Film Reviews

The In-Laws

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Albert Brooks
• Details: US / 98 mins / (12PG).

Remakes, at the best of times, are a tricky business. But remaking a movie which was quite good in the first place and overplaying it in coarse bluster isn't the perfect formula for success. And so it is with The In-Laws, a remodelling of a screwy 1979 comedy. This time, in a performance which displays more hammness than a sausage factory, Michael Douglas plays CIA agent Steve Tobias, a man so dedicated to his job that his relationship with his son, Marc (Reynolds) is neglectful. Yet Steve believes bridges can be built at his son's forthcoming nuptials, by making an effort to get along with his new in-laws, headed by the neurotic Jerry (Brooks). Of course, it isn't long before Steve's work catches up with him and he's forced to use Jerry as cover. This, in turn, allows the two actors to bustle their way through a succession of fairly lame set pieces.
A one gag 'Odd Couple' movie which exhausts itself of all potential early on, The In-Laws reaches its comedic apex in the opening 10 minutes and begins a rapid descent from there. Things might have worked out better had the director been surer with his cast. However, Brooks and Douglas have no synchronicity and appear to be in different movies from each other. "Jerry, this doesn't make any sense," says Mrs Peyser near the end. No, it doesn't and don't think we hadn't noticed

Review by Garreth Murphy