Jay Roach's brilliant, and in some ways underrated, Meet The Parents was one of the highest-grossing films of 2000. It may not have been the most edgy, original comedy ever made, but it is full of laughs and some excellent performances. Ben Stiller, the master at playing nervy, bumbling nice guys - he is very much an American Hugh Grant in that respect, without the heartthrob status - plays Gaylord Focker, a male nurse who goes to stay with his girlfriend's parents and attend her sister's wedding. What follows is a disastrous weekend, where everything that could go wrong for Focker does go wrong. The hapless 30-something simply cannot please his potential future father-in-law Jack Byrnes, played to perfection by Robert De Niro, and by losing his treasured cat, smashing his mother's urn and numerous other calamities, Focker becomes more and more unpopular as the weekend progresses. Stiller is typically excellent, and Teri Polo, Blythe Danner and Owen Wilson all play good supporting roles, but it is De Niro who is the star of the show in a lot of ways. The legendary Oscar-winning actor shows comic timing that some felt he didn't have in his armoury, and he remains the benchmark for scary father-in-laws to this day. It's an incredibly watchable movie, and one that helped Stiller become one of the world's most sought-after comedy actors.
