Little Fockers

Is it tempting fate to say that the second sequel to the passable 2000 comedy Meet the Parents represents the franchise’s nadir? Although the title refers to the young twins now being raised by Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his wife Pam (Teri Polo), the series still revolves around Greg’s uneasy relationship with father-in-law Jack (Robert De Niro), a dynamic that, after two previous iterations, requires ludicrous screenwriting contortions to stoke. This time, it’s Greg’s awkward relationship with Jessica Alba’s flirty drug rep that makes Jack suspicious. Little Fockers is a lazy, laugh-free exercise comprised of jokes vomited up by its predecessors (Focker sound like fucker) and gags beaten to death years ago in other movies (old guys with four-hour pharma-boners). This franchise needs to be neutered before it can spawn again. –Matt Semansky