Intermission: Comedy parallels Woody Allen films, Green Acres

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|bold_on|"Meet the Parents"|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Directed by: Jay Roach|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Starring: Robert DeNiro, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo|bold_on||ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|Rated: PG-13|ret||ret||tab|

Many comparisons have already been made between Jay Roach's new comedy, "Meet the Parents," and the films of Woody Allen or the recent comedy, "There's Something About Mary." I can see it. Allen's penchant for neurotic Jewish men trapped in a WASP world is certainly in evidence and "Mary" star Ben Stiller plays essentially the same character here. But no one has mentioned the real predecessor to this film, the Paul Henning TV comedy "Green Acres." |ret||ret||tab|

For those who don't quite remember, "Green Acres" featured Oliver Wendell Douglas, a successful New York City lawyer, who had always dreamed of being a farmer. He and his not-too-happy-about-it wife move to the town of Hooterville and Mr. Douglas soon finds that everyone his wife, his hired hand, the county agent, all of his neighbors seem to be working in concert against him. In an insane world, a sane man will surely appear to be insane.|ret||ret||tab|

One thing that Douglas didn't have to contend with, though, was Robert DeNiro. DeNiro will forever be remembered as the psychotic cabbie Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver," and the numerous other heavies he's portrayed for Martin Scorsese, but he's also a gifted comic actor.|ret||ret||tab|

With "Meet the Parents," DeNiro hits a high-water comedic mark as Jack Byrnes, a retired rare flower dealer (not his real job we soon find) and father of Pam, the woman Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is planning on marrying. |ret||ret||tab|

But first, Greg has to live through a weekend with the family and their friends. This turns out to be not nearly as easy as one might think.|ret||ret||tab|

Things begin badly, and soon get worse. Jack has a beloved family cat and Pam informs everyone that Greg hates cats. An early scene has Greg saying grace "I'm sure Jews bless their food, too," pipes in Mom a prayer that soon descends into quoting lyrics from the musical "Godspell." During dinner Greg tells a story about how he once milked a cat and manages to wreak havoc, with the help of Mr. Jinks the family feline, on the ashes of Jack's late mother.|ret||ret||tab|

Then there's the lie detector test, the hidden cameras and the family's "circle of trust." Greg's chosen occupation of nursing and his unfortunate-sounding last name don't help much either.|ret||ret||tab|

It's not just dad who puts Greg (or Focker as he most often calls him) on the spot. Pam's sister is getting married and her fianc and his well-to-do parents are in town. |ret||ret||tab|

All of this makes for some uneasy, and hilarious, situations and director Roach (of "Austin Powers" fame) delivers his most mature work to date. "Mature" seems like a strange way to describe a film in which a cat gets spray painted, a house nearly burns down, a septic tank oozes in the backyard where a wedding is about to take place and a luggage mix-up finds Greg with a suitcase full of bondage gear instead of the engagement ring he's brought along for Pam.|ret||ret||tab|

The humor here ranges from dry, psychological satire to out and out slapstick and Roach, with able help from his gifted cast, pulls the whole thing off remarkably well. |ret||ret||tab|

The last act gets a bit serious for a while there had to be some sort of dramatic resolution but the film soon goes back to the laughs. |ret||ret||tab|

"Meet the Parents" is a funny film and a nice change of pace from some of the rather raunch-ridden comedies that have come to fore of late.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)[[In-content Ad]]