As odd as it sounds, "Meet the Fockers" feels more like a sequel to Ben Stiller's comedy "Along Came Polly" than "Meet the Parents."

Oh, the characters from "Meet the Parents" are back. And the humor relies on embarrassment and slapstick, as did the first film. But the level of crudity and sexual humor has been boosted considerably . . . more in line with the extremely low-brow "Polly." Which just underscores how thin the script is.

How the movie skirted by with a PG-13 rating is anyone's guess.

"Meet the Fockers" finds male nurse Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) engaged to his schoolteacher girlfriend Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo) as they are headed off to visit both sets of parents so they can nail down their wedding date.

As you would expect, things go wrong almost immediately after Pam's father, former CIA agent Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), insists on traveling in his high-security RV rather than flying. And when they finally get to Florida, the tightly wound Jack begins quarreling with Greg's free-spirited parents (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand).

There are also mishaps involving the Byrnes family cat and the Focker family dog, Jack's supposed prodigy grandson (played by twins Spencer and Bradley Pickren) and indoor plumbing. And there there's a question about whether Pam might be pregnant.

To be fair, the movie does have its share of guilty laughs, thanks more to the cast than the material. And yes, the filmmakers continue in their attempt to mine laughs from the Fockers' last name.

Given how well Stiller and De Niro play off each other, you'll wish they had more to work with. And you have to give Hoffman credit for being such a good sport. He makes the film funnier than it should be just by his sheer manic energy.

"Meet the Fockers" is rated PG-13 for crude sexual humor (sight gags and references), comic violence (mostly slapstick), occasional use of strong profanity, brief partial female nudity and glimpses of nude artwork, brief drug content (hypodermic use) and some brief sexual contact (done for laughs). Running time: 112 minutes.

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E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com