In "Meet the Parents," Ben Stiller plays that one guy that everyone knows who always seems to be down on his luck.  Throw this character into whacky situations that just so happen to coincide with the meeting of his fiance's parents, and you've got an award winner on your hands.  Do it twice, and you've got "Meet the Fockers."

"Parents" was funny because while on the surface it may have seemed like another chick flick, deep down, it was made just for guys.  Every guy, young or old, has had to inevitably meet the parents.  Trust me, it is always awkward.  The parents are either high-strung and quiet or loud and joyous.  Or, worse, both at the same time.  Either way, it never really makes for a pleasurable or memorable experience.  Through Robert DeNiro's Jack Byrnes character, we got every uncomfortable emotion wrapped up into a tidy package that would send any guy immeadiately packing.

Luckily, Stiller's Gaylord Focker stuck with it, and the audiences received one of the funniest films of 2000.  Now, five years later, we get the sequel which, while not as funny, still manages to be pretty good and may just be much better than you may initially think.

Now that there is some sense of peace (though still a bit of tension) between Gay Focker and Byrnes, the two new families decide to go to Florida and pay a visit to the others... the Focker family.  And, as movie law dictates, if the son is an uptight and somewhat conservative fellow, than the parents have to be love-addicted and open sex-hounds.  Sure it may be cliche, but it is still pretty damn funny.

The best laughs in this one are, without a doubt, from Streisand and Hoffman as Stiller's parents, Roz and Bernie Focker.  And while once in awhile director Jay Roach forces the two characters to rely on too many scatalogical jokes, they still manage to emerge as the two funniest and most memorable characters in the film.  Then again, the funniest part comes from a cameo at the very end during a wedding scene (I guess it wouldn't be a Stiller movie without him).

The biggest flaw in this is DeNiro's Jack Byrnes.  In the original, Byrnes was only looking out for the welfare of his family and, hence, some of his actions (while still very extreme) could come off as justifiable.  Unfortunately, in "Fockers," Byrnes comes off as less of an over-protective father and more of a straight-up jerk.  This does end up hurting the film as there are some parts that he takes things to such an extreme, that you may just roll your eyes in disbelief.

Not all of the jokes work, but, luckily, the ones that do outnumber the ones that don't.  Go in expecting just a funny movie, no more and no less, and you will not be dissapointed in the least.

Movie: *** out of ****

DVD Extras: ***1/2 out of ****

Your liking of this disc's extras all depends on your fondness for whackiness.  With over 65 bloopers and 20 deleted scenes, there is quite a bit of discarded footage to sift through.  You can skip the deleted scenes, as most of them are quite short.  The bloopers, on the other hand, are quite funny and are worth at least one look.  The commentary with director Roach and editor Jon Poll is alright with more insight on the filmaking techniques than any whacky behind-the-scenes hijinks (though, that's to be expected from a director and editor track).  The three featurettes are actually pretty interesting with the first focused on filming animals, the second focused on the propmaster's duties, and the third focused on directing children in a film.  A pretty decent package with some surprisingly deep stuff.

Too many sex jokes.  I couldn't take it.  It bored me to death, even though Hoffman and De Niro were brilliant.