Meet the Fockers

There are strengths and weaknesses in this sequel to "Meet the Parents." Ben Stiller continues his role as Greg Focker, the very believable but ordinary guy who just wants to marry Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo). In the first movie, Pam took Greg home to meet her parents. Now, the wedding has been planned and it's time for the Byrnes's to meet the Fockers.

The movie is filled with big name talent and they all play their roles well. The script is not as funny as the original and much of the humor is sexual. However, the scene where the Byrnes's cat flushes the Focker's dog down the toilet is hilarious.

Greg's relationship with Pam's father Jack (Robert DeNiro) continues with the same tenuous acceptance. However, instead of the humor being at Greg's expense, he becomes the mediator between his dad, Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Jack.

The two dads have opposite personalities and lifestyles - Jack is a competitive and conservative ex-CIA agent, and Bernie is a counterculture stay-at-home dad. They each play their roles to the hilt, and their interplay provides the high point of the movie.

Barbra Streisand and Blythe Danner do justice to their roles as the mothers, but Barbra's character is strictly one-dimensional. The best lines come from the dads.

There is an adorable baby who is a show stealer. But one of the weaknesses of the movie is the overuse of the obscenity that is his first word - funny the first time, but not repeatedly.

All in all, it doesn't live up to the original but you'll probably enjoy the movie for the talented cast.