Review of film: "LITTLE FOCKERS" (with Ben Stiller & Robert De Niro at odds over "proper" family dynamics)

Review of film:  “LITTLE FOCKERS”

This is the 3^rd in the series about a family (the Fockers) with “ECCENTRIC” in-laws... 

…  BEN STILLER plays Greg (Gaylord) Focker, head of a nursing department at a Chicago hospital.  His wife Pam (TERI POLO) is a loving and supportive companion who enjoys raising their twin “Little” Focker kids – smart & tall Samantha (DAISY TAHAN) who’s angry at Ben & not speaking to him, & her short, klutzy lizard-loving brother Henry (COLIN BAIOCCHI)…

…  Ben’s rich-but-nutty friend Kevin Rawley (OWEN WILSON) calls him from Europe via a computer connection, happily announcing that he’s met someone & intends to get married -- news which pleases his ex-lover Teri… 

…  Plans are under way for a 5^th-Birthday party for the kids--  but Ben is upset that his hired contractor Randy Weir (HARVEY KEITEL) has been doing a poor job getting his newly-bought place ready for the event…

…  At work, Ben meets a pretty drug company rep Andi Garcia (JESSICA ALBA) who wants him to tout her new sex-assisting product at an upcoming industry conference, but he’s undecided about the idea of doing it to improve his financial situation…

…  Speaking of sex, Ben’s mother Roz (BARBRA STREISAND) is happily running a sex-ADVICE show on TV (which tends to continue embarrassing Ben to a degree).  His equally-embarrassing sexually-open father Bernie (DUSTIN HOFFMAN) is busy following his own “muses” over in Europe…

…  As you may remember, Teri’s parents are the virtually-polar-OPPOSITES of Ben’s folks, with her ex-CIA-type investigator dad Jack Byrnes (ROBERT De NIRO) usually “UPTIGHT” about something, & his wife Dina (BLYTHE DANNER) keeps working to try to “calm” him down…

…  What’s got Robert especially upset are the actions of another son-in-law, Dr. Bob (THOMAS McCARTHY) who’s worked to leave his OTHER daughter.  That & other stresses start to cause Robert to have some HEART problems (which he naturally tries to “SELF-medicate”)…

…  All that has made Robert especially eager to find someone he can “trust” to eventually take-over “MANAGING” his extended family.  He is thus especially “dwelling” on BEN as a possibility for that “position”, which he grows to call a “GOD-Focker”…  He starts his usual tactic of secretly “INVESTIGATING” Ben when he & Blythe come to town for the upcoming Birthday party…

…  It should come as no “shock” to you that Robert’s “research” eventually learns of the existence of JESSICA in Ben’s life…  If that weren’t “confounding” enough, OWEN comes to town, & --  since his new love “dumped” him --, he’s now re-absorbed with the idea of TERI as a perfect “companion” for him (witness a new tattoo he’s gotten, etc.)…

…  Will anything be really “GOING-ON” between Ben & Jessica?...  Will Owen’s “assistance” help or actually HURT Ben & Teri’s attempts to get their kids into a ritzy private school run by Owen’s ex-lover Prudence (LAURA DERN)?... 

…  Will Robert’s intensity & obsessions cause more PROBLEMS in the Focker world?...  Will the arrival of Barbra & Dustin for the party cause even more “COMPLICATIONS” for the family dynamics?...    

…  There’s a lot of quite FUNNY scenes in the film.  Yes, there’s a bunch of “exaggerations”, but Ben plays his role “straight” (rather than just for “laughs”) & thus is a fine “FOIL” for Robert & the situations that arise with him & Jessica & the kids…  It would’ve been nice to have even more interactions with Barbra & Dustin, whose roles are somewhat small…

…  The cast all seem to be having a GOOD TIME with their roles, thus coming across as “enthusiastic” & believable with the often-swirling nuttiness…  For a sequel, it’s surprisingly EFFECTIVE--  & the ending might well presage a hoped-for ADDITIONAL continuation of the story (with an intensified “harping” / nagging / interference by the inlaws)…

…  It’s not a “great” comedy-- but it’s FUN, & thus I’m rating it 8 out of 10 stars…