Meet the Parents 2: Meet the Fockers (2004)

Elevator Pitch: Greg and Pam decide to take Pam’s parents, Jack and Dina Byrnes, to visit Gregs home where they are to discuss their forthcoming marriage. They travel in Pam’s father’s RV which contains a secret control station for his CIA activities, allowing him to view what is going on in the Focker parent’s house, which is quite a lot. The father is a laid back lawyer, the mother is a sex therapist and their small dog is likely to hump anything; as a result there are multiple opportunities for embassassment and misfortune. Will they ever actually discuss the impending nuptuals.

Content: There is no sex or nudity but many revelations about Greg’s sexual past, and some views of old people simulating sexual activity. There are numerous embarrassing events, including the dog being flushed down the RV toilet, Greg’s fossilised foreskin ending up in a fondu, and a lot of interaction between the various adults and “Jack” the baby nephew of Jack and Dina. It appears that Greg has a son with the Focker’s housekeeper and so Jack injects him with truth serum, resulting in Greg spoutinga lot of stuff at a party, and also revealing the secret that Pam is pregnant.

A View: Rotten Tomatoes did not like this, but stunningly it made $500 million at the box office – yet another outing making me wonder what the future is for the human race. Honestly I found almost every scene embarrassing, and had it not been part of my remit to watch every film I start, no matter how dire, I would have turned it off to reduce my pain. But obviously I am in the minority. I think you are maybe intended to think that the cast are enjoying themselves, but I did not get that impression. So just about a watch for nothing if you like that sort of thing.

Additional info: Said to be the most  financially rewarding film that Robert De Nero had ever appeared in (probably up to the release of “Joker”).