaters, averaging $13,110 per theater). At the end of the film's 149 days release, it grossed a total of $279,261,160 at the domestic market, and $237,381,779 overseas, for a total worldwide gross of $516,642,939. The film's budget was only $80,000,000, making the movie a huge box office success.http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=meetthefockers.htm Retrieved 2007-08-20

Trivia

★ Universal had to demonstrate to the MPAA that the name Focker was an actual surname in use in North America in order to deflect accusations of profanity. The name still has a strong connotation as a minced oath, in parody of the word 'fucker', and this is underlined by the continued use of movie titles where Focker is contextually placed as a strong homonym for Fucker.

★ The woman who offers to store Greg's bag in the captain's closet is the flight attendant in ''Meet the Parents'' to whom Greg mouthed off after he temporarily split up with Pam.

★ When honked, the horn of Jack Byrnes' trailer plays the melody of the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon", which is a running gag from the first movie.

★ Teri Polo has confirmed that she is signed on to reprise her role in the third installment of the series which is now in pre-production.

★ The characters travel to Miami to meet Greg's parents. However, in "Meet the Parents" Pam states that she called Greg's parents in Detroit to get his MCAT score. Nevertheless, in "Meet The Fockers", Greg states that his parents were tired of Detroit so they moved to Florida, thus why Bernie Focker has a map of Detroit in his car.

★ Both the officer who arrested Greg,Bernard, and Jack, and the prison guard are in Reno 911. They play the same characters in the movie and the show.

★ Under the Influence of Truth Serum, Greg tells Jorge that he is his son, adding "Search your feelings - You know it to be true". This is what Darth Vader said to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back.

References

1. ''Movie Review - Meet the Fockers.'' Retrieved from http://www.ahafilm.info/movies/mr.phtml?fid=7624 on 2007-02-26.

External links

★ Official website

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