Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents. 2001 Universal Pictures & Dreamworks Pictures.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson
Music: Randy Newman
Director: Jay Roach
Available at Amazon: Widescreen special edition, or in a two-fer with Meet the Fockers.

Chicago male nurse Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Stiller) wants to propose to his girlfriend Pam Byrnes (Polo), who is a schoolteacher, and her pupils try to trigger an engagement early in the movie when they see Greg and Pam embrace on a sidewalk outside of the building. He has to postpone his plans after being informed that Pam's sister Debbie (DeHuff) is getting married. Greg and Pam are invited to stay with her family on Long Island, New York, and Greg decides to propose to Pam in front of her family.

At the Byrnes' home, Greg meets Pam's dad Jack (De Niro), her mother Dina (Danner), and their beloved cat Mr. Jinx, who doesn't have a Pixie and Dixie to play with. Jack takes a disliking to Greg, which only increases over time, due to Jack's distaste at Greg's career choice, or anything else that he sees as a difference between Greg and the Byrnes. It also doesn't help that Greg nearly wrecks everything (an urn, Debbie's face, the backyard thanks to an overflowing toliet) in his attempts to win over the family. After Greg loses Mr. Jinx, and tries replacing him with a different cat that kinda sorta looks like him, he is asked to leave. While he's having issues at the airport, Jack is proven wrong about Greg's intentions, which prompts him to change his mind about him marrying Pam. They get engaged, and Jack and Dina decide the only thing left to do is meet Greg's parents, which as everyone knows, is another movie for another time.

Recommended.