A few years back, Robert DeNiro got on some kind of comedy kick and decided to poke fun at his tough guy image. The results were a couple of Analyze This (and That) flicks and a Ben Stiller vehicle called Meet the Parents. In the latter, DeNiro portrayed Jack Byrnes, a retired CIA interrogator whose intimidating lie-detector methods were now reserved for his daughter's suitors. Stiller played intimidated boyfriend Greg Focker, who after various humiliations, finally earned his way into Jack's "circle of trust." Greg and Pam (Teri Polo) became engaged, and the film became enough of a surprise hit to demand a sequel.
Four years later, Greg and Pam are still engaged (making their engagement longer than most Hollywood marriages), and the time has come for conservative Jack to meet Greg's liberal parents. To provide DeNiro with an equally legendary foil, Dustin Hoffman has been brought in to play Greg's free-spirit father, Bernie. And to make events as uncomfortable as possible for the repressed Jack, Barbra Streisand appears as senior sex therapist, Roz, the mother Focker.
If you found the end of that last sentence hilarious, you'll be right at home with Meet the Fockers, which insists the word "Focker" never stops being funny. The repetitive nature of many of the gags is the movie's greatest weakness. There are really only about eight different jokes in the film, so if you don't laugh at, say dogs humping things, then you won't be laughing at an eighth of the film.
Most of the humor feels decidedly sit-com-ish, with Greg struggling to get both sides of the wedding party to maintain a semblance of decorum, despite their polarized personalities. This allows Stiller to do his usual "being uncomfortable" shtick. Meanwhile, DeNiro and Hoffman interact much like cartoon versions of their characters in Wag the Dog. Hoffman is upbeat and animated, while DeNiro is serious and subdued. The latter's mounting irritation provides more laughs, but not quite as many as there were in the original, probably because the novelty of seeing Don Corleone doing screwball comedy has worn off. It's funny to see a king act like a jester, but if he does it too long, he becomes the jester, and jesters aren't necessarily funny.
If you liked Meet the Parents, you'll probably like Meet the Fockers almost as much. It's got a lot of what made the first one amusing, plus they crammed that funny word in the title.