FRIDAY 4 Meet The Parents (2000) 28 AUGUST, 2015

en Stiller is one of the kings of uncomfort- worthy physical comedy and splendidly antago- able comedy and few films have taken nistic chemistry between Stiller and Robert De Badvantage of his gift for squirm-inducing Niro, Parents grossed over $500 million, spawn- laughs as brilliantly as Meet the Parents, the ing a franchise and earning the applause of crit- 2000 smash hit comedy about male ics like Time’s , who chuckled, nurse Gaylord “Greg” Focker (Stiller) and his “Alas, poor Focker. He can’t help himself. And painfully awkward (and/or just plain painful) we can’t help ourselves from falling about, attempts to make a good first impression on his equally helpless, at this superbly antic movie.” girlfriend’s parents while dealing with the unex- pected presence of her annoyingly perfect ex- boyfriend (Wilson). Featuring plenty of guffaw-

3 Bottle Rocket (1996) ilson cut his cinematic teeth in style Luke, and Robert Musgrave) whose rather with 1996’s Bottle Rocket, an indie inept first foray into armed robbery leads Wdarling that not only kicked off his them into the path of an older, wiser thief big-screen acting career, but found him co- (James Caan) was a favorite of critics like the writing the first of three highly regarded Washington Post’s Desson Thomson, who screenplays (followed by Rushmore and The called it “A hilarious, inventive and goofy Royal Tenenbaums) with director Wes breath of fresh air.” Anderson. Although it was a blip on the com- mercial radar, this cheerful crime comedy about a trio of Texans (Wilson, his brother

2 Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

hese days, it’s a rare animated film an eclectic list of co-stars that included Bill that doesn’t boast a star-studded cast, Murray, Willem Dafoe, and , Tbut most of them don’t attract the sort Fox thrilled critics like Elizabeth Weitzman of award-hoarding talent that Wes of the New York Daily News, who called it “A Anderson lined up for Fantastic Mr. Fox, is visual treasure that successfully blends stop-motion adaptation of the Roald Dahl deadpan quirkiness with a wry realism book about a rascally fox () rarely seen in any film, let alone one for chil- whose devotion to his wife (Streep) is tested dren.” by his need to have the last laugh against a trio of bloodthirsty farmers. Rounded out by

1 Midnight in Paris (2011)

ollowing a fairly dire year that saw him surfacing in and providing the voice of Marmaduke, Wilson enjoyed a huge critical rebound with his starring per- Fformance in Midnight in Paris - a late-period smash hit for writer/director Woody Allen, who enjoyed some of the warmest reviews (and the highest grosses) of his career with the fantasy-infused comedic tale of an ennui-addled screenwriter who heads out for a melancholic walk on the streets of Paris and ends up taking much more of a journey than he bargained for. “Woody Allen seemed to have lost his fizz as a filmmaker of late,” observed Jason Best for Movie Talk, “and then he uncorked the sparkling Midnight in Paris, a comic fantasy with all the effervescence of vintage champagne.” — (www.rottentomatoes.com)