Meet the Fockers (2004) cast: Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Ben Stiller, and Teri Polo. De Niro, Streisand, Hoffman, and Danner have lent their names to a fetid Ben Stiller comedy geared to the Jackass: The Movie crowd.- Meet the Fockers (2004) movie review summary: Multiple award-winning Meet the Fockers cast members Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, and Blythe Danner waste their talent and prestige on a loathsome Ben Stiller comedy aimed at the Jackass: The Movie and There’s Something About Mary crowd.
- Meet the Fockers synopsis: Despite the disgust of his prospective father-in-law, ex-CIA Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), unadulterated moron Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is all set to tie the knot with his fiancée, Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo). That is, until the uptight Byrneses meet the carefree Fockers (Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman).
Meet the Fockers (2004) movie review: Veteran cast flush their prestige down the toilet in rancid Ben Stiller comedy
Meet the Fockers cast members Robert De Niro (who also coproduced), Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, and Blythe Danner – four of the six principals in Jay Roach’s “families” comedy – have among them five Academy Awards for acting and an additional ten nominations, one Tony win and six additional nominations, and numerous other acting awards and nominations from various film groups and institutions from around the world.[1]
What to do with all that honor and prestige?
Well, how about throwing it all into the fetid garbage dumpster of a Ben Stiller comedy about chopped-off foreskin, babies that say “asshole,” and little dogs that get flushed down the toilet?
Unrelentingly stupid hero for the masses
Geared to the millions of moviegoers who turned Bobby and Peter Farrelly’s crudely infantile There’s Something About Mary – also starring Stiller – into a major box office hit, Meet the Fockers revolves around the clash between two disparate all-American families: The free-wheeling, Jewish Fockers (Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand) and the traditionalist, Waspy Byrneses (Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner).
Previously seen in Jay Roach’s 2000 box office hit Meet the Parents, the Byrneses find themselves mingling with The Other Side because their Aryan (and insane?) princess, Pam (Teri Polo), is about to get married to the yucky klutz Greg Focker (Ben Stiller).
Also featured in Meet the Parents, Greg is not only incredibly, unrelentingly stupid but also a walking bad-luck magnet. Whatever can go wrong with him, does. Compounding matters, the Byrnes patriarch, a constipated right-wing Republican and former CIA agent, will do whatever is in his power to prevent Greg from marrying his daughter.
Papa Byrnes should have resolved the matter the CIA way, but tragically no swift assassinations take place in Meet the Fockers. Ben Stiller’s Greg and his family members and in-laws are all still very much alive at the end, ready for the next neuron-zapping, vomit-inducing sequel.
Meet the Fockers (2004) movie cast & crew
Director: Jay Roach.
Screenplay: John Hamburg and James Herzfeld.
From a screen story by James Herzfeld and Marc Hyman.
Characters created by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke.Cast:
Robert De Niro … Jack Byrnes
Ben Stiller … Greg Focker
Dustin Hoffman … Bernie Focker
Barbra Streisand … Rozalin Focker
Blythe Danner … Dina Byrnes
Teri Polo … Pam Byrnes
Owen Wilson … Kevin Rawley
Alanna Ubach … Isabel Villalobos
Ray Santiago … Jorge Villalobos
Tim Blake Nelson … Officer LeFlore
Shelley Berman … Judge IraCinematography: John Schwartzman.
Film Editing: Jon Poll, Lee Haxall, and Alan Baumgarten.
Music: Randy Newman.
Producers: Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, and Jay Roach.
Production Design: Rusty Smith.
Costume Design: Carol Ramsey.
Production Companies: Universal Pictures | DreamWorks Pictures.
Distributors: Universal Pictures (United States) | DreamWorks Pictures (International).
Running Time: 115 min.
Country: United States.
Endnotes
Meet the Fockers cast members’ Oscars + Tonys + Emmys
[1] Meet the Fockers cast members and their Oscars, Tonys, and Emmys:
- Robert De Niro: Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for The Godfather: Part II (1974); Best Actor for Raging Bull (1980).
- Barbra Streisand: Best Actress Oscar winner for Funny Girl (1968) (tied with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter), in addition to an Oscar for composing with Paul Williams the song “Evergreen,” for Frank Pierson’s 1976 A Star Is Born remake. Moreover, Streisand won four Emmys for three of her televised concerts (1965, 1995, 2001), plus an Honorary “Star of the Decade” Tony Award in 1970.
- Dustin Hoffman: Best Actor Oscar winner for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988), and Emmy winner in the Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Special category for Death of a Salesman (1985).
- Blythe Danner: Tony winner for Leonard Gershe’s Milton Katselas-directed Butterflies Are Free (1969–1970).
In all fairness, one can’t ignore the fact that another Meet the Fockers cast member – Ben Stiller himself – also won an Emmy, in the Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program category for The Ben Stiller Show (1992).
Meet the Fockers movie credits via the American Film Institute (AFI) Catalog website.
Image of Meet the Fockers (2004) cast members Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, and Blythe Danner: Universal Pictures | DreamWorks Pictures.
See also: Is Meet the Fockers the highest grossing comedy ever made?
“Meet the Fockers (2004) Movie Review: Cast Prestige Down the Toilet” last updated in March 2024.