Parents' Guide to

Meet the Parents

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Crass comedy has lots of sex, profanity, drugs.

Movie PG-13 2000 108 minutes
Meet the Parents Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 13+

Based on 15 parent reviews

NojEsco
NojEsco Adult
September 25, 2020
age 17+

Woefully unpleasant and unfunny - The absolute nadir of comedy

Meet the Parents is a mean-spirited, loud and utterly witless waste of life. Robert De Niro's character in these movies might be the single most despicable character in any form of media in the 21st century, and yes, that includes things like the Grand Theft Auto games and Quentin Tarantino's films; those people are horrible but at least they are interesting in one form or another. Apparently there are jokes throughout this movie but honestly I couldn't even tell you where more than 2 of these "jokes" are. Usually I can tell when a movie fails to make me laugh but this movie is just people screaming hatred at Ben Stiller's character (the audience POV) for stuff he didn't do, and we're supposed to find that amusing. This is literally just 90 minutes of "Yes you DID!" "No I didn't!!" argument where EVERYONE says "No, we believe that you DID!" It's just one immensely frustrating situation after another and there is literally nothing else to this whole movie with the exception of the first 2-3 minutes, and the final 2-3 minutes. I literally cannot think of a single more painful movie viewing experience I have ever had to endure (having to watch this on a bus when I was too wired to fall asleep - and I was kinda starting to consider jumping out the emergency exit as that felt like a more enjoyable use of my time). It's aggressive, aggravating and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone of any age, ever. I would rather be mugged and beaten than be forced to watch a minute of this absolutely godawful movie again.
1 person found this helpful.
doctora
doctora Parent of 5-year-old
June 5, 2022
age 14+

Pretty epic car chase...

I thought the film was moderately funny, with some pretty good scenes...that small town car chase scene is epic! But for the most part I did not enjoy it very much because I could not relate to Stiller's character and found DeNiro's character more interesting. When Stiller really lost me was in his airplane scene, but perhaps because I watched it post-COVID where being rude on an airplane to the staff does not seem funny at all. The scene has aged very poorly.
See all 15 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In MEET THE PARENTS, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) loves Pam (Teri Polo) and wants to make a good impression on her father, Jack (Robert De Niro), who specializes in sweating the truth out of double agents in the CIA. Everything goes wrong. Jack's natural overprotectiveness meets with Greg's panicky clumsiness. The airline loses Greg's suitcase, so he has to borrow bizarre clothes -- enormous pants from Pam's brother, a tiny Speedo bathing suit from Pam's former fiancé. Greg is compared to Pam's sister's fiancé, a doctor, and to Pam's former boyfriend (Owen Wilson), now fabulously wealthy and still pining for her. Greg, who is Jewish, is asked to say grace at dinner and can only helplessly babble the lyrics from Godspell. And, in the movie's high point, Greg has to cope with the only situation more grueling than a terrifying in-law: airline bureaucracy.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (15):
Kids say (37):

Depending on your sense of humor, this movie is either hilarious or agonizing or both. Written by the screenwriter of the awful Meet the Deedles (who will we meet next? The Fockers, of course) and from the director of Austin Powers, Meet the Parents is a sub-category of comedy that can only be termed "comedies of excruciation," in which we laugh at the hideously humiliating experiences of some poor sap. If this is your kind of humor, then this is your kind of movie.

There are many jokes about Greg's name (Focker, get it?) and his occupation (nurse, which isn't manly, get it?). Jokes center on a catheter, a "Mountie strap-on dildo," a cat who uses the toilet, a cat strung out on nicotine gum, a fire, and an overflowing septic tank. The scene in which Greg battles the airline rules is worth at least three stars on its own.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the kinds of laughs this comedy goes for. Is the humiliation of these characters funny? How does their dishonesty keep them from getting along? Why does Greg's stressed-out nature make him more susceptible to laughs at his expense? Does it bother you that Pam doesn't stand up to her father more? Is she contributing in some way to Greg's misery?

  • How does this movie mine humor out of exaggeration, in the situations and the relationships among the characters? How would the movie be different without that exaggeration? What are some examples of other movies in which exaggeration is employed for the sake of comedy?

  • How was pratfall violence used in this movie? What are some other examples of movies with lots of pratfall violence?

Movie Details

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