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The In-Laws


The In-Laws (2003)
The inspired casting of Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks in the lead roles makes The In-Laws, the overblown 2003 remake of the 1979 comedy that starred Peter Falk and Alan Arkin, worth checking out.

Brooks plays Jerry Peyser, a neurotic podiatrist with a deathly fear of heights, who is excitedly preparing for his daughter's wedding, but is upset about the fact that the groom's father, Steve Tobias (Douglas) has cancelled three meetings for them to meet. On the evening Jerry and Steve finally meet with their son (Ryan Reynolds) and daughter (Lyndsey Sloane), Jerry finds out that Steve is actually a CIA agent and before you can say "James Bond", Jerry finds himself waist-deep in Steve's latest mission, a mess that gets even messier when Jerry learns from the FBI that Steve is actually a rogue CIA agent who was dismissed from the agency because he was mentally unstable.

It's been about a hundred years since I've seen the original 1979 film, but what I do remember is that the film seemed to concentrate on the relationship between the in-laws and not so much on the James Bond, cloak and dagger stuff. This film, co-written by Andrew Bergman, who wrote the original, begins with a very lengthy Bond-type mini-adventure showing Steve in the middle of his current mission that is supposed to establish who Steve Tobias is, but it goes on way longer than it needs to. It's not until Jerry;goes into the restroom at a restaurant and finds Steve beating the crap out of a guy that the story really kicks in. This version of the film does beef up the expected action, but it's the relationship between these two very different guys that is the core of this story and what made the 1979 film so funny.

Albert Brooks' nerdy podiatrist is a perfect counterpart to Michael Douglas' ultra-smooth super spy. I loved the way the story immediately sets up the fact that Jerry has a fear of heights and then keeps the character in the air for the majority of the running time. Loved when Jerry wakes up after being drugged by Steve and finds himself on Barbra Streisand's private plane that Steve "borrowed" from her (when you go the bathroom, an instrumental version of "The Way We Were" starts playing). Their parachuting adventure and the water-logged wedding finale, which featured "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" filling the audio, were also major highlights.

Michael Douglas offers one of his slickest performances as Tobias and Brooks is a lot of fun as Peyser, as is David Suchet, cast radically against type, as a bisexual bad guy who has the hots for Jerry. Ryan Reynolds makes the most of a thankless role and there is a fabulous cameo by Candice Bergen as Steve's ex-wife, but it's Douglas and Brooks that make this one worth investing in.