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Little Fockers
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = Little Fockers
| image = Little fockers poster.jpg
| border = yes
| caption = Theatrical release Poster
| director = Paul Weitz
| writer =
| based_on =
| producer =
| starring =
| cinematography = Remi Adefarasin
| editing =
| music = Stephen Trask
| studio =
| distributor =
| released =
| runtime = 98 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $100 million
| gross = $310.7 million
}}
'Little Fockers' (known as 'Meet the Parents: Little Fockers' in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American comedy film and the third and final film in the 'Meet the Parents' film series, serving as a sequel to 'Meet the Parents' (2000) and 'Meet the Fockers' (2004). The film stars Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Jessica Alba, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.
After the commercial success of the first two films in the franchise, both De Niro and Stiller received a remuneration of $20 million for their roles in 'Little Fockers'.
In addition to the original cast, 'Little Fockers' features Jessica Alba, Laura Dern, Kevin Hart, and Harvey Keitel. Although the film was a box office success, grossing over $310 million worldwide, it earned less than its predecessors and was critically panned.
Plot
Five years after the events of the previous film, Gaylord "Greg" Focker is preparing to celebrate his twins Samantha and Henry's fifth birthday party.
Things seem to go awry when Greg's father-in-law Jack Byrnes visits. Recently, he has been diagnosed with a heart condition and become embittered by his daughter Debbie's divorce from her husband Bob (their marriage was the social event in the first film and how he and Greg met), for cheating on her with a nurse. Jack's original plan was to declare Bob his successor as head of the Byrnes family, but he decides to pass the role to Greg, naming him "The Godfocker".
Despite Greg reluctantly accepting the role, Jack resumes his spying on him and begins to suspect him of infidelity when he sees him with drug representative Andi Garcia, who openly flirts with him. This with the presence of Sustengo erection pills in Greg's house prompts Jack to think he is no longer sexually attracted to Pam, his wife. Furthermore, he starts to doubt his ability to provide for his family when he's initially reluctant to send his children to a private school.
During a medical conference promoting Sustengo, Greg meets Bob at a bar, who tells him of Jack's original intention to name him as successor, "The Bobfather". His relief and happiness at leaving Jack's family makes Greg slightly uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Jack speaks to Pam about the possibility of divorcing Greg and renewing her relationship with her ex-fianc, Kevin Rawley.
Eventually, following a row at a clinic, Greg escapes to his and Pam's unfinished new house, where Andi turns up. She tries to cheer him up with Chinese food and wine, but she drinks too much (also taking many erection pills), making an eccentric, extremely aggressive sexual pass on Greg. Jack, looking for him to apologize and bring him home, pulls up to the house and sees through the window what looks like Greg and Andi having sex. Although, he is actually trying to rebuff Andi's advances. Disgusted, Jack leaves, and tells Dina and Pam that he couldn't find him.
Greg's parents, Bernie and Roz, rejoin the family at the twins' birthday party the next day. Enraged at Greg's apparent infidelity, Jack engages him in a physical fight, despite Greg insisting that Andi was drunk and he was rejecting her. The fight ends with Jack having a heart attack and collapsing.
Greg quickly takes charge of the situation, looking after Jack. As paramedics take him away, Jack quietly admits that he believes him after observing his carotid artery remained stable while Greg was proclaiming his innocence. Impressed with his integrity and quick thinking, Jack approves of him to be "The Gregfocker."
Four months later, on Christmas Day, Greg and Pam's parents come to spend Christmas with them in their new house. Greg's parents (being Jewish) give Jack a kippah as a present, informing him that while they were nursing him back to health they traced his family roots and discovered that he is part Jewish (which does not impress Jack).
Bernie informs Greg and Pam that he and Roz have sold their Miami home and are moving to Chicago, only two houses down from theirs. Jack and Dina decide they will move too, because they also want to be close to their grandchildren. Greg and Pam try to wean their respective parents off the idea. During the mid-credits scene, Jack views YouTube videos of Greg publicly mocking Jack during a speech promoting Sustengo.
Cast
* Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes
* Ben Stiller as Greg Focker
* Owen Wilson as Kevin Rawley
* Dustin Hoffman as Bernie Focker
* Barbra Streisand as Roz Focker
* Blythe Danner as Dina Byrnes
* Teri Polo as Pam Focker
* Jessica Alba as Andi Garcia
* Laura Dern as Prudence
* Kevin Hart as Nurse Louis
* Daisy Tahan as Samantha Focker
* Colin Baiocchi as Henry Focker
* Thomas McCarthy as Dr. Bob
* Harvey Keitel as Randy Weir
* Yul Vazquez as Junior
* Olga Fonda as Svetlana
* Rob Huebel as Sleazy Doctor
* John DiMaggio and Jordan Peele as E.M.T.s
* Deepak Chopra as Himself
* Nick Kroll as Young Doctor
Production
Production for 'Little Fockers' began in July 2009.
Writer John Hamburg stated the film would deal with "themes of death and divorce and all these real things that, as we get older, we start to think about, but in a really comical way."
Outside the United States, this is the first film in the series to be released by Paramount Pictures, which acquired the DreamWorks back catalog in 2006 (and owned the studio itself until 2008), including co-ownership in the 'Meet the Parents' franchise. DreamWorks remains as a copyright co-holder with Universal Pictures (as DW Studios).[https://web.archive.org/web/20100827090615/http://www.littlefockersintl.com/intl/uk/ 'Meet the Parents: Little Fockers' UK site], with "DW Studios" mentioned in copyright line
On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Dustin Hoffman would be reprising his role as Greg's father, Bernie Focker. When the movie was in pre-production, the studios couldn't reach an agreement with Hoffman, but agreed on terms to bring him back for the film, though his role was significantly smaller than in the previous film due to the agreement coming after the initial filming. As such, they had to shoot the scenes and edit them to fit his character into the movie.
Release
In January 2010, the release date for the film was pushed back from July 30, 2010, to December 22, 2010, nominally because Universal hoped to benefit from the long Christmas weekend; it was later revealed to be deliberately delayed as such because it was only at the time of the delay announcement that Hoffman elected to reprise his character, and the producers had to adjust the filming schedule to accommodate for the filming of his scenes, keeping the announcement secret until the aforementioned August reveal.
The first trailer was released on June 24, 2010. It was then shown in front of showings of 'Grown Ups' and 'Dinner for Schmucks'. A second trailer was released online November 10, 2010 attached with 'Morning Glory', 'Unstoppable' and 'Skyline'. The film was released in the UK and US on December 22, 2010.
Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 9% based on 148 reviews and an average rating of 3.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "As star-studded as it is heartbreakingly lazy, 'Little Fockers' takes the top-grossing trilogy to embarrassing new lows." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 27 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.On each website, it is Streisand's lowest-rated film. 'Empire' gave two stars out of five, summing up, "there are inevitably moments when Hoffman or Wilson get a laugh, but on the whole, its the same again, but weaker and with fewer good jokes."
Box office performance
'Little Fockers' failed to match the opening-weekend gross of its predecessor, 'Meet the Fockers'. It opened first on its opening weekend on approximately 5,000 screens at 3,536 locations across US and Canada, bringing its five-day opening to $48.3 million. By comparison, 'Meet the Fockers' made $46.1 million on the same weekend in 2004 for a five-day total of $70.5 million. 'Little Fockers' grossed $148.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $162.2 million from other countries around the world, for a worldwide total of $310.7 million, making this the lowest grossing film in the trilogy.Accolades
Home media
'Little Fockers' was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 5, 2011.
References
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