The test of wills between Jack Byrnes and Greg Focker escalates to new heights. It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get "in" with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack's suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam's entire clan -- including Pam's lovelorn ex, Kevin -- descends for the twins' birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he's fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack's final test and become the family's next patriarch -- or will the circle of trust be broken for good.
Genres: Comedy and Sequel Running Time: 1 hr. 38 min. Release Date: December 22nd, 2010 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature sexual humor throughout, language and some drug content.
Cast And Credits
Starring:
Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand
Directed by:
Paul Weitz
Produced by:
Daniel Lupi, Jane Rosenthal, Meghan Lyvers
Apparently, because all the good jokes were used up in the first two “Fockers” movies, the wisenheimers behind the latest installment in this unnecessary trilogy decided to bring in some spew, opening a sick toddler’s mouth like a fire hydrant and letting it rip.
The mortification of the body has always played a part in the “Fockers” franchise, which hinges on the uneasy, at times violently contentious relationship between a male nurse, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his father-in-law, Jack (Robert De Niro), a former C.I.A. operative. But at their best and funniest, those mortifications were intrinsic to the story’s meaning.
Part of what made the first movies work as well as they did — “Meet the Parents” hit in 2000, and its sequel, “Meet the Fockers,” followed four years later — was the cultural clash that dare not fully speak its name. Initially, the series only broadly winked at the reasons for Jack’s slow-burning tsuris. Was that a bagel in Greg’s pocket, or was he just glad to see his shiksa girlfriend and then wife, Pam (Teri Polo)? But when the second movie brought in Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman to play Greg’s parents, any residual anxiety about the characters’ nominal cultural differences gave way to the spectacle of two legends playfully batting around the Jewish stereotypes that the stars themselves struggled against and transcended.
How do you top Ms. Streisand and Mr. Hoffman playing at being the happy, sexy hippie couple for easy jokes? You don’t. Apparently, you don’t even try, as is evident from the new movie’s lack of wit and surplus of lazy scenes.
Directed by Paul Weitz (Jay Roach did better with the first two), “Little Fockers” reunites all the principal actors, this time to greatly diminished returns in a story that turns on Jack’s decision to anoint Greg the family patriarch. Time is passing, if not quickly enough in this movie, and fears of mortality are nipping at Jack’s heels and clutching at his heart. The ensuing tension — or rather, slackly stitched-together chain of misunderstandings — centers on whether Greg is worthy of this honor.
Are we there yet? No, because first Jessica Alba has to show up and throw off her clothes and then her body at Mr. Stiller, a story line that has everything to do with his star muscle and nothing to do with Greg. This leads to some matrimonial static that draws the series closer to the kind of deadly dull domestic comedy that the “Fockers” franchise previously managed to avoid becoming.
Exhaustion partly explains why, though it also seems clear that Mr. Stiller, who in the 10 years since the first “Fockers” has become a Hollywood powerhouse, isn’t interested in being the butt of anyone’s joke. Mr. De Niro might not mind making mincemeat of his own legacy, as a painful bit with a grinning Harvey Keitel suggests. (Somewhere, Martin Scorsese is lighting a votive candle.) But Mr. Stiller is no longer in a laughing mood. “Little Fockers” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). The usual bodily liquids and penis jokes.
Apparently, because all the good jokes were used up in the first two “Fockers” movies, the wisenheimers behind the latest installment in this unnecessary trilogy decided to bring in some spew, opening a sick toddler’s mouth like a fire hydrant and letting it rip. 
Part of what made the first movies work as well as they did — “Meet the Parents” hit in 2000, and its sequel, “Meet the Fockers,” followed four years later — was the cultural clash that dare not fully speak its name. Initially, the series only broadly winked at the reasons for Jack’s slow-burning tsuris. Was that a bagel in Greg’s pocket, or was he just glad to see his shiksa girlfriend and then wife, Pam (Teri Polo)? But when the second movie brought in Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman to play Greg’s parents, any residual anxiety about the characters’ nominal cultural differences gave way to the spectacle of two legends playfully batting around the Jewish stereotypes that the stars themselves struggled against and transcended. 
Exhaustion partly explains why, though it also seems clear that Mr. Stiller, who in the 10 years since the first “Fockers” has become a Hollywood powerhouse, isn’t interested in being the butt of anyone’s joke. Mr. De Niro might not mind making mincemeat of his own legacy, as a painful bit with a grinning Harvey Keitel suggests. (Somewhere, Martin Scorsese is lighting a votive candle.) But Mr. Stiller is no longer in a laughing mood. “Little Fockers” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). The usual bodily liquids and penis jokes.
