Rated PG-13
Directed by Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, All three Austin Powers movies)
Starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand
I heard of a pastor in our town who was publicly condemning this film because of the title. Trust me . . . the title is the least of this film’s leap beyond “the line.”
I was actually looking forward to the film. The first film, Meet the Parents, was pretty amusing with creative characters, hilarious dialogue, and some pretty funny gimmicks. Crowds loved it. That’s why the sequel, Meet the Fockers, brought out record numbers to the box office on opening weekend.
In Meet the Fockers, Greg (Stiller) is still engaged to Pam, and is going to introduce both sets of parents to each other before the wedding. Pam’s ex-CIA, conservative, control freak, dad (De Niro) gets to meet Greg’s liberal, loud, outspoken parents (played by Hoffman and Streisand).
Amusing? Yes. Creative? Yes. Good performances? Sure . . . look who’s in it.
Across the line? By a mile.
I guess my biggest surprise in the film is that it was PG-13. The film was just straight up nasty! And I’m no fundamentalist! Eminem would cover his kid’s eyes! Janet Jackson would say it was inappropriate!
My kids are young now, but they won’t be seeing this film when they’re teenagers. I’m not going to waste my time going into details, but if any film has deserved an R-rating this year, it’s this one. Wow. Gotta love the Motion Picture Association of America. They’ve been screwing up ratings for years . . . but this one takes the cake. If this doesn’t teach you that ratings mean nothing, I don’t know what will.
Bottom line: Check out www.screenit.com (Yes, you don’t have to subscribe and pay. Just scroll down and look at the free version. It still reviews film content for free.) before going to ANY film . . . especially if you’re going to bring the kids.
Side Note:
As said above, we recommend you skip this film. But on the occasion that your teen actually has already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
