Barbra's Back in Comic Form
(Dec 16, 2004) - Meet the Fockers, Roz and Bernie.
Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman are perfectly cast as the fun loving, free spirited parents of Greg Focker, played by Ben Stiller, in this delightful new comedy. Roz is the Focker family breadwinner. She's a geriatric sex therapist - a guru to Miami's over 70 set. Bernie is a one time lawyer who chucked it all to become a stay-at-home dad. And stay-at-home he still is. For Roz and Bernie, sex equals life. And life is a constant celebration.

Meet the Byrnes, Jack and Dina.
Robert DeNiro and Blythe Danner reprise their roles as the ever stodgy parents of Greg's fiancée, Pam, played by Teri Polo. To the Byrnes, life is a closed book, which may only be casually read by members of Jack Byrnes inner circle. For Jack and Dina, sex is a once-a-year scheduled event. Celebration is not in the Byrnes vernacular.

"Meet the Fockers" is a romp-filled comedy with a spiffy screenplay and breakout performances by the all star cast. The Fockers and the Byrnes are liberal vs. conservative. Bullwinkle and Rocky vs. Boris and Natasha. However you define them, you'll delight in the on-screen chemistry this stellar ensemble brings to the film.

Much has been said about Streisand's performance in the film, and she indeed is commanding in all her scenes. It is exciting to see Barbra let her curly hair down to once again tackle a first-rate comedy. Her scenes with Hoffman are an amusement park of laughs and the pair are comic dynamite on the screen. Streisand reunites with Prince of Tides co-star Blythe Danner for their first appearances on screen together. In their key scene, Roz helps Dina to rediscover her passionate feelings for Jack. It's a comic scene, played out with a level of poignancy rivaling Streisand's and Lauren Bacall's heart-to-heart in The Mirror Has Two Faces. But it is in scenes with DeNiro that Streisand truly shines. Streisand's Roz, the only member of the Focker family with enough chutzpah to put Jack in his place, ultimately helps Jack and Dina put romance back into their lives. And by the end of the film, it's life that the Byrnes are celebrating as well.

Score one for the good doctor.

So, who among this litany of Oscar-winners actually steals the show? I have to admit that it is Dustin Hoffman. He has some of the best lines in the film, and delivers each of them with a depth of comedy and intensity required to pull off scenes with Streisand, DeNiro and Stiller. The physical comedy Hoffman offers up embellishes his overall character as a throwback to Haight-Ashbury. In this ultimate Focker-Byrnes poker game, Hoffman wins the hand, hands down.

You'll enjoy seeing "Meet the Fockers." This rare pool of top-drawer acting talent pulls off the comedy flawlessly. Even in some of the ancillary scenes involving family pets and a little child (traditionally, some of an actor's worst devices), the multi-Oscar winning cast somehow manages to keep their character development in overdrive as the plot moves forward. Each cast member of "Meet the Fockers" brings a unique dynamic to the story which will have you riveted, waiting to see what happens next.

And you'll leave the theatre wanting more.