**_A serious beau becomes a master of disaster when he meets his girlfriend's parents_**

A male nurse from Chicago (Ben Stiller) wants to pop the question to his girlfriend (Teri Polo), but first has to visit Long Island and meet the parents (Robert De Niro & Blythe Danner).

“Meet the Parents” (2001) is a good romantic comedy with Stiller effective as the every-man in a challenging mundane situation that most guys can relate to. The first half involves droll humor as Greg awkwardly meets his potential parents-in-law and suspects that the father doesn’t like him. Yet this is just a set-up for the wild mishaps of the second half as Murphy’s Law goes into effect.

Teri looks great while Nicole DeHuff is on hand as the sister. Elsewhere, an iconic actor of the period shows up in the second half, but I don’t want to give it away as it’s a welcome surprise (it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out seeing as how this is a Ben Stiller comedy).

The sequel “Meet the Fockers” came out four years later and it’s lousy by comparison with distasteful non-humor consisting mostly of juvenile jokes about sex from senior citizens. It was an embarrassment to the iconic actors.

The movie runs 1 hour, 48 minutes, and was shot mostly on Long Island at Old Brookville and nearby Oyster Bay.

GRADE: B+