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As sequels to great comedies go, this had a better chance than most of holding its own against the original, with the return of the cast and the director (Jay Roach) of Meet the Parents and the addition of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Bernie and Roz, the unpresentable parents of hapless Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller). Unfortunately, the movie, like its hero, tries too hard to fit a pattern. Greg and his fiancée, Pam (Teri Polo), sweat over bringing her up-tight parents, Jack (Robert De Niro) and Dina (Blythe Danner), down to Florida to meet their counterparts, and the concern proves justified. After some plot turns reminiscent of such disparate films as About Schmidt and The In-Laws, Fockers devolves into a reprise of the high points of Meet the Parents with minor changes. (The disastrous dinner-table scene is replayed with Greg’s preserved foreskin substituting for Jack’s mother’s ashes.) Padding the length to almost two hours are gratuitous jokes about a leg-humping dog and Greg’s last name. The new blood, however, earn their keep. Hoffman has fun as the latter-day hippie pater familias, perhaps more fun than the audience. But all those embarrassed by similar dads will forgive him. Streisand is unusually restrained as Greg’s adoring mom, a geriatric sex therapist (about 10 minutes of cheap laughs there). But the hit of the show is Jack’s two-year-old grandson learning his first word. (114 minutes) At the Boston Common, the Fenway, the Fresh Pond, and the Circle/Chestnut Hill and in the suburbs.
BY PETER KEOUGH
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