THE original Meet The Parents was pretty much a one-joke movie. Here was a sensitive young man going to meet his girlfriend's folks for the first time.

But the thing is, Dad was an uptight, emotionally retarded retired CIA operative, and he was not going to give his little girl's new feller an easy time.

The joke was extended by the fact that Dad was played by Robert De Niro and that the boyfriend's name was Gaylord Focker (but Greg to his friends).

Well now we have the sequel, Meet The Fockers, which sees Greg (Stiller), girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo) and her Mum Dina and Dad Jack (Blythe Danner and, of course, De Niro) heading to Florida to meet his parents, Bernard and Roz (Hoffman and Streisand), a pair of ageing hippies, who are as promiscuous as they are indiscreet.

They are the chalk to Jack's cheese and it paves the way for some fun and games, particularly when it emerges that Pam is pregnant, and that Greg lost his virginity 15 odd years ago to his babysitter, who still lives in the neighbourhood with her, erm, 15-year-old son.

Meet The Fockers is funny without being uproariously so, with much of the amusement coming from three Hollywood heavyweights letting their hair down. Hoffman's permanently loose screw finally comes away altogether; Streisand, playing sex mad sex therapist Mother Focker, is having the time of her life; and De Niro keeps it tight but funny, particularly in his scenes with Stiller, who pitches the near-terrified son-in-law-to-be perfectly.

Certainly the verbal comedy works best and this highlights the differences between both sets of parents, with the Fockers determined to be upfront and honest, compared to Jack , ever the patriotic spy, being constantly secretive and suspicious.

There is a fair dose of slapstick too, which isn't so effective and Streisand's lliterally over-the-top massage on De Niro smacks a little of desperation as the script runs out of laughs and the film starts to run out of steam with half an hour to go, with that one joke stretched to breaking point.

But hey, who's to say there won't be a third instalment? As De Niro himself has said, it could be called Meet The Little Fockers. 6/10

Meet the Fockers

Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman

Certificate 12A, 115 minutes

Showing at: UGC and Cineworld from today