Meet the Parents

To coincide with the theatrical release of Meet the Fockers, Universal has delivered a "bonus edition" of its precursor, Meet the Parents. Originally released back in 2000, Meet the Parents is a hilarious and somewhat farfetched take on the horror of meeting a significant other's folks. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his girlfriend, Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), travel to her parents' home to attend the wedding of Pam's sister. Little does Pam know that Greg has a plan to propose to her on the trip, but not before he meets and seeks the approval of her rigid, suspicious father Jack (Robert DeNiro), a former CIA agent. Throughout the film, Greg makes every wrong move possible, breaking the nose of the bride in a water volleyball match, losing Mr. Jinx (the family cat), burning down the trellis and unleashing the bowels of the septic system into the yard. Roach's film truly encapsulates awkward moments to fear, thanks to the wonderfully dynamic chemistry between Stiller and DeNiro. Of course, in this edition of the DVD the extras are the selling point, but in this case quantity definitely outweighs quality. The main feature is the abundance of "outrageous" outtakes, which get tiresome before you even hit double digits. (Really, how many times can you sit through DeNiro or Stiller blowing their lines?) The deleted scenes are actually quality but without the quantity, clocking in at just over three minutes. An extended scene where Greg searches for the cat is worth watching and should have made the original cut to help deprecate his character even further. Two featurettes are also offered, one covering the talents and training of the hired cats and a special exploring the "truth" behind the polygraph. Both are only for those interested in wasting time. A commentary is featured with Jay Roach and editor Jon Poll, which is unforgivably dull and bitterly disappointing coming from the guy who directed the Austin Powers trilogy. The accompanying "Jay Roach: A Directors Profile" does make up for it a little bit, but only because it's a surreal 90-second montage complete with cheesy techno background music and cut up samples from the film. (Universal)