USA: ROBERT DE NIRO'S LATEST COMEDY "MEET THE PARENTS" GOES STRAIGHT TO NUMBER ONE AT THE US BOX OFFICE

Record ID: 390204

  • Title: USA: ROBERT DE NIRO'S LATEST COMEDY "MEET THE PARENTS" GOES STRAIGHT TO NUMBER ONE AT THE US BOX OFFICE
  • Date: 23rd September 2000
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (SEPTEMBER 23, 2000) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) SV (English) BEN STILLER SAYING: "I did get engaged while we were shooting this movie and I did have to meet my in-laws and I did have to ask permission to ... I did, I wanted to ask permission from my father in-law, so I met him while this was happening. So there was a strange parallel going on there. It
  • Embargoed: 8th October 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, US & VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVADW0KVFK50LWO07APTZCXS3QHP
  • Story Text: Robert De Niro - comedian? While the veteran actor will forever be linked to acclaimed tough-guy dramas like "Heat,"
    "Raging Bull" and of course "The Godfather." it's his comedies that really bring in the moviegoers. In his latest, "Meet the Parents," De Niro stars as the future father-in-law from hell - and it's gone straight to number one at the US box office.
    He played the Godfather, tough as nails and scaring people, lots of people.
    Now he's the Father-In-Law, tough as nails and making people laugh, lots of people.
    Tough guy Robert De Niro is at it again in his latest turn as comedian in his new film ``Meet the Parents,'' which has opened in the US.
    Whether he's 'mobbed up' in ``The Godfather Part II'' (1974), ''The Untouchables'' (1987) or
    "Casino'' (1995), psychotic in ''Taxi Driver'' (1976), bloodied in ``Raging Bull'' (1980), or stalking people in ``Cape Fear'' (1991), De Niro's best known for playing bad guys.
    But now at 57, he seems to have mellowed.
    In recent films like 1997's ``Wag the Dog'' or 1999's ''Analyze This,'' the two-time Oscar winner has shown a keen sense of comic timing - mostly because audiences expected him to play a mean SOB.
    So when he cracked a joke, it was funny.
    "I do think people expect very intense performances from Robert De Niro and I tried to play on that,'' said Jay Roach, the film's director, who has also been behind the camera for both "Austin Powers" spy spoofs.
    De Niro plays Jack Byrnes, a retired horticulturist and all-around nice guy living an easy-going life in the suburbs when his daughter, Pam (Teri Polo) brings her prospective fiancee Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) home to meet her parents.
    The action revolves around 72 hours of mayhem when Stiller's nerdy male nurse character makes all the wrong moves around his future in-laws.
    Focker -- and, yes, there is many a deliberate joke in that name -- is nervous in the suburbs, and his trip to the Byrnes' home degenerates into a series of well-meaning, but stupid-looking mishaps that make him appear unfit to marry Jack's first-born daughter.
    Playing some of the scenes was somewhat uncomfortable for Stiller, who happened to get engaged during filming of the movie.
    "I did have to meet my in-laws and I did have to ask permission to ... I did, I wanted to ask permission from my father in-law, so I met him while this was happening.
    "So there was a strange parallel going on there. It didn't make it any easier really, on either side," he said.
    When Greg learns that Jack's seemingly nice guy image masks a former career as a CIA operative, his case of nerves turns worse and his quest to wed Pam even funnier. Also starring in the film are Teri Polo as Stiller's fiancee and Blythe Danner as De Niro's wife.
    Danner, who was able to draw on her real-life role as a mother, was asked what happens when her daughter, Gwyneth Paltrow, brings prospective mates home.
    "I just love it. I keep saying to the kids, bring home more people because we've have this empty nest, we just want everybody. We want the house filled with ... And we've loved everybody, so far it's been great."
    The comedy grossed $29.1 million (usd) for the Friday-to-Sunday period in 2,614 theatres across the United States and Canada. It was released by Universal Pictures.
    The three-day bow sets a new record for De Niro, surpassing the $18.4 million opening of mob comedy "Analyze This" in March 1999.
    That movie ended up with $107 million domestically. It also sets new watermarks for Stiller (surpassing the $19.8 million bow of "The Cable Guy") and for October (surpassing 1998's "Antz" with $17.2 million).
    Roach told Reuters that even in a gritty drama like 1976's Taxi Driver," with its famed "you talkin' to me?"
    scene, De Niro was able to bring great comic timing to the table.
    "I hoped to capitalize on the expectations that he's a killer, he's not what he seems," Roach said.
    He said a sequel was an "open possibility," possibly introducing the parents of Stiller's character into the equation.
    The Father-in-Law II anyone? ---ENDS---
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