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Little Fockers

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Little Fockers
Theatrical release Poster
Directed byPaul Weitz
Written by
Based onCharacters
by Greg Glienna
Mary Ruth Clarke
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Edited by
Music byStephen Trask
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release date
  • December 22, 2010 (2010-12-22) (United States)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100 million
Box office$310.7 million[1]

Little Fockers (known as Meet the Parents: Little Fockers in the United Kingdom and Southeast Asia) is a 2010 American romantic 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 panned by critics.

Plot

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Five years after the events of the previous film, Greg Focker and his wife Pam are preparing to celebrate the fifth birthday of their twins Samantha and Henry. However, things seem to go awry for Greg when his in-laws, Jack and Dina Byrnes, visit them, and Jack announces he is looking for his successor as the head of the Byrnes family.

Recently, Jack has been diagnosed with a heart condition and has become embittered by his daughter Debbie's divorce from her husband Bob — their marriage was the social event of 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, but he decides to pass the role to Greg, naming him "The Godfocker".

Despite Greg reluctantly accepting the role, Jack remains skeptical and begins to suspect Greg of infidelity when he sees him with drug representative Andi Garcia, who openly flirts with him. The presence of Sustengo, an erectile dysfunction drug that Greg promotes as a side job, also prompts Jack to think he is no longer sexually attracted to Pam. 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, and he tells him of Jack's original intention to name him "The Bobfather" as his successor. His relief and happiness at leaving Jack's family make Greg slightly uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Jack tries to convince Pam to consider divorcing Greg and renewing her relationship with her ex-fiancé Kevin Rawley, whom Jack thinks is more financially and personally suitable for her.

Eventually, following a confrontation with Jack at a clinic, Greg escapes to his and Pam's unfinished new house, where Andi shows up. She tries to cheer him up with Chinese food and wine but drinks too much and makes an extremely aggressive sexual advance on Greg after taking Sustengo.

Jack, looking for Greg 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 Greg is trying to rebuff Andi's advances. Disgusted, Jack leaves and tells Dina and Pam he could not find him.

Greg's parents, Bernie and Roz, rejoin the family the next day at the twins' birthday party. Enraged at Greg's apparent infidelity, Jack engages him in a physical fight, despite Greg insisting that he was rejecting Andi. 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 Greg after observing his carotid artery remaining stable while Greg is 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 celebrate the holidays with them in their new house. Greg's parents, being Jewish, give Jack a kippah as a present, informing him that they traced his family roots and discovered that he is part Jewish.

Bernie then informs Greg and Pam that he and Roz have sold their Miami home and are moving to Chicago, only two houses away from theirs. Jack and Dina decide that 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.

In the closing credits, Jack views YouTube videos of Greg publicly mocking him during a speech promoting Sustengo.

Cast

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Production

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Production on Little Fockers began July 2009.[2][3]

Writer John Hamburg stated that 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".[4]

Outside the United States, it is the first film in the series to be released by Paramount Pictures, whose 2006 acquisition of the DreamWorks back-catalog included co-ownership of and sequel rights to the Meet the Parents franchise. DreamWorks remains a copyright co-holder, as "DW Studios", with Universal Pictures.[5]

On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Dustin Hoffman would be reprising his role as Greg's father, Bernie Focker.[6] The studio failed to reach salary terms with Hoffman until principal photography had wrapped. As a result, his role in the film is significantly smaller than that in the previous entry.[citation needed]

Release

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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 only because it was 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.[7]

The first trailer was released June 24, 2010, preceding showings of Grown Ups and Dinner for Schmucks. A second trailer, released November 10, 2010, was attached to Morning Glory, Unstoppable and Skyline. The film was released in the UK and US on December 22, 2010.

Critical reception

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On Rotten Tomatoes, Little Fockers has an approval rating of 9%, based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 3.7/10. 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."[8] On Metacritic, the film scored 27 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on a scale of A+ to F.[10][full citation needed] On each of the three websites, it is Streisand's lowest-rated film.

Empire magazine gave the film two stars out of five. Its conclusion: "There are inevitably moments when Hoffman or Wilson get a laugh, but on the whole, it’s the same again, but weaker and with fewer good jokes."[11]

Box office performance

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Little Fockers failed to match the opening-weekend gross of its predecessor, Meet the Fockers. It opened with $30.8 million during its opening weekend on approximately 5,000 screens at 3,536 locations across US and Canada.[12] Overall, its five-day opening generated a total of $48.3 million.[13] By comparison, Meet the Fockers made $46.1 million during 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 it the lowest-grossing film in the trilogy.[14]

Accolades

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Year Award Category Work Result
2010 Razzie Awards Worst Supporting Actress Jessica Alba Won
Barbra Streisand Nominated
Worst Screenplay John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey Nominated

Home media

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Little Fockers was released on DVD and Blu-ray April 5, 2011.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Little Fockers (2010)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  2. ^ Thomson, Katherine (March 25, 2009). "'Little Fockers' A Go: Report". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  3. ^ Buckman, Erik (April 7, 2009). "Those 'Little Fockers' find their director". Reel Loop. Archived from the original on March 8, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  4. ^ Utichi, Joe; Tilly, Chris (June 10, 2009). "Little Fockers Exclusive". IGN. Archived from the original on June 13, 2009. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  5. ^ Meet the Parents: Little Fockers UK site, with "DW Studios" mentioned in copyright line
  6. ^ Finke, Nikki (August 24, 2010). "'Little Fockers' Brings Back Dustin Hoffman". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
  7. ^ Stewart, Andrew (January 28, 2010). "Waiting for 'Little Fockers'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  8. ^ "Little Fockers (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  9. ^ "Little Fockers Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2020-01-05. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  10. ^ "Cinemascore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved 2018-04-16.
  11. ^ Newman, Kim. "Meet The Parents: Little Fockers (12A)". Empire. Bauer Consumer Media. Archived from the original on 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  12. ^ "'Little Fockers' tops holiday box office". 28 December 2010. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  13. ^ "'Little Fockers' Wins Box Office; 'Gulliver's Travels' Disappoints". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 December 2010.
  14. ^ "Little Fockers". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on 2011-10-16. Retrieved 2011-04-09.
  15. ^ McCutcheon, David (February 16, 2011). "Little Fockers Terrorize DVD & BD". IGN. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  1. ^ Uncredited, produced under DW Studios, LLC.
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