- Little Fockers
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Little Fockers 
Teaser PosterDirected by Paul Weitz Produced by Jane Rosenthal
Robert De Niro
Jay Roach
John HamburgWritten by John Hamburg
Larry StuckeyBased on Characters by
Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth ClarkeStarring Robert De Niro
Ben Stiller
Owen Wilson
Blythe Danner
Teri Polo
Jessica Alba
Dustin Hoffman
Barbra StreisandMusic by Stephen Trask Cinematography Remi Adefarasin Editing by Greg Hayden
Leslie Jones
Myron I. KersteinStudio Universal Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Relativity Media
TriBeCa ProductionsDistributed by Universal Pictures (United States)
Paramount Pictures (International)Release date(s) December 22, 2010 Running time 98 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $100 million Box office $310,650,585 Little Fockers (known as Meet the Parents: Little Fockers in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American comedy film and sequel to Meet the Parents (2000) and Meet the Fockers (2004). It stars Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. The first film in the series not to be directed by Jay Roach, it is instead directed by Paul Weitz with Roach as one of the producers. Likewise Stephen Trask, a relative newcomer, takes over composing duties from veteran Randy Newman. In addition to the original cast, Little Fockers features Jessica Alba, Laura Dern and Harvey Keitel.
Contents
Plot
Greg and his wife Pam, daughter of retired CIA agent Jack, have five-year-old twins, Henry and Samantha.[1][2] After Jack learns that Dr. Bob Banks, the husband of his second daughter Debbie, has been cheating on his wife and divorced her, Jack begins to experience significant health issues and appoints Greg to the new head of the family, the "Godfocker". However, he starts to have doubts about his decision, because he thinks Greg has an affair with Andi Garcia, a sexy pharmaceutical-company representative with whom he sells the erectile dysfunction drug Sustengo. This is not true, the impression is due to coincidences and drunkenness of Andi.[3] Jack even suggests to Pam that it might be better to divorce Greg and resume her relationship with Kevin Rawley, her former fiancé. Greg and Pam are annoyed by this.
In order to prove he can look after the family, Greg tries to get his children into a better school (although he almost blows the chance), build a new house (which has problems in the garden), and get his finances in order. When Greg meets Bob at a bar, Bob tells Greg that he has never been happier after getting off "the hamster wheel" and that he was Jack's first choice to lead the family, even giving him the name "The Bobfather", which makes Greg a little upset. Jack's actions eventually force Greg to run away from home and seek solace with Andi, who mistakenly believes that he is there to have an affair. While searching for Greg, Jack sees Andi kissing him and assumes that Greg is being unfaithful to Pam. Jack and Greg eventually make up at the twins' birthday party after a fight, in which Jack suffers a heart attack and Greg saves his life.
The film continues four months later on Christmas Day when Jack, Dina, Bernie, and Roz come to spend Christmas with Pam and Greg in their new house. Greg's parents give Jack a present of a kippah, informing him they traced his family roots back while nursing him back to health, discovering he is part Jewish. Bernie informs them that he and Roz are moving to Chicago and are going to move two houses down from theirs. Jack and Dina decide they will move too, because they also want to be close to their grandchildren. The film ends with Greg and Pam trying to wean their parents off the idea. During the credits, Jack watches a video of Greg on YouTube and discovers a remixed version of it.
Cast
- Main
- Robert De Niro as Jack Tiberius Byrnes
- Ben Stiller as Gaylord "Greg" Focker
- Owen Wilson as Kevin Rawley
- Blythe Danner as Dina Byrnes
- Teri Polo as Pamela "Pam" Focker
- Jessica Alba as Andi Garcia
- Supporting
- Laura Dern as Prudence Simmons
- Dustin Hoffman as Bernard "Bernie" Focker
- Barbra Streisand as Rosalind "Roz" Focker
- Harvey Keitel as Randy Weir
- Kevin Hart as Nurse Louis
- Colin Baiocchi as Henry Focker
- Daisy Tahan as Samantha Focker
- Minor
- Thomas McCarthy as Dr. Bob Banks
- Yul Vazquez as Junior
- Jack Axelrod as Chappy
- Clent Bowers as Mr. Androvsky
- Olga Fonda as Svetlana
- Laksh Singh as Dr. Patel
- Jake Keiffer as Rufus
- Rob Huebel as Sleazy Doctor Ballard
- Deepak Chopra as Himself
- Sergio Calderón as Gustavo
- Amy Stiller as Kristen
- Harry Bali as Sadu
- Celina Zambón as Carmencita
- Joseph Mazurk as Paul the CTA Passenger
Production
Production for Little Fockers began in July 2009.[4][5]
Writer John Hamburg stated the film would deal with "themes of death and divorce and all these real things that, as we get older, we start to think about, but in a really comical way."[6]
Outside the United States, this is the first film in the series to be released by Paramount Pictures, which acquired the DreamWorks back catalog in 2006 (and owned the studio itself until 2008), including co-ownership in the Meet the Parents franchise. DreamWorks remains as a co-copyright holder with Universal Studios (as DW Studios).[7]
It was announced on August 24, 2010, that Dustin Hoffman was finally going to reprise his role as Greg's father, Bernie Focker.[8] When the movie was in pre-production, the studios couldn't reach an agreement with Hoffman, but finally agreed on terms to bring him back for the film, though his role was smaller than the previous film.
Release
In January 2010, the release date for the film was pushed back from July 30, 2010, to December 22, 2010, because Universal hoped to benefit from the long Christmas weekend.[9]
The first trailer was released on June 24, 2010. It was then shown in front of showings of Grown Ups and Dinner for Schmucks. A second trailer was released online November 10, 2010 and is attached with Morning Glory, Unstoppable and Skyline. The film was released in the UK and US on December 22, 2010.
Critical reception
Little Fockers received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes assigned the film a 10% "rotten" score based on 140 reviews, as well as an average rating of 3.4/10.[10] On Metacritic, the film's average score was 27 out of 100 based on the reviews of 32 critics, meaning "generally negative reviews".[11] Empire gave two stars out of five, summing up, "there are inevitably moments when Hoffman or Wilson get a laugh, but on the whole, it’s the same again, but weaker and with fewer good jokes."[12] Alex Zane of Sun Online called the film a "predictable but not unwelcome addition to the Focker family", giving it three out of five stars.[13]
Much of the negative reviews criticized the film for being too predictable and having a "stupid" or "unfunny" sense of humor. Probably the most negative of reviews came from Anders Wotzke, a critic from Cut Print Review, who called the film less funny than the 1993 Holocaust film Schindler's List. Cole Smithey called the entire comedy franchise the most "dubious in movie history".[14]
Stars from the film have acknowledged critical dislike of the film. During his Lifetime Achievement Award speech at the Golden Globes, Robert De Niro said, "I was very, very moved and gratified when you made the announcement [of this award] two months ago, well before you had a chance to review 'Little Fockers.'"
Box office performance
Little Fockers failed to match the opening weekend gross of its predecessor, Meet the Fockers. It opened first on its opening weekend on approximately 5,000 screens at 3,536 locations across US and Canada, bringing its five-day opening to $48.3 million. By comparison, Meet the Fockers made $46.1 million on the same weekend in 2004 for a five-day total of $70.5 million. As of April 9, 2011, Little Fockers grossed $148,438,600 in the United States and Canada, and $161,007,198 from other countries around the world, for a worldwide total of $309,445,798.[15]
Accolades
Year Award Category Work Result 2010 Razzie Awards Worst Supporting Actress Jessica Alba Won Barbra Streisand Nominated Worst Screenplay John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey Nominated Home media
Little Fockers was released on DVD and Blu-ray April 5, 2011.
References
- ^ Rich, Katey (June 10, 2009). "More Owen Wilson Coming In Little Fockers". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5rfo8w3kA. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "Little Fockers Plot Revealed". Female First. August 25, 2009. http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/movies/movie-news/Ben+Stiller-70754.html. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Rosenberg, Adam (March 25, 2010). "'Little Fockers' Brings Owen Wilson Back In As A Major Character". MTV Movies Blog. Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5rforgvV5. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Thomson, Katherine (March 25, 2009). "'Little Fockers' A Go: Report". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5rfpVdgyw. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Buckman, Erik (April 7, 2009). "Those 'Little Fockers' find their director". Reel Loop. http://blog.reelloop.com/1424/news/little-fockers-find-director/. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Utichi, Joe; Tilly, Chris (June 10, 2009). "Little Fockers Exclusive". IGN. Archived from the original on August 2, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5rfqTTV7t. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Meet the Parents: Little Fockers UK site, with "DW Studios" mentioned in copyright line
- ^ Finke, Nikki (August 24, 2010). "'Little Fockers' Brings Back Dustin Hoffman". Deadline.com. http://www.deadline.com/2010/08/little-fockers-brings-back-dustin-hoffman/. Retrieved 2010-9-5.
- ^ Stewart, Andrew (January 28, 2010). "Waiting for 'Little Fockers'". Variety (Reed Business Information). http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118014434.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "Little Fockers (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/little_fockers/. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ "Little Fockers". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/movie/little-fockers. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ Newman, Kim. "Meet The Parents: Little Fockers (12A)". Empire. Bauer Consumer Media. http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=136133. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Smithey, Cole (2011-01-03). "Capsules: Little Fockers". Cole Smithey. http://www.colesmithey.com/capsules/2011/01/little-fockers.html/. Retrieved 2011-08-11.
- ^ "Little Fockers". Box Office Mojo. IMDB. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=meetthefockerssequel.htm. Retrieved 2011-4-9.
External links
- Official website
- Little Fockers at the Internet Movie Database
- Little Fockers at AllRovi
- Little Fockers at Rotten Tomatoes
- Little Fockers at Metacritic
- Little Fockers at Box Office Mojo
Films directed by Paul and Chris Weitz Together Paul only In Good Company (2004) · American Dreamz (2006) · Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) · Little Fockers (2010)Chris only John Hamburg Writer/Director Screenwriter Meet the Parents (with James Herzfeld) (2000) · Zoolander (with Drake Sather and Ben Stiller) (2001) · The Monster (2001) · Meet the Fockers (with James Herzfeld) (2004) · Little Fockers (2010) (with James Herzfeld)Categories:- 2010 films
- American films
- English-language films
- American comedy films
- 2010s comedy films
- Films directed by Paul Weitz
- Films set in Chicago, Illinois
- Films set in Spain
- Films shot in Chicago, Illinois
- Universal Pictures films
- Paramount Pictures films
- Relativity Media films
- Sequel films
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