As expected, this is entirely powered by the front speakers. There's not a single moment where the rear speakers find work. It's crisp and clean as far as dialogue goes. There are moments where it could offer some ambience, but there's nothing. It's one of those movies that didn't need the advent of 5.1 audio. (***)
On this disc, there are two separate versions of the film. The extended cut splices a few deleted scenes back into the film rather crudely, without even cleaning up the video. At least you know what the new scenes are unlike many other cuts like this. You can listen to a commentary track too from director Jay Roach and co-producer Jon Poll.
There are 15-minutes worth of deleted scenes (separate from the extended cut) to view. Most of these are wise cuts, though the final one would have tied up a loose end. The 11-minute blooper reel is more entertaining than any scene in the film. It's great that they had so much fun making it; it's a shame it's not so much to watch it.
"Inside the Litterbox: Behind the Scenes with Jinx the Cat" is a four minute feature on, obviously, the cat. Everyone acts as if he was the most important actor on the set. It's the type of thing that's been done before. "The Manary Gland" is a 2-minute look at how the prop you'll never forget was created.
"The Fockers' Family Portrait" splits into three separate featurettes, one for each cast member. They discuss their characters without anything particularly mentionable. "Adventures of a Baby Wrangler" runs for about 6-minutes, showing how the baby actors are handled. "Matt Lauer Meets the Fockers" is a promotional interview and nothing more. Finally, there's a promo for "Scrubs" on NBC. (***)
There's little to discuss about the "Meet the Fockers" other than how it's a golden example of a missed opportunity. There's not explanation for how movie with this cast could fail this miserably, but it does, and on every level. If you have fond memories of the original film, don't spoil them with this disgrace.
Article comments
1 - Eric Berlin
I thought the first film was serviceable at best, Matt, and groaned when I saw ads for the sequel. Looks like my groans were justified.
Reading your review reminded me that comedy is best when served up from some kind of basis in "reality" (even if that reality is the warped world of Men in Black or whatever).
I was also reminded that some of Stiller's best work came from Flirting with Disaster, another family comedy... except in this case the characters are "crazy," though in the way real people can drive you up the world. The result: an excellent comedy. The Fockers? I can leave them safely in the unrealistic overly broad reaching for commercial film revenue bin.