The In-Laws

Chicago's top podiatrist Jerry Peyser (Brooks) has a lot of things on his mind besides feet. He has the most important day of his daughter Melissa (Sloane) life to organise, her wedding to Mark (Reynolds). Everything is going to plan until he finally meets Mark's father Steve (Douglas), Xerox salesman extraordinaire, who is never around and always away on business. During their first family meal, Jerry overhears Steve talking to a woman in the men's bathroom of the Vietnamese restaurant and realises that he might not be the Xerox salesman he claims to be.

What could have been another, oh I'm really a spy not a salesman comedy turns out to be an above average laugh all because of a very good cast.

Michael Douglas's CIA agent and Albert Brooks' foot doctor are so complete opposites that the comedy works quite well when the pair is on screen. Douglas is superbly confident and cocky in the extreme compared to Brooks' nervous wreck of a man who lives his life governed by fear. The two really bounce off each other with some great put downs and one-liners.

There is also good support from a very over-the-top pantomime villain in David Suchet. His extremely camp French arms dealer is very funny if slightly too much in parts. The underused Candice Bergen excels in her few scenes as Douglas's ex wife, who hates him with a passion. Robin Tunney and Ryan Reynolds hold there own but again are slightly underused.

The lack of development of the supporting cast is down to the script pandering to the two main stars and the movie suffers for it. They would have been better off scripting an ensemble piece than just putting all the emphasis on the leading men as it wastes a lot of talent.

This apart, The In-Laws is still a good comic romp, made all the better by the very contrasting leads. The situation might be very similar but they do add a little extra to a familiar theme because of the quality of their acting and through sheer comic timing.

Audio commentary from director Andrew Fleming, Additional and alternative scenes, Multiple breaks with star Albert Brooks, Gag reel, Easter Egg (hidden feature), Trailers Interactive menu & Scene access

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2003