Movie Title: Meet the Parents
Writer: Jim Herzfeld, John Hamburg
Starring: Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, James Rebhorn, Jon Abrahams, Owen Wilson
Review: A young man's first visit to his girlfriend's parents' house turns out to be more nightmarish than he could ever have imagined. Hoping to use the weekend as a chance to propose to his girlfriend, he only succeeds in incurring the wrath of his prospective father-in-law and almost destroys their home in the process. Meet the Parents benefits from a star-studded cast. The contentious relationship between Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his potential father-in-law, Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), is hysterical as Greg can't help but get in his own way. De Niro kills every scene he's in as he hilariously breaks down Stiller in the same way you would expect from an overprotective father-in-law. Despite being a laugh-out-loud comedy, the movie also does a great job instilling key values such as family and honesty as all that the two main adversaries really want is for their girlfriend/daughter, Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), to find the happiness that she deserves. This movie perfectly encapsulates the familiar awkward first family encounter that we can all relate to, and it also has a toilet-operating cat (shout out to Mr. Jinx!). If you're a fan of Stiller or De Niro, you'll be sure to love this film!
Fun Fact: At one time, Jim Carrey was slated to star as the lead and even contributed jokes to the screenplay, such as the main character being named, "Focker". Christopher Walken was the second choice to play Jack Byrnes.