What does Ben Stiller and Divine have in common?

I was strolling through the community, I saw this movie and I remember I saw it ONCE and it left an impression on me that I endure to this day: my finger is NOT on the pulse of what is considered funny today.  I can't stand Dane Cook.  I don't see Jennifer Aniston as a comedienne like the rest of the world does and I can't stand this movie.  I rarely give negative 5's here on the site, even the loathed Family Guy (hey another example of what is seen as funny) I gave a negative 4 to since it WAS loved by me at once, but THIS.  THIS pushed my limits.

The plot has Greg Focker (Stiller) a male nurse (the idea of which is a gold mine in this movie) and his girlfriend reaching an important point in their relationship where it's time to meet the parents with plans on getting married down the road.  Stillers fiance's parents are a doting and understanding mom (Blythe Danner) who is ready with optimism and her gruff dad (Robert DeNiro) who will let nothing go without scrutny and this puts Stiller under a microscope.  ANYTHING that happens in this movie is Greg's fault.  Gregs attempts to fit in always fail and absolutely NOTHING goes Greg's way. 

The movie has a running joke about NOT flushing a toilet in the guest room Greg is using since it is broken.  DeNiro finds the toilet was in fact flushed and Greg is blamed but Greg puts blame on DeNiro's beloved cat.  EVERYONE makes sure to tell Greg that a cat can't flush a toilet cause it doesn't have opposable thumbs.  Really, thats funny or supposed to make sense?  All I need to picture is the cat standing on two feet on the bowl and putting it's weight on the lever or even climbing up high and landing on the lever as it jumps and flushing it.  Last I checked, I never needed thumbs to flush the toilet, just one finger, it can even be the one I give this movie.

I love a key scene where Greg is playing volleyball in the pool with family members and another couple that are to be wed soon.  Greg misses easy plays and listens to ridicule every time he misses (way to encourage him) and is told to man up.  So he does, he ends up SMASHING the ball into the face of the bride to be and not only can this ruin a wedding, guess what HE EATS MORE GRIEF!!  Greg even grows a brain at one point and tries to smarten up later in the movie to avoid situations that will put him in more harm with her Dad but his IDIOT fiance pushes him into the situations anyway.  Heres an example of what I mean:

Dad:  "I need help pulling out furnature for the wedding party, a friend will be by later to help me."

Finace:  "Oh, but Greg can help you!"

WHO DOES THAT?!?  Greg is in enough hot water in this movie without YOU pushing him in the pot more and more sweetheart!  You even have conversations with him where you can see things aren't going smoothly!

Was I entertained?  No.  I don't think Ben Stiller was funny-probably never.  Robert DeNiro is more awesome then funny-and he isn't that awesome here and this drama that is steamrolling out only made me feel sorry for Ben and that makes me ill.

Did It Fulfill Expectations? After getting this far, I think you can answer that question as far as what I thought.

OKAY, I must admit that the trailer did have me a little interested with everyones favorite new Woody Allen, and Robert DeNiro in a comedy where DeNiro seems to enjoy giving our "hero" a hassle at every turn but I really wanted to see Stiller get some laughs that are NOT at his expense.  I don't remember a single time it did.

This is a very mainstream movie.  The movie got a sequel later on and a third sequel is out for Christmas time this year.

Going into this review, I kept thinking how similar that this movie is to a movie that I absolutely loved: the Coen's A Serious Man.  That movie is NOT billed as a comedy that I know of and some people think it's funny even though it has a similar premise of a nice guy who can't catch a break and suffers the whole film.  I also love the sitcom Married...With Children but even the hero/loser Al in that show is able to get us behind him and enjoy the show since he does get a dig at his oppressors and the rare time he did score a win, you could applaud him.  Meet the Parents has no moments like this.

A negative 5 all the way.  I did like Blythe Danner as the mom and Robert DeNiro is nice of course but that is NOT enough to erase the ill feeling this movie brought me.  I don't remember laughing once or this movie bringing me any joy.  I don't think Ben Stiller is funny but thought the material would at least be good, the way that Theres Something About Mary worked, Stiller isn't funny but the movie was. 

How would you recommend the movie?  A very good question.  How do you REALLY recommend the comedy you don't like?  While I'm at it, I'll tell you a joke that I don't think is funny in the hopes that you think it is.  Ben Stiller fans are the only ones I could recommend this to. 

This is likely going to cause tremors since this movie has legions of fans.  Did the fans just like seeing Stiller and DeNiro?  Do the fans genuinely think this was funny?  I looked at the trailer for the next movie hoping it would iron out the garbage here and it was more of the same (DeNiro asks Greg to hold a baby.  After talking to the baby, it starts crying in Gregs arms and guess what Greg is yelled at "Your scaring him!"  Yeah, cause babies NEVER cry for any reason) - but thats complaining about a sequel that I didn't see and never will.  I need to know why this was popular, seeing a nice guy through too many misunderstandings and looking like a loser as a result.  I hear that it's something people can relate to.  Maybe thats something, but I'd rather relate to something thats actually funny and entertaining.