Review & video: Festive Little Fockers is a Christmas turkey

THE third film in the massively popular Meet the Parents series hits cinema screens today - but despite the stellar cast, it’s far from a Christmas cracker.

Review - MEET THE PARENTS: LITTLE FOCKERS

Rating: 12A

Length: 97 mins

Genre: Comedy/Romance

Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Owen Wilson, Daisy Tahan, Colin Baiocchi, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Laura Dern

Director: Paul Weitz

Released: December 22

There’s not so much a whiff as a stench of desperation about the third chapter in the hugely popular Meet The Parents series, which first graced the big screen 10 years ago.

Hapless male nurse Gaylord “Greg” Focker (Stiller) is blissfully in love with his wife Pam (Polo) and his twins, Samantha (Tahan) and Henry (Baiocchi).

Greg is mulling over a lucrative job offer from pretty drugs rep Andi Garcia (Jessica Alba) and debates sending the little ones to the prestigious Early Human School, run by inspirational headmistress Prudence (Dern).

Meanwhile, Pam’s father, retired CIA operative Jack Byrnes (De Niro), continues to view Greg with suspicion and isn’t sure that his son-in-law is made of the right material to lead the Byrne clan.

And tensions escalate with the unexpected arrival of old flame Kevin (Wilson), who has Jack eating out of the palm of his hand.

Elsewhere, Jack’s wife Dina (Danner) tries to re invigorate their stale marriage by taking advice from Greg’s mother Roz (Streisand).

Little Fockers is a crushing disappointment.

In fact, were the cast not paid so handsomely for this nonsense one might even feel sorry for them.

Let’s hope the series stops here - but one fears that will not be the case.

Rating: 3/10