Little Fockers

Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo

Directed by Paul Weitz

Rating: 4 stars

When Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) starts experiencing heart problems, he realizes he needs to appoint a new "successor" to be the head of the family. He decides to appoint Greg Focker (Ben Stiller), the only one who is eligible. When the Byrnes visit the Fockers for the Focker's twins birthday party, Jack does some reconnaissance on Greg because he comes to believe Greg is cheating on his daughter. Greg has no idea what is going on and must face (again) Pam's (Teri Polo) ex-boyfriend, Kevin (Owen Wilson), who is fighting for her attention.

Little Fockers was an enjoyable movie. Though I have yet to see the sequel to Meet the Parents, this third film doesn't confuse you as to what has happened in between. There are some memorable scenes like the traumatizing experience Greg's son witnesses between Jack and Greg. Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller make great pair and bring humor to the father-and-son-in-law complexities that occur, especially with Jack Byrne's background of being "top dog". The only main problem I had with this movie was Jessica Alba's character. I thought that they could have chosen a different actress to play this role of the woman after Greg, causing Jack to have suspicions of Greg having an affair. I would definitely recommend this movie to those who enjoyed Meet the Parents and to those who enjoy a good comedy.

About A Boy

Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult

Directed by Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz

Rating: 3 stars

Will (Hugh Grant) is a young man who has no care for the world. All he cares about is himself and the next lucky girl he can get into bed with him. He found that single mothers were the best kind of women to date so he goes to a single parents meeting in hopes to pick up women. Soon after, Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) comes into his life, whether he liked it or not. Marcus is a weird little boy with a depressed single mother. He has nothing better to do so he decides to enter in to Will's selfish life. It's not long before Will starts to slowly get attached to Marcus, trying to help him be a little "cooler" so he can make friends at school. While Will helps Marcus, Marcus forms a bond that helps make Will turn into a mature grown up that doesn't only think of himself.

This was a cute movie about an annoying little boy making his way into a man's unimportant life. I think this deserved three stars because although it was good, movies with little kids in them annoy me most of the time. It was funny to see that Nicholas Hoult was so... how do I put this nicely? Unappealing to look at as a little kid. He sure matured though over the years. Hugh Grant played the typical role he does (like Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones's Diary and Alex Fletcher in Music & Lyrics) but he does a good job. The movie had a bit of a gloomy topic; Will cared about no one other than himself and Marcus' mother tried to kill herself. It had a happy ending though so it is not all doom-and-gloom. It had some humorous scenes like when Marcus went up on stage at his school's talent show and sang "Killing Me Softly". Overall, this movie is favorable to see if you're a Hugh Grant fan and is nice to see at least once. I would recommend renting it though.