The In-Laws Movie Review:


A new "odd couple" is born with a new spy-film twist.

Michael Douglas is Stephen Tobias, a rugged deep-cover CIA agent, who focuses more on his work that his life with his son, Mark (Ryan Reynolds) or his now ex-wife, Judy (Candice Bergen).

It turns out that Mark is about to get married to beautiful Melissa (Lindsay Sloane) but has yet to meet Mark's parents. Mark assures her that is a good thing. But Melissa's parents, Jerry (Albert Brooks) and Katherine (Maria Ricossa) insist on meeting at least Mark's father.

During the first meeting between Mark's father and Melissa's parents, mild-mannered foot-doctor Jerry stumbles in on one of Stephen's spy plans and finds himself swept up in Stephen's mess on the eve of his daughter's nuptials. How will this revelation effect the up-coming marriage and will the two fathers live long enough to get back to the wedding?

"The In-Laws" is one of the biggest surprises I have seen this year. I never thought in a million years that this film would be as funny as it is. The odd pairing of Brooks and Douglas pays off tenfold. Their odd pairing and hilarious antics made me think some of the classic film, "The Odd Couple". The film also reminded me a little of the 80s comedy, "Real Men" because of its off-beat way of bringing the audience into the story.

Brooks hasn't been this funny in years. His neurotic schtick, which is probably more famous when played by Woody Allen, gives his character such innocence. There were so many priceless moments involving Brooks and how he relates to the spy-world.

Douglas seems to have journeyed back to his Jack Colton character, which he played in "Romancing the Stone". There is definitely some of Colton in Tobias. You can really see it when Douglas allows Tobias to put his guard down. That was always the funniest part of Colton and it is the same for Tobias.

Another great thing about this film is the caliber of people who are in the cast. You have some great upcoming comedy actors like Reynolds and Sloane and on the other side veterans like Bergen and Brooks. I wanted to see more of Reynolds since he is such a great comedic find. I have high expectations for that guy. I also really enjoyed Sloane when she was in the short-lived WB series, "Grosse Pointe". I so miss that series. She to has a great potential to be more if given the chance in comedy.

This film knows where its strengths are and it continues the laughs over and over. I just wish we could have had more time with the supporting cast.

The film also has some interesting uses of music in its soundtrack. For instance the opening scenes involving Michael Douglas escaping from one of his spy missions involves a great car chase and a gun battle but the whole scene's overture is accented by Paul McCartney's infamous James Bond theme, "Live & Let Die". It is a great addition as it seems to help build the spy feeling of the scene. Throughout the film there are interesting musical additions, which help put interesting slants and accents on the various scenes.

"The In-Laws" was such a surprise and is by far the funniest movie I have seen this year, thus far.

(4 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

There are things that simply just do not need to be done. Tofurkey comes to mind, as does bringing back Fame as a reality television show. Also not needing to be done, remaking Arthur Hiller's 1979 Peter Falk/Alan Arkin minor classic comedy The In-Laws. But, in a world where someone can convince Jennifer Love Hewitt she's the ideal choice to play Audrey Hepburn in a TV biography, maybe this isn't the worst thing that can happen in Hollywood. And by casting the wonderful Albert Brooks (Mother) in the Arkin role, it could be downright inspired.

Could be, but it's not, for director Andrew Fleming's (Dick) remake never quite comes together despite the actor's valiant efforts.

Brooks plays Jerry Peyser, a mild-mannered and conservative podiatrist putting the finishing touches on his daughter Melissa's (Lindsay Sloane, Bring It On) wedding. Jerry has it planned to a "T," and it's much to his daughter's chagrin for she just wants a small gathering on a beach to wed her long-time beau Mark Tobias (Ryan Reynolds, National Lampoon's Van Wilder), with only their parents present to witness the event.

One problem: no one has even met Mark's parents. His mother Judy (Candice Bergen, Miss Congeniality) is slightly on the unhinged side and it's no guarantee that she'll even show. But that's better that his father Steve (Michael Douglas, It Runs in the Family). He's scheduled multiple different dinners and drink dates with Jerry and his wife Katherine (Maria Ricossa, Harvard Man), only to mysteriously break them due to urgent business in his duties as a copier salesman.

Finally, Steven is able to make a meet with his daughter-in-law-to-be's family, dragging them to an inner city Asian restaurant where giant boa constrictor tops the menu. It's also where the timid Jerry starts to learn the truth about Steven while eavesdropping in the bistro's restroom. It turns out Steve isn't the jet-setting copier salesman he's let on, owning more to the career path of James Bond than he does to Joe Citizen.

Soon, Jerry is running around the world with the erstwhile copier guy, meeting up with international arms dealers in France and parachuting from the top of a hotel back stateside. He even gets an alias, Steve putting him on the spot when he tells a particularly nasty killer named Thibodoux (David Suchet, A Perfect Murder) that he is the infamous Black Cobra, instantly earning the cutthroat's affections.

What's a father to do? Does he try to talk his daughter out of marrying the hyperactive lunatic's son, or does he stay out of Melissa's affairs and not pass the sins of the father on to the son. It's almost too much for the neurotic foot doctor to bare, culminating in a wedding ceremony that even despite Jerry's Martha Stewart-esque planning can't help but be hit by a tidal wave of unexpected circumstances.

The In-Laws actually starts out well enough, recovering from a particularly silly opening featuring Douglas and assistant Robin Tunney (End of Days) escaping from an Eastern European country as soon as Brooks enters the picture. In fact, for a good thirty minutes or so I was under this movie's silly spell. The duo play off each other extremely well, Brook's paranoid observations fueling the film's engine a great deal of the way.

Unfortunately, it just doesn't last. Douglas, in particular, overplays his hand early on. The glory of Falk's portrayal in the original was that his ultimate identity was as clueless to the audience as it was to Arkin. Here, Douglas goes so far over the top and tips his hand so evidently towards the side of good, that the only thing that's clueless is how it takes Brook's Jerry so long to realize it himself. Douglas is zany when he should be restrained, jubilant when he should be serious, tipping his hat so often that jokes that could almost pass for witty instead come across with all the subtlety of the proverbial bull in the china shop.

Granted, Nat Mauldin (Doctor Dolittle) and Ed Solomon's (Levity) updating of Andrew Bergman's (The Freshman) original screenplay doesn't help. They've got Douglas spouting lines like, "We've got the FBI on us like trailer trash on Velveeta," and it's hard to imagine any actor trying to deliver zingers like that with anything approaching cleverness. It also doesn't help that Suchet's villain is so tiredly rote that he borders on boring and includes a homosexual streak that reeks of desperation. I couldn't help but think that we'd abandoned - save for the occasional macho Jerry Brukheimer film - this type of homophobic comedy back in the 80's. Yet, here are Maudlin and Solomon resurrecting just that type of characterization, effectively doing their best to erase any sort of good feelings I could have had towards their script.

Not that he's the only supporting cast member let down by the duo. While Sloane and Reynolds do what they can with their overly-cute characters, Bergen is stranded with an under-written harpy of a role better left to a canceled television sitcom. A distinctively versatile comedic presence, she's got nothing to do here but be shrill and unappealing. It's a waste, and I for one think she deserves far better.

Luckily, Mauldin and Solomon do have Brooks around and he can do wonders with even the most rancid of screenplays. It's a completely different viewing experience every time he's on screen, and seeing a good 90 percent of The In-Laws revolves around him, that's all to the film's benefit. If only director Fleming could have reined in Douglas just a bit and sent the screenwriters back to the table for one more pass at the script. Even if I didn't know anything about the sublime Falk/Arkin original, this movie still wouldn't pass the mustard. The In-Laws is a showcase for the immensely talented Brooks, but as a comedy worthy of affection, it's mysteriously stranded at the altar.

Sara Fetters

Chicago’s top podiatrist Jerry Peyser (Brooks) has a lot of things on his mind besides feet. He has the most important day of his daughter Melissa (Sloane) life to organise, her wedding to Mark (Reynolds). Everything is going to plan until he finally meets Mark’s father Steve (Douglas), Xerox salesman extraordinaire, who is never around and always away on business. During their first family meal, Jerry overhears Steve talking to a woman in the men’s bathroom of the Vietnamese restaurant and realises that he might not be the Xerox salesman he claims to be.

What could have been another, oh I’m really a spy not a salesman comedy turns out to be an above average laugh all because of a very good cast.

Michael Douglas’s CIA agent and Albert Brooks’ foot doctor are so complete opposites that the comedy works quite well when the pair is on screen. Douglas is superbly confident and cocky in the extreme compared to Brooks’ nervous wreck of a man who lives his life governed by fear. The two really bounce off each other with some great put downs and one-liners.

There is also good support from a very over-the-top pantomime villain in David Suchet. His extremely camp French arms dealer is very funny if slightly too much in parts. The underused Candice Bergen excels in her few scenes as Douglas’s ex wife, who hates him with a passion. Robin Tunney and Ryan Reynolds hold there own but again are slightly underused.

The lack of development of the supporting cast is down to the script pandering to the two main stars and the movie suffers for it. They would have been better off scripting an ensemble piece than just putting all the emphasis on the leading men as it wastes a lot of talent.

This apart, The In-Laws is still a good comic romp, made all the better by the very contrasting leads. The situation might be very similar but they do add a little extra to a familiar theme because of the quality of their acting and through sheer comic timing.

Star Rating = * * *

Jamie Kelwick

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