I
remember liking Meet the Parents when I saw it in the theater. Ben
Stiller had yet to become omnipresent in motion picture comedy. At the time,
DeNiro was taken more seriously as he had come off of Ronin and Jackie
Brown. Owen Wilson was still a supporting player. Finally, Teri Polo was
rescued from television purgatory, where she’d suffered for 4 years after the
release of the underrated B-actioner The Arrival. And to this day, I
think it’s a nice little comedy.
Alas, the inevitable sequel arrived, and though it made a mint, I don’t think a
copy of the DVD exploding in my hands could make me dislike the franchise more.
But money trumps all, and so we’re looking at the third flick, Meet the
Little Focker, and word that Teri Polo has signed on to reprise her role as
Pam.
I’m actually breathing a huge sigh of relief here because you gotta figure it’s
a long shot that they’d be able to meet Teri Polo’s asking price and find room
in her schedule to make this happen. Somehow they did, and now I expect that
the other, irrelevant cast members will fall in line shortly to redeem this franchise and restore it to its former glory. Or they could just make a lot of money and laugh all the way to the bank. I’m thinking the latter.