Film Review: The In-Laws (2003)

If you watch a comedy in a theatre and you can’t hear anyone laughing, that might be a good indicator that a film isn’t particularly good. The author of this review had such experience while watching The In-Laws, 2003 film directed by Andrew Fleming.

The film represented remake of popular 1979 comedy starring Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. The new version begins when mild-mannered podiatrist Jerry Peyser (played by Albert Brooks) prepares for the wedding of his daughter Melissa (played by Lindsay Sloane) to Mark Tobias (played by Ryan Reynolds). Mark’s father Steve (played by Michael Douglas) happens to be undercover CIA agent. Mark wants to sell Russian nuclear submarine to powerful French arms smuggler Jean-Pierre Thibodoux (played by David Suchet) in order to expose him and bring him down. The plan would involve Jerry who initially doesn’t have a clue what Steve does for a living and, as such, could provide perfect cover. This results in series of adventures all over the globe, during which Steve and Jerry are pursued by FBI that suspects Steve of going rogue.

The In-Laws represented one of many Hollywood remakes that relied less on brilliance of original concept and more on feelings of nostalgia among original viewers and even more among Boomer film studio executives greenlighting those projects. Additional problem for the The In-Laws is that 1979 film wasn’t that good and that had worked in that film had worked because of historic context, namely deep cynicism of 1970s public towards CIA and its and dark shenanigans and economic troubles in inflation-plagued America. This context is completely lost in new version and the inevitable comparisons between two films also point towards Douglas and Brooks being much inferior to original “buddy buddy” pairing of popular comedians Falk and Arkin. While it would be unfair to say that Douglas and Brooks lack comedic talent, they aren’t served well by inept and unimaginative script that consists of mostly unfunny jokes that force director Fleming to compensate lack of humour with even less inspired action scenes. The single bright spot in this underwhelming and disappointing film belongs to David Suchet who plays over-the-top gay villain who also happens to be French, a detail that was hardly accidental during times when Hollywood joined the rest of America in chauvinistic hysteria during Iraq invasion and branded the French as new villains because their government had refused to participate in the effort. With Boomers unlikely to visit theatres, The In-Laws predictably turned into box office flop, which is the fate most of today’s audience would agree with. Apart from historians and scholars interested in the ways US foreign policy reflected in the content of Hollywood films, hardly anyone should bother to watch this disappointment.

RATING: 2/10 (-)

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