MEET THE PARENTS

'''Meet the Parents''' is a 2000 comedy film starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro. The film was distributed by Universal Studios and DreamWorks SKG and directed by Jay Roach of Austin Powers fame. In 2004 its sequel ''Meet the Fockers'' was released. Another sequel, ''Little Fockers'', has been announced.
The success of the movie also spawned a reality television show entitled ''Meet My Folks'' in 2002.
It was a remake of an independent film from 1992, which has since been pulled from all distribution. The original featured Greg Glienna who wrote, starred and directed the 70 minute film by the same name. The main character was named and modeled after himself and Pam was named and modeled after his best friend's sister-in-law Pam.
This film is number 52 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Contents

Cast and crew

Synopsis

Box office

Trivia

External links

Cast and crew

★ Jack Byrnes - Robert De Niro

★ Gaylord "Greg" Focker - Ben Stiller

★ Pamela Byrnes - Teri Polo

★ Dina Byrnes - Blythe Danner

★ Deborah Byrnes - Nicole DeHuff

★ Dennis Byrnes - Jon Abrahams

★ Kevin Rawley - Owen Wilson

★ Dr. Larry Banks - James Rebhorn

★ Dr. Bob Banks - Thomas McCarthy

★ Linda Banks - Phyllis George

★ Atlantic American Flight Attendant - Kali Rocha

★ Norm - Bernie Sheredy

★ Pharmacy Clerk - Judah Friedlander

★ Father O'Boyle - William Severs

★ Kinky - John Fiore

Synopsis

A male nurse (Greg Focker) intends to propose to his girlfriend (Pam Byrnes). But before he can even ask, he goes to visit Pam's parents' house for the weekend to attend Pam's sister's wedding. Little does Greg know, he will have to endure a troublesome cat, Pam's ex-boyfriend, all of Pam's relatives, and her intrusive father, Jack Byrnes, a retired CIA operative who wonders if Greg is good enough for Pam. Greg struggles to impress Pam's family, but it seems everything he says or does is offensive to the Byrneses.
One of the first things Greg learns about Jack is his belief in a system called the Circle of Trust. The idea of the system is that within Jack's circle of friends, there are no secrets. Throughout the films, this system proves to be flawed, since Jack doesn't trust some people in the circle (namely Greg), and some people in Jack's family are untrustworthy (like his teenage son, who smokes marijuana). Also, the circle permits Jack to invade other people's privacy.
Jack uses mind games, lie detector tests, and constant questions to push Greg over the edge. Greg will have to overcome Jack's interrogations and tests to finally persuade Jack to allow him to marry his daughter. At one point towards the end, Jack says to his wife Dina, "Just gotta do one more thing. Meet his parents", thus paving the way for the sequel, ''Meet the Fockers''.

Box office

The film was extremely successful, spending four weeks as the #1 movie at the U.S. box office, grossing USD$166.2 million in the United States, and a total of $330.4 million worldwide.http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=meettheparents.htm

Trivia

★ The film perpetuates the rumor that the song "Puff, the Magic Dragon" is about smoking marijuana.

★ A scene in the movie focuses around the Byrnes family trying on tuxedos for the wedding; in the wedding at the end of the movie, no one is wearing a tuxedo because the cat that Greg replaced Mr. Jinx with destroyed all of the wedding attire.

★ Alexander Payne did an uncredited polish-up of the screenplay.

★ The movie takes place in the town of Oyster Bay on Long Island. However, the house where the film was shot is really in Muttontown, a small town outside of Oyster Bay.

★ This is one of the movies spoofed in ''Date Movie''.

★ Westchester County Airport in Westchester, New York was used to portray O'Hare and LaGuardia.

★ When the family is being fitted for tuxedos, Jack Byrnes claims he was held in a Vietnamese prison camp. In the movie ''The Deer Hunter'', Robert De Niro's character was captured and imprisoned in Vietnam.

★ When Owen Wilson's character shows his altar to Ben Stiller's character, Wilson's character, knowing that Stiller's character is Jewish, tries to relate to him by calling it a "chuppa." Not only does Wilson's character pronounce the word incorrectly, it does not refer to an altar but a type of canopy under which the bride and groom stand in a Jewish wedding ceremony.

★ When Greg attempts to pray, he is reciting the words to the 13th-century hymn "Day by Day" attributed to Richard of Chichester, performed in Godspell and by DC Talk. In the scene in the drugstore, a version of the song can be heard playing faintly in the background.

External links

★ Official website

★ Original Film

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