Well, after a long hiatus from the movies, I return to the uncomfortable posture-correction seats at AMC and find yet another inferior sequel splashed up on screen for the whole world to see. The latest is 2005?s ?Meet the Fockers,? the sequel to the smash comedy hit ?Meet the Parents,? starring Ben Stiller and legendary actor Robert DeNiro.

Small synopsis: We return to find Gaylord ?Greg? Focker and Pam Byrnes engaged, living together, and preparing for a weekend getaway with the parents. However it?s now the Fockers? turn to terrorize the more then suspecting couple, for this time around its the Focker family meeting the Byrnes family. Focker Island, Florida is where this enchanting setting takes place, looking more like a retirement retreat than anything else. Equipped with a sex therapist mother (played by Barbara Streisand), and a lawyer turned stay-at-home-dad (played by Dustin Hoffman), right-winged highly competitive father Jack Byrnes (DeNiro) appears to have his hands full with mother and father Focker.

Now I am not totally against sequels in the slightest, I have even been known to sometimes prefer a sequel to the original (depending on the film of course) but with a film such as ?Meet the Parents,? it can get tricky. I was reminded throughout the course of the film of the problems similarly seen in DeNiro?s previous unsuccessful sequel to a smash comedy hit in, ?Analyze That?. That problem of course is constantly recycling jokes from the original film to the point where they completely lose their appeal and borderline take away from its creative hilarity that audiences came to love. I can only hear a play on the trademark Focker last name so many times until I regurgitate all over the theater seats.

Lackluster jokes aside, the film did have some bright sides to it: we got to see Hoffman and DeNiro together on screen which made for some interesting and intriguing comedy. Streisand may have found a niche in wacky comedies now and Hoffman was a scene-stealer throughout as one could not help but notice the great chemistry between the two Focker-parent actors.

Bottom-Line: Stiller was his usual charming bumbling self, and DeNiro had his moments, but overall the film was sub-par at best lacking both the wit and humor that made the first film so successful. Box-office gross will disagree with me completely on this with the film generating over 100 million nationwide thus far through its first 2 weeks. I wouldn?t recommend seeing it with the anticipation of paralleling this comedy to the creativity of the original, but if you are looking for a comedy in a shallow pool of comedies this January, you won?t be too aggravated.

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