Mike Myers is initially said to have been offered the role; later discussion explicitly qualifies the conflicting reports.
Steven Soderbergh reportedly tried to develop the remake before leaving for Out of Sight.
Spielberg reportedly considered directing and producing with Jim Carrey and possibly Al Pacino.
Carrey remained involved after Spielberg departed and contributed ideas before leaving; reports of a Mike Myers offer are explicitly uncertain.
Stiller is judged better for awkward dinner-table humor than the more physical version imagined for Carrey.
Naomi Watts reportedly initially had Pam’s role and said producers replaced her because they did not find her sexy enough; that explanation is met with disbelief.
Christopher Walken reportedly was the backup if De Niro declined, inviting a Wedding Crashers comparison.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Original indie film; box office and video; Oscar song; home movies; smoking; De Niro role choice; polygraph; DeHuff; cats; Focker name; set behavior; ratings rule; Litter Kwitter; Polo bankruptcy

In the discussion (18)

Approx. transcript time · 00:24:56Read transcript

The film originated with a low-budget 1992 version by Greg Glienna; Universal’s rights purchase reportedly allowed it to suppress that earlier film, which intermittently reappears online.
Randy Newman’s A Fool in Love received an Original Song Oscar nomination.
A $55 million budget and roughly $330 million gross are reported; it beat Remember the Titans on opening weekend.
The film is reported as the seventh-biggest release of 2000; the sequels earned $522.7 million and $310.7 million respectively.
Video sales reportedly added $200 million in 2001, illustrating the lucrative home-video era.
Polo’s husband’s home movies were reportedly inserted after test audiences disliked Pam, making her more appealing as a romantic partner.
Stiller reportedly was not a smoker and felt uncomfortable smoking beside De Niro, whose screen technique he admired.
Claims that the bomb dialogue was removed from airplane screenings conflict with a recent personal flight viewing that retained it.
De Niro reportedly turned down Any Given Sunday to make this film.
De Niro reportedly suggested the polygraph scene.
Nicole DeHuff, who played Pam’s sister, died at 30 after pneumonia; the diagnosis and sequel timing are discussed with uncertainty.
Two Himalayan cats, Bailey and Misha, played Jinx, with Misha doing most scenes.
Jim Carrey reportedly devised the Focker surname.
De Niro reportedly enjoyed the cat between takes and encouraged more scenes with it.
De Niro reportedly kept his distance from Stiller to sustain their characters’ unease; Stiller later acknowledged he was not especially nice.
The ratings body reportedly required proof of a real Focker surname before permitting it.
The movie reportedly inspired the successful Litter Kwitter cat toilet-training product.
Polo’s 2014 bankruptcy filing is mentioned without an explanation.

Roger Ebert's review

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 00:28:52Read transcript

Ebert awarded three stars and found it funnier than Austin Powers because it did not try too hard.

Picking Nits

Puff cassette; toilet; roof cigarette; rushed engagement; secret proposal; usher; borrowed clothes; painted cat; volleyball injury and positions

In the discussion (12)

Approx. transcript time · 00:32:33Read transcript

Playing Puff the Magic Dragon on cassette during an ordinary drive is strange even for 2000.
Giving a guest a basement room whose toilet cannot be flushed is inhospitable and leaves an obvious practical problem.
Lighting a cigarette while retrieving a cat from an in-law’s roof seems an extreme and unnecessary expression of nicotine dependence.
A wedding only two weeks after the engagement is implausibly fast.
Greg intends to propose after ten months without meeting Pam’s highly involved parents.
Children would not reliably keep the planned proposal secret.
Making Greg an usher immediately after meeting and belittling him is odd.
Greg should buy basic clothes instead of borrowing family underwear; his spending elsewhere shows he can afford it.
The toilet should be repaired or labeled; interpreting it as Jack’s deliberate boyfriend test is speculative.
Painting the substitute cat’s tail is indefensible.
The volleyball victim does not raise her hands, and the quantity of blood seems excessive for the injury later shown.
The much taller Rebhorn should defend the net rather than Stiller.

Recasting Couch

Gwyneth Paltrow; Polo as sister; Brad Pitt; Seth Rogen or Seth Green; Fincher horror version

In the discussion (5)

Approx. transcript time · 01:11:43Read transcript

A Fincher horror version is imagined; Spielberg might introduce parental adultery, but the actual director is considered the right fit.
Gwyneth Paltrow as Pam, with her real mother already playing Dina, is favored; Polo could become the sister.
Brad Pitt as Kevin could exaggerate the ex-boyfriend’s intimidating perfection, while Owen Wilson’s performance remains admired.
Young Seth Rogen is proposed for Pam’s younger brother.
Seth Green is the other younger-brother choice.

What Would Tony Romo’s Director’s Commentary for This Movie Sound Like?

Tony Romo; Scott Hanson; Ryan Ruocco

In the discussion (3)

Approx. transcript time · 01:21:12Read transcript

Tony Romo is proposed, imagining his anticipation of Jinx using the spilled ashes.
Scott Hanson’s RedZone-style narration describes 48 hours of relationship torture.
Ryan Ruocco is briefly proposed with an ashes-related catchphrase.

Probably Unanswerable Questions

SimpliSafe; Jack smoking; Gaylord name; male nursing; further polygraph questions; Christmas setting

In the discussion (6)

Approx. transcript time · 01:43:00Read transcript

Did Jack’s monitoring gadgets inspire SimpliSafe? This is playful speculation.
Would a Vietnam veteran and CIA operative such as Jack really never have smoked?
Why would parents name a child Gaylord Focker? A family-name explanation is speculated about but not confirmed.
Did the movie harm the reputation or appeal of male nursing?
What else did Jack ask during the truncated polygraph session? Politics, partners and drugs are imagined.
Why not make this a Christmas movie? Replacing the rushed wedding with an engagement holiday would enable recurring seasonal viewing.

Best Double Feature

Poster unavailable

Meet the Fockers

In the discussion (1)

Approx. transcript time · 01:47:07Read transcript

Meet the Fockers.

Producer review

Tight, largely timeless comedy

In the discussion (2)

Approx. transcript time · 01:48:02Read transcript

The script is praised as exceptionally tight, with almost continuous jokes and little wasted material.
The movie is considered largely timeless despite the male-nurse jokes and a mild Jewish barb; technology would not fundamentally change its conflicts.