Meet the Fockers (2004)

Meet the Fockers made $522.7 million worldwide by running the first movie back, louder, with a Miami tan. Ben Stiller is once again a decent guy squirming under Robert De Niro’s glare, and the squirm has lost its surprise. The new blood is why you’d watch. Dustin Hoffman’s Bernie is a barefoot hugger who treats every room like a family reunion, and Barbra Streisand plays Roz with so much warmth she nearly adopts the audience. Put them across a table from De Niro’s Jack and it’s two different planets sharing one dinner, which is genuinely funny. The trouble is everything else. Jack Byrnes slides from scary dad into cartoon, the RV is a set piece without a punchline, and the toddler gags repeat until they feel like a ringtone. At 115 minutes, the visit overstays. A 4.6 because Hoffman and Streisand are a delight and the script is a rerun with new furniture. $453.92 says the next time both sets of parents end up at your place, you hide in the kitchen pretending to look for napkins.

What works: Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand are warm, loose and genuinely funny, and their clash with De Niro’s uptight Jack gives the sequel its best scenes.

What doesn’t: It repeats the first movie’s beats almost scene for scene, and Jack turns into a cartoon instead of a real threat.

Who it’s for: Fans of Meet the Parents who want one more round of awkward family dinners and don’t mind a rerun.