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. 

Meet the Fockers (Ben Stiller)

(Amazon UK link)

I had heard of the 2004 film ‘Meet the Fockers’ several times in the past couple of decades. But for some reason I had not thought to acquire it. Perhaps the title was off-putting - I’m not sure. However, when I saw it inexpensively in a local thrift store a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be interesting to see. If we didn’t like it, I thought, we could always donate it back.

It opens with a hospital scene. Greg (Ben Stiller) is a nurse assisting at a birth. He can’t get a doctor, so delivers the baby himself. We then see him at home, and his fiancée Pam (Teri Polo). They are preparing to go on a visit which evidently allows his parents to meet hers, so they can get to know each other before the wedding. Greg is clearly rather concerned about this. 

I had not realised until a few minutes ago that this film is in fact a sequel to another film, ‘Meet the parents’, in which Greg and Pam meet each other’s parents for the first time. I think that could be interesting to watch, so I will look out for it. But it isn’t necessary to have seen it first. ‘Meet the Fockers’ stands alone and doesn’t feel as if anything is missing. 

Pam’s parents Jack (Robert de Niro) and Dina (Blythe Danner) are quite traditional in outlook. Jack used to work for the CIA, but doesn’t want Greg’s parents to know. And he’s acquired a huge luxurious motorhome in which the four of them are planning to drive to Greg’s parents’ home. Plus their cat, who has been taught to use (and even flush) the toilet.

And then there’s Little Jack, a total cutie who must be around a year old. He is played by the identical twins Spencer and Bradley Pickren, and he, to my mind, is one of the best characters in the film. He is competent in baby sign language, but until half-way through the film has not said a single word. However he toddles around like a child of fifteen months or so. I guess his age doesn’t much matter. He is Jack and Dina’s grandson, and they’re looking after him while their other daughter is away. Jack is trying to teach him new signs, and also introduce the so-called ‘Ferber method’ of sleep-training. 

Jack is also highly competitive in everything he does. Greg’s parents, by contrast, are relaxed, bohemian and very loving. They never expected Greg to be perfect, but honoured him in every achievement, no matter how minor. This goes a bit overboard and Greg finds it embarrassing, but I liked his parents very much Dustin Hoffman is wonderful as his father Bernie, and Barbra Streisand also excellent as his mother Roz. Greg has told his future in-laws that Roz is a doctor, but not that she works as a sex therapist..

The contrast of the two sets of parents is very cleverly done; perhaps it’s an advantage of not having seen the earlier film in that I had no idea what to expect. There are some very amusing scenes, some of them involving Little Jack, some exploring the contrast between Pam’s rather uptight parents and Greg’s very huggy, talkative and relaxed parents. 

The pace is perfect; the film is nearly two hours long but I don’t think I looked at the clock even once. It didn’t feel long at all. There’s a lot of humour and also some interesting insights into different relationships. There’s some great choreography and scenes that could almost be considered slapstick, but they are extremely well done. I didn’t much like Bernie and Roz’s small and annoying dog that tries to ‘hump’ everything it sees, but other than that I thought all the characters were well portrayed, believable, and - at least deep down - very likeable. 

It’s perhaps a bit predictable, but that doesn’t matter too much in this ‘rom-com’ film which really does manage to combine romance with some very amusing scenes. 

Rated 12A in the UK, and PG-13 in the US, which I think is about right. There’s no real violence, other than a couple of incidents that lead to a nose bleed, and there’s very little bad language, none of it ‘strong’, as far as I can recall, although of course Greg’s family’s surname does sound similar to a ‘strong’ word. But although there’s no real nudity or anything explicit, there’s a lot of talk about sexuality, and plenty of innuendoes and discussion of people’s intimate lives. So it’s not a film I would show to children, or even younger teens.

But for adults who want something light-hearted and amusing, without anything too serious, I would recommend this. 

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Finding Neverland (Johnny Depp)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted to watch something that was about an hour and a half long, which we hadn’t seen for a while. ‘Finding Neverland’ was in the to-watch drawer, where it’s been for a couple of years. We hadn’t seen it since 2008, and had almost entirely forgotten it. I knew it was about the writing of the classic ‘Peter Pan’, but didn’t recall anything about the story.

While there are, inevitably, some deviations from the true story, the gist of it is as it happened. JM Barrie (brilliantly portrayed by Johnny Depp, although apparently JM Barrie was considerably shorter) is not having much success with his plays. He goes for a walk in the park, and comes across a young family with their mother. Apparently in real life he met just the oldest two sons; in the film he meets all four sons, and their mother Sylvia (Kate Winslett).

Barrie had an emotionally stunted childhood, after his older brother was killed in an accident; this comes through in the film, as does his feeling of never having grown up. He likes to entertain the children, and becomes very fond of them in a paternal kind of way. In the actual story, Sylvia’s husband was still alive; in the film, she has recently been widowed and is struggling to cope with four very lively children.

I felt quite sorry for Barrie's wife Mary (Radha Mitchell) who wants him to spend more time with her. She supports him in his writing and looks after him, but he is rarely home, and doesn’t seem to have much in common with her. So it’s no surprise that she becomes friendly with another man, as her husband becomes friendlier (in an entirely innocent way) with Sylvia and her sons.

There’s a nice mix of reality and fantasy; the boys play all kinds of imaginary games, with pirates, native Americans, and sharks; as he watches - and often joins in - Barrie gets ideas for a new, different play featuring children and a boy who never grows up. He names him after one of the boys, Peter, but Peter Pan is really a mixture of all the boys.

Dustin Hoffman deserves an enthusiastic mention as Barrie’s sponsor and producer Charles. The two have a close friendship, and there’s some wry humour in their interchanges. Hoffman’s expressions and reactions are excellent; very realistic and with perfect timing. And while all four of the boys are good, Freddie Highmore as Peter is superb. Apparently he so impressed the cast, and Johnny Depp in particular, that Depp recommended him for ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ which was made a year later.

Johnny Depp is believable as Barry; both he and Kate Winslet show their versatility in this, a rather different kind of film for both of them. Their chemistry, in a mostly platonic way, is good, and the sad scenes towards the end brought a tear to my eye more than once.

With this all-star cast, and a great script, it’s not surprising that we were gripped from the start, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing this film again. Even knowing that Peter Pan would become a classic, it was tense waiting for the first night, not knowing how the audience would react.

The rating is PG, which reflects the lack of violence, intimacy and bad language; there are one or two minor words that are barely noticeable, and a broken arm is the worst of the violence. However, being PG rather than U acknowledges the sad, potentially traumatic scene towards the end. The film is unlikely to appeal to young children anyway; I’m not sure I would want to show it to a sensitive 12-year-old, although the subject matter would be of interest to anyone who has enjoyed the book or film of ‘Peter Pan’.

With that caveat, I would recommend this very highly.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews