Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
Ben Stiller stars as a prospective bridegroom who meets his
fiancée's parents and everything that can go wrong does. Also with Robert De Niro, Nicole
DeHuff, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Jon Abrahams, James Rebhorn, Phyllis George and Owen
Wilson. [1:48]
SEX/NUDITY 3 - Several women are shown in bikinis and a man is seen in a
micro-Speedo. A woman wears a clingy nightgown. Several kisses, a couple passionate; one
kiss leads to a woman caressing a man's leg and another shows a man caressing a woman
under her sweater. Sexual conversations and references to pornographic videos, premarital
sex and S&M (in a
suitcase we see assorted
leather paraphernalia and a
whip). A hidden camera takes a shot up a woman's skirt. A magazine for mothers
depicts a woman using breast pumps. A strange discussion about milking a cat, including
hand gestures and references to nipples and teats.
VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - Some slapstick physical comedy which leads to property
damage and some injuries. A woman is beaned by a volleyball and ends up bleeding; we see
her swollen eye later. A man hangs from a rooftop while trying to retrieve a cat which
leads to a sparking power line and a fire. A man removes a catheter from a hospital
patient; we see the patient's pained reaction. An urn containing the ashes of the mother
of one of the characters is smashed, the ashes fly and a cat walks through them. There's a
scene where a man is verbally threatened. A man and woman struggle over a suitcase. A man
is carried kicking and hollering off an airplane. A group of people is sprayed by a
truck's tires kicking up cesspool waste. Reckless driving. A cat is shown using a toilet;
we hear the tinkle. A baby spits up on a man's shoulder.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 6 - One F-word, several scatological terms, several anatomical
references, a few sexual references, a few profane insults, several religious profanities
and some religious exclamations. There are also references to a man's name being Gaylord
Focker and a woman's name being Pamela Martha Focker. They are repeatedly pronounced so
that they sound obscene. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Marriage, love, trust, secrets, family, first
impressions, drug use, expectations, fathers, death of a parent, premarital sex, cat
people vs. dog people, Christianity and Judaism.
MESSAGE - Trust is a two-way street. Fathers can have extreme expectations;
they need to allow their children to make decisions for themselves.
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
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