Little Fockers (Ben Stiller)

(Amazon UK link)

Six months ago we watched the film ‘Meet the Fockers’, which I found inexpensively in a local thrift store. We liked it so much that I ordered (second-hand) the first and third in the series when I was in the UK.  We watched ‘Meet the parents’ last week, and thought it excellent. So we were looking forward to seeing the final film in the trilogy, ‘Little Fockers’, yesterday evening. 

The main characters are the same as in the other two films, and the chemistry between them is as good as ever. Ben Stiller is excellent as Greg Focker, a nurse who has other responsibilities in his hospital. He’s married, now, to Pam (Teri Polo) and they have twins, Samantha and Henry, who are nearly five. Samantha is considerably taller than Henry. Apparently the actress (Daisy Tahan) was eight in 2010 when the film was made, while Colin Baiocchi, who played Henry, was a year younger. 

There are several themes running through this film. Greg has bought a bigger house, which is undergoing some improvements, at least in theory. He is hoping to use it to host his children’s fifth birthday party, but work is going rather slowly, and it appears to be deteriorating rather than improving.

Kevin (Owen Wilson) who made cameo appearances in the other films, keeps cropping up in this one. He’s a caricatured egoist, talented in a ridiculous number of fields, with a lot of ex-lovers, including Pam. And he offers his mansion as an alternative venue for the birthday party.

Then there’s an attractive medical drug rep called Andi (Jessica Garber). She wants Greg to do some promotional videos and talks for a new sexual enhancement pill she’s promoting. She also, clearly, finds Greg very attractive although he has no idea… 

Meanwhile Pam’s father Jack (Robert De Niro)has been having some health problems, and wants to pass on responsibility for the well-being of the family to one of his sons-in-law. But the one he found more satisfactory has gone off with someone else, so he’s left with Greg. And they have a lot of ongoing stresses, despite quite liking each other underneath…

So there’s quite a bit going on in this film, and it’s mostly well-done. The actors, many of them well-known, are excellent and there are some amusing moments. But overall it didn’t feel entirely coherent. The subplots interweave, sometimes picking up on things in earlier films, sometimes introducing new elements. The title suggests that it should mainly be about Greg and Pam’s twins, but there are a lot of more ‘adult’ scenarios. 

The birthday party comes towards the end, as the climax to the film. But even that is more about Kevin and his talents than about Henry and Samantha. Greg’s parents are reunited after some time apart, and what goes on (in private) in one of the tents is definitely not child-friendly. Nor is the fist-fight that takes place between Greg and Jack - something that had been simmering for a while but which seemed to go on much longer than necessary. Some of it’s done for humour - they fight on the slide and in the ball pool, for instance - but it looks all too realistic. And there’s a very tense scene when Jack is taken ill again… something which I didn’t find at all funny.

I did like the fact that Greg and Pam really are committed to each other, and still love each other. The point is made that it’s not always easy to find time for romance when there are two young children in the house, and I thought that was well done. I also liked the final family scene which finishes the story nicely. But this is not a film for children; the 12 rating reflects the lack of anything explicit, although I would have thought that the fight and the fact that the name sounds like ‘strong’ language might have put it up to 15. 

I’m glad we saw this, but am also glad that it’s the last of the ‘Meet the parents’ trilogy. I think the humour between the two sets of in-laws has probably been done sufficiently. We watched some of the extras including an alternative beginning and ending which were amusing but, we thought, wouldn’t have worked as well as the actual start and finish. There are some other deleted scenes, a gag reel, and other extras which we didn’t see.

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Meet the parents (Ben Stiller)

(Amazon UK link)

About six months ago, we watched the 2004 film ‘Meet the Fockers’, and found it very enjoyable. When I was reviewing it, I learned that it was a sequel to the 2000 film ‘Meet the parents’. I was making an order from the ‘Worldofbooks’ site, to be collected when I was in the UK in the summer. So I decided to add this film, and the third in the trilogy as well, as both were priced very inexpensively. 

I expected used editions of these DVDs, and was surprised and pleased to find that ‘Meet the parents’ was still shrink-wrapped, either new or as-new. We watched it last night. It wasn’t a problem that we had seen these films in the wrong order, although we had some inkling of what the characters were going to be like.

Ben Stiller is excellent in his role as the slightly hapless and unambitious Greg. He works as a nurse, where he is sometimes mistaken for a doctor. But we only see him in this role at the start of each of the films. He then goes to meet his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo) in his lunch break. We see her finishing her morning’s teaching in a class of young children, perhaps Kindergarten. She’s evidently a good teacher who cares about all her children and their health and emotional side as well as their academic education. 

Greg is about to propose to Pam, using an unusual visual display when she’s interrupted by a phone call. He discovers that he should ask her father first. And then we see them arriving at her parents’ home, a couple of weeks later, for her sister’s wedding after quite a stressful plane ride where his luggage gets lost.

Pam appears to revert to a young child, swung around in her father (Robert De Niro)’s arms, then greeted by her mother (Blythe Danner) as if she were about six. Greg is introduced almost as an afterthought. And while her parents seem to be welcoming, they are full of suspicion. Her father, in particular, doesn’t think anyone is good enough for his older daughter. He is particularly biased against male nurses, though it’s not clear why. 

Most of the film then takes place over the next couple of days. The action includes part of a wedding rehearsal, a meeting with Pam’s ex fiancé (Owen Wilson), a game of pool volleyball where Greg distinguishes himself in negative ways, and a lost cat. Disaster follows disaster as Greg tries, in vain, to impress his future in-laws. It could have been trite or silly, but the choreography is excellent, the script well-written, and the whole really quite amusing. It’s exaggerated and caricatured, of course, but we didn’t find that a problem. 

I suppose part of the appeal of this film is because many people have some apprehension before meeting the parents of a partner or future spouse. We all want to live up to others’ expectations, and all the more so when they are important to the people we love. Ben Stiller is extremely good in this role, which approaches but never quite reaches slapstick. Robert De Niro is superb, too, as the strict father who, nevertheless, has something of a sense of humour. Perhaps the eventual (and inevitable) reconciliation scene is a tad unlikely, but then so are many of the other scenes. 

This is one of the rare films that succeeds in being a true rom-com: the romance is there with some great chemistry between Greg and Pam. But it’s also full of humour, including places where we laughed aloud. It’s not to be taken seriously, although it makes some good points about honesty and being oneself, rather than trying too hard to impress others. It made a very good evening’s light viewing.

The rating is 12, which is probably about right, in my view. There’s nothing explicit, but many innuendoes and some passionate kisses. There’s one short scene of mild (accidental) violence with quite a bit of blood. There’s discussion about both smoking and marijuana. Then there are a few instances of mild bad language. Also, of course, Greg’s surname (‘Focker’) sounds deliberately like a ‘strong’ word. I don’t think any of these things would actually disturb or corrupt a young child, but since all the actors are adults and the story is about adult relationships, it’s unlikely to be of interest to anyone under 12. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Doctor Who complete fourth series (David Tennant)

(Amazon UK link)

We finished rewatching series 3 of Doctor Who in early April, and then didn’t watch anything for a couple of weeks while our family visited. Finally, at the end of the month we began series 4, which opens with the Christmas special that was first broadcast in December 2007. 

The title of the special episode is ‘Voyage of the damned’, and it’s over an hour long. We had mostly forgotten it, as we last watched series 4 in 2013. It features an apparently traditional Christmas party on a spaceship which has the unfortunate name of ‘Titanic’. The doctor befriends one of the waitresses, called Astrid (Kylie Minogue in a one-off performance) as strange things start happening.

It didn’t seem particularly Christmassy, other than the opening, but Astrid was well cast, and an excellent assistant to the Doctor (David Tennant in his third series as the tenth Doctor). There’s a lot of fast action and it’s quite sad as well as dramatic. I recognised Geoffrey Palmer as the ship’s captain, and also a cameo role for Bernard Cribbins as Wilf, selling newspapers when some of the group briefly visit London. 

It was a couple of weeks later when we watched the next episode, ‘Partners in crime’. It’s much more light-hearted, and despite its widespread low rating, it’s one of my favourite stories. Donna (Catherine Tate) reappears in this, and there’s quite a bit of situational humour as she and the Doctor keep missing each other, neither aware that the other is nearby. They are both, independently, concerned about a new product designed to reduce fat. 

I wasn’t sure about Donna when we first saw this series, after the excellent Martha. But I very much appreciated the repartee between her and the Doctor this time around. I also recognised that their relationship as platonic friends is rather healthier than that of Rose and Martha, both of whom had major crushes on the Doctor (reciprocated, apparently, in Rose’s case). 

Episode Three is also one which I very much liked seeing again. Donna agrees to travel to somewhere in known history, and the Doctor believes they have landed in ancient Rome. But they’re in Pompeii, on the eve of the eruption of Vesuvius. Peter Capaldi appears in this episode as the Roman Catullus, father of a rebellious teenage son, and a daughter who is being primed to be part of a religious group. Several women can ‘see’ into the future, quite accurately. But none of them are aware of the imminent eruption… 

This episode is very well done, with authentic Roman costumes and sets, and some humour which transpires when Donna tries to use actual Latin words. And the Doctor has to make an almost impossible decision, as well as a more personal one, where he is persuaded by Donna to change history a little bit.

Episode Four is more serious, set far in the future on the planet of the Ood. The Ood seem particularly subservient, yet something is going wrong, as a few of them apparently turn rogue. It’s quite a thought-provoking episode, touching metaphorically on the subject of servants vs slaves, with some fast action and some quite emotive scenes. 

That’s followed by ‘The Sontaran Strategem’, a tense two-part story, which concludes with ‘The poison sky’. Martha Jones (the Doctor’s companion in Series Three) gets in touch with him, wanting a raid on a suspicious factory. It has been supplying a new kind of navigation system, but several people who were using it have died. There’s a storyline alongside this, involving a strict boarding school, supposedly for brilliant people, which is run by a most unpleasant young man called Luke. 

The first part ends with a cliff-hanger so I was glad that we could see the second part immediately afterwards. It’s quite a stressful story, but cleverly done. And I liked the way that Martha came into her own again - and is taken at the end, so that she can have another adventure.

I really liked the next episode, ‘The doctor’s daughter’, where both Donna and Martha travel with the Doctor. His ‘daughter’ is generated from his DNA, and I enjoyed it all the more knowing that this attractive young woman, known as ‘Jenny’, ended up in ‘real life’ as David Tennant’s wife. 

Martha leaves at the end of this episode, which is emotional and poignant, and the next one sees the Doctor and Donna at an upper-class lunch party in the 1920s. One of the guests is Agatha Christie, who at the time has only written a handful of novels, although they’re becoming well-known. It’s an amusing episode, peppered with references to Christie’s novel titles, and - in theory - explains a mystery that has puzzled her fans for decades.

‘Silence in the library’ starts another two-parter, entirely set in a planet-sized library in the 51st century. It’s a bit spooky, and we thought very well done. This is the episode where the Doctor first meets River Song, whose time-line apparently runs in the opposite direction from his. We knew, from having seen this and subsequent series before, who she was; but the story behind her involvement with the Doctor still feels rather bewildering. 

‘Midnight’ is an episode where Donna is lying on a sun-lounger in a luxury hotel, and plays almost no part in the story. The doctor, and a handful of other people, are en route to a visitor attraction known as a sapphire fountain. They’re a mixed bunch of people, some of whom have done the trip before. So nobody expects the shuttle to stop, and a rather scary knocking to begin… 

‘Midnight’ is what became unofficially known as a ‘companion-lite’ episode, since it mainly featured the Doctor without Donna. The following episode, ‘Turn left’, is a ‘doctor-lite’ episode, almost all about Donna. The Doctor appears only briefly at the beginning and the end. 

'Turn left' is something of a surreal episode - even more so than most of this series! - beginning with a palm reader who offers Donna a free reading. She asks for some history about why she started travelling with him, and poses a question: what would have happened if she had turned right, rather than left, on a day when she was going to a job interview. 

The story then has brief cameos of many of the earlier episodes in the series, showing what would have happened if Donna had not rescued the Doctor in ‘The Runaway Bride’, at the start of Series 3. I quite enjoyed the reminders of some of the stories, and the alternative reality that would have taken place if the Doctor had not been around to avert multiple crises. And if that isn’t bizarre enough, the Doctor’s earlier companion Rose, who is in a different universe, keeps appearing to talk to Donna… 

And then there’s a dramatic, exciting two-part ending to this series, episodes 12 and 13. We watched them one after the other, ensuring we had plenty of time. The Doctor and Donna arrive on Earth on what seems like a normal day… and then, a few minutes later, the entire planet has vanished. I’m not sure I entirely followed the plot, but essentially a load of planets from around the universe have been hijacked. This is part of a domination strategy by some of the worst of the classic alien enemies.

I found some of it quite scary, with a bit too much fast action. But what I did like is that these episodes draw together several people from the Doctor’s past. Rose has crossed back from the dimension where she had ended up, Martha is involved too. Jack Harkness gets in on the act, as does Sarah Jane and her teenage son. And there are appearances from Rose’s mother Jackie and her former boyfriend Mickey. And even the former prime minister Harriet Jones has a small but very significant role.

There are a good number of extras in our DVD box set, and we watched most of the ones that shared a DVD with the episodes. They give some good insights into the making of the series, and we particularly enjoyed the one that gave an overview of the first four series of the ‘new’ Doctor Who, and it’s popular revival.

All in all, I liked this series very much. But then David Tennant is unquestionably my favourite of the Doctors, and I very much enjoyed Catherine Tate’s portrayal of Donna, with an entirely platonic relationship. I like, too, the fact that the Doctor develops as a character; he's not just a super-hero who arrives on his tardis to fix everything. He makes mistakes, he has regrets, and he has a sense of humour. There's a lot of poignancy in this series, and a lot of happiness too.

Definitely recommended.  Rated 12, probably due to some of the violence and tense situations. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Good Omens (David Tennant, Michael Sheen)

(Amazon UK link)

Although it’s twenty-five years since I last read the excellent book ‘Good Omens’ by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, I remembered that I liked it very much. So when I saw that it had been serialised on film, with David Tennant as one of the main characters, I knew I wanted to see it. It took a while for it to be available, but eventually I put it on my wishlist. I was given a blu-ray edition for Christmas, and we have been watching one episode per week over the past six weeks. 

I was pleased to see that, at least as far as I recall, it was remarkably true to the original. It opens in the garden of Eden; the snake tempts Eve, and she and Adam are cast out. Then we see the demon Crawley (David Tennant) discussing things seriously with the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen). Aziraphale has given away his flaming sword, which he uses to guard the garden, and both are wondering if they did the right thing…

The main action moves to the end of the 20th century, and the birth of a baby. Crawley is told to deliver the antichrist to a particular couple; but things go awry, as in the book. Crawley and Aziraphale keep a watch on a normal human boy who mostly ignores them. The actual antichrist is given to another couple who bring him up as an ordinary child. Adam is a likeable boy, on the whole, with leadership skills and three close friends. 

Subsequent episodes backtrack somewhat through history, showing Crawley and Aziraphale meeting each other at significant points - Noah taking the animals on board the ark, for instance. I did feel slightly uncomfortable at a scene portraying Jesus’ crucifixion, which I don’t feel should be treated with even mild humour. But then Crawley asks what he did, to deserve such a terrible punishment, and Aziraphale responds, ‘He told people to be kind to each other’. As a theological statement it’s surprisingly profound. 

There’s another thread involving a woman called Anathema who is the descendant of a witch called Agnes Nutter. Agnes was burned at the stake, but left behind a book of accurate prophecies. These lead to several amusing moments, as things written hundreds of years earlier are oddly appropriate to the modern era.

Over the centuries, Crowley and Aziraphale adapt more and more to human life. And in the era when Adam is growing up in the countryside, Aziraphale owns an antiquarian bookshop. Crowley is more interested in classic cars, which he drives at a breathtaking speed. And while they profess loathing for each other, it’s clear that they have a sort of unwilling friendship.

Everything is moving towards Armageddon, so we also see the horsemen of the apocalypse preparing to ride… and every so often there are placards announcing how near we are to the end of the world…

It’s all very much reminiscent of the book; the only parts I didn’t recall were some forays that Aziraphale makes into the heavenly realms, where other angels are portrayed as not particularly nice characters. I thought that was a bit of a strange touch. Evidently I need to read the book again soon. 

The acting is excellent, and the production very well done with great use of special effects alongside believable (in context) people. When I read the book I found the storylines, running alongside each other, a tad confusing at times. In this film version it all works well and makes more sense. Having said that, I would probably have found it somewhat bewildering if I wasn’t already familiar with the story. 

We have been watching Doctor Who series 4 with David Tennant in the title role over the same period, and I wondered if I would sometimes find the overlap disturbing. But he’s such a good actor that I mostly forgot that he was anyone other than the demon Crawley, adapting to human life. I don’t think I’d seen Michael Sheen in a production before, but he was also excellent as the slightly nervous, uncertain angel who really wanted to do the right thing, and to be left alone with his books.

The rating is 12, which is about right, in my opinion. There are a few potentially disturbing scenes, and a handful of instances of bad language. There are innuendoes, too, and a couple of scenes showing a couple in bed together, though covered with sheets and just talking. The entire theme isn't really appropriate for younger children anyway. 

I know a second series was made of ‘Good Omens’, though it doesn’t seem to be available on DVD or blu-ray. But I don’t know that I want to see it. This first series covers the events in the book, and seems to me to be complete in itself without the need for anything else. 

However, I would recommend this original (first) series highly. If you do buy it, make sure it's in English if that's your preferred language, or that it has English options. Our set is an Italian one, but has the option of English too. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Princess Diaries (Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched the 2001 film  ‘The Princess Diaries’ back in 2009, and liked it very much. It’s a film for the whole family, made by Disney, so it’s quite light-hearted. We wanted something light, so thought it was time for a re-watch. 

Anne Hathaway stars as the awkward teenager Mia Thermopolis. Apparently this was the first film that shot the actress to stardom, although she was only about eighteen when it was made. She makes an excellent fifteen-year-old who has wild, frizzy hair and doesn’t really fit in with her classmates. Her mother (Caroline Goodall) is a bohemian artist who makes very strange creations, and they live in a converted fire station. 

Mia does have a good friend, the equally awkward and odd-looking Lily (Heather Matarazzo). Neither of them particularly enjoys school, and Mia particularly dislikes public speaking, and is very bad at team sports. She’s quite a klutz, too; but she mostly ignores teasing and rudeness from her peers.

In a move reminiscent of both Cinderella and Harry Potter, Mia receives an unexpected summons to tea from her grandmother. She knows that her late father’s mother lives in a small European nation called Genovia, but she has never met her. She doesn’t much want to meet her, but her mother persuades her to go. And when Mia arrives at the largest, poshest house she has ever been in she is given information so startling that she doesn’t really take it in at first. 

Julie Andrews is perfect for her role as Mia’s Genovian grandmother Clarisse, living a life about as far removed as possible from the one Mia has always known. There’s a lot of tension at first, as Clarisse and her employees try to instil some deportment and table manners into Mia, rather to her disgust. I particularly appreciated her friendship and rapport with the man who becomes her chauffeur for a while, known as Joe (Hector Elizondo). 

It’s extremely well done. Anne Hathaway is excellent as Mia, even if her inevitable transformation seems a bit over-dramatic to be believable. But she manages both sides of her appearance with style. There’s some low-key humour in the film, partly involved in Mia’s mother’s bizarre art, but there are also some quite poignant and moving moments. 

It’s a teenage film primarily, so there is some love interest and a fair amount of kissing (though nothing more). And there’s some loud music and dancing, and much that shows the shallowness of many high school students. At the same time, there are some difficult choices that have to be made. Popularity or loyalty? Safety or adventure? Friendship or romance? 

I loved the chemistry between Mia and her mother, and also between Mia and her grandmother. And I thought the pace was perfect. I was totally engrossed, and surprised to learn that the film is almost two hours long. It felt like a much shorter movie. 

Our DVD has some extras; we watched a documentary about the way the cast and crew had a lot of fun together as well as working hard, and some of the reasons for the cast choices. We also watched some interesting deleted scenes, introduced and explained by the director, Garry Marshall. 

Definitely recommended for older children, teens, or adults like us who like slightly schmaltzy, clean and light-hearted films with great acting and a positive ending.

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews