Meet the Parents is a 1992 American independent comedy film written by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke. Glienna also directed and starred in the film as the main protagonist, Greg, a young man meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time and the problems that arise when the girl's father takes a disliking to him.

Meet the Parents
VHS cover
Directed by	Greg Glienna
Written by	Greg Glienna Mary Ruth Clarke
Produced by	Jim Vincent Emo Philips
Starring	Greg Glienna Jacqueline Cahill Mary Ruth Clarke Emo Philips
Cinematography	Bradley Sellers
Edited by	Greg Glienna Jim Vincent
Music by	Scott May
Production company	Post Production - VPA Teleproductions - Editor - Jack Liga
Release date	1992 (1992)
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US $100,000 (estimated)

Filmed on a budget of approximately $100,000 and shot in and around Chicago,[1] Meet the Parents was not widely distributed and did not earn a large profit at the box office upon its limited release. It did, however, garner some critical acclaim and film industry attention towards remaking the film on a bigger budget.

Several years after the film's release, Universal Pictures purchased the rights to the independent film. After hiring screenwriter Jim Herzfeld to expand the script, a new version of Meet the Parents was filmed and released in October 2000.[1] The 2000 version in turn inspired two movie sequels[2][3] and two television series.[4][5]

Plot

A man on his way to meet his fiancée's parents stops to get gas at a gas station. He mentions his plans to the attendant, who advises him against it. He tells the tale of Greg and Pam, a couple in a similar situation with a disastrous outcome.

Greg sets off accidents and mishaps that bring shame and disappointment upon his character, leaving Pam's parents Irv and Kay to believe he is an undesirable son-in-law. After breaking the prized Victrola, ruining a roast, renting a seeming Andy Griffith Show VCR that turns out to be an Andy Griffith Show-themed slasher/pornographic film, clogging a toilet, stabbing Kay’s eye with a fishing pole, being framed for marijuana possession, wrecking the car, drowning the dog, losing a fight with Pam's ex-boyfriend Lee, and knocking over an urn, Greg has no reputation left to lose.

Throughout the visit, Pam's sister Fay, an aspiring singer with a poor voice, keeps insisting Greg hear her audition since she mistakenly thinks he has ties with Ed McMahon from Star Search. Greg plans to flee the house with Pam to prevent any more damage, but Fay will not let him leave without hearing her sing. Greg discovers his car has broken down, leaving him no choice but to hear Fay sing. Once the ballad entitled "When Philip's There" has ended, Fay asks Greg to give suggestions. He reluctantly gives slight criticism, leaving Fay furious. Pam and her parents, who have had enough with Greg, force him to leave the house. As Greg approaches the front door, Pam's scream coming from her sister's room upstairs startles the parents. Fay has hanged herself with a sign reading "Greg killed me" written in lipstick around her neck. Irv grabs his gun and rushes downstairs to the foyer.

The gas station attendant reveals what happens in the end. The customer leaves, now uneasy about meeting his fiancée's parents. Another customer arrives on his way to join the circus, and the attendant advises him against it, beginning a new story.

Cast

• Greg Glienna as Greg
• Jacqueline Cahill as Pam Burns
• Mary Ruth Clarke as Fay Burns
• Dick Galloway as Irv Burns
• Carol Whelan as Kay Burns
• Harry Hickstein as Lee
• Emo Philips as Video Store Clerk
• Mike Toomey as Priest
• Tony Boswell as Bar Patron
• Jim Vincent as Gas Station Guy
• John Dacosse as Customer
• Marc Vann as Cirus Guy

Reception

This section needs expansion with: information from multiple, reliable sources that compile data from many reviewers, potentially including controversies. You can help by adding to it. (May 2013)

Film critic Suzan Ayscough reviewed the film for Variety magazine in 1992. In her review, she called the film a "wonderfully twisted black comedy" even though she believed it to be "excessive and occasionally overdone." Ayscough predicted that the film "could garner a cult following among anti-establishment urbanites" due to its "blatant attack on marriage, suburban indifference, Christian hypocrisy and the nuclear family" and unsuitability for mainstream audiences. Opining that the "script desperately needed an objective eye," she concluded by calling the film an "amusing vehicle which aptly displays the multiple talents of Greg Glienna."[6]

Film producer Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards, listed the original Meet the Parents on his personal Top Ten list of favorite films. In the article, he called it "much funnier and tighter than the Hollywood version."[7]

Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum liked the movie and was tempted to call it, "the ultimate worst-case-scenario comedy." He said it "may not always make you laugh but will impress you with the singularity of Glienna’s dark approach." And he added the audience was "still likely to be taken by the purity and relentlessness of this picture’s vision."[8]

Remake

Producer Nancy Tenenbaum acquired the rights to the original film and then she sent a copy to several people of interest hoping to have a new version of the film made. Filmmaker Steven Soderbergh replied that he was interested and that he wanted to direct a remake. He brought it to the attention of Universal Studios who initially declined but subsequently optioned the rights to the film in 1995.[1] Sodebergh took on the project but then dropped it when he got involved with Out of Sight.[1]

In 1995 Universal Studios purchased the rights to the film.[1] The screenplay was expanded by screenwriter Jim Herzfeld and film director Jay Roach was hired to direct the 2000 version of Meet the Parents with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro in the leading roles.[9][10][11] Distributed by Universal Studios domestically and by United International Pictures internationally, the remade film was a big financial success earning $166.2 million in the United States and a total of $330.4 million worldwide.[12]

The 2000 version in turn inspired two movie sequels, Meet the Fockers (2004)[2][13] and Little Fockers (2010).[3][14]

See also

• Cinema of the United States
• List of American films of 1992

References

External links

• Meet the Parents at IMDb
• PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut episode on Greg Glienna - "Meet the Parents"