Review: Avoid the obnoxious 'Little Fockers'

Film: Little Fockers (A)
Cast: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, Jessica Alba, Teri Polo
Director: Paul Weitz
Rating: *1/2

A troubled Frank Byrnes (De Niro), father of  Pamela Focker (Polo), appoints bumbling son-in-law — now the father of five-year-old twins Henry and Samantha — Gaylord ‘Greg’ Focker (Stiller) as the ‘Godfocker’ — a patriarch who is supposed to maintain and guide the family through all times.

Worried ever since the first-in-line for that position Dr Bob cheated on his other daughter and lost his trust, Byrnes's suspicions are aroused again when he learns of a lady in Greg’s life — the frisky Andi Garcia (Alba), a medical representative.

When over-the-top hipster who can do no wrong Kevin Rawley (Wilson) reappears in Greg and Pam’s lives, Frank, who grows weary of Greg’s endless bloopers, thinks that he may not have made such a wise choice after all.

Can Greg rise to the occasion and prove that he has what it takes to meet his ex-CIA operative father-in-law’s expectations?

Little Fockers hits heavily with the depraved slapstick but doesn’t deliver on the laughs. The awkward Stiller, the hawk-like De Niro, and Dustin Hoffmann or Barbra Streisand who appear as his parents don’t do much for the humour, which includes vomiting and erections. The usually brilliant Harvey Keitel is wasted.

Watching the film's myriad cringe-inducing sequences with family or friends may prove awkward beyond words and, with there being no fathomable reason why one would watch it by oneself, this movie can be avoided all together.