There is a lesson to be learned for everyone when the dynamic travel writer Audrey has a whirlwind romance and quickly marries Xander in Hawaii. It is always a good idea to first meet the spouse's family before tying the knot.
At the Whitfield mansion, the word dysfunction does not go far enough to describe this clan. Not only is every member of the Whitfield family repellent, but the situation is compounded by inbreeding!
Marlena is the scheming matriarch who coupled with both Lionel, the father of Xander, but also Xander himself. A little baby girl, Nicole, was the result of the congress of Marlena and Xander. Yet, Xander is unaware that he is a father.
This moment in which it was revealed that Marlena had conceived a delivered a child fathered by her son-in-law, then covered up the truth from her husband, her young son-in-law, and the daughter was the most chilling in the film. At this point, I felt the need for an intermission ... and a shower!
Audrey shows up on cue to the Whitfield mansion and the subsequent encounter is much worse than "Meet the Fockers." Lionel makes the mistake of lingering at the top on the stairs and becomes the first casualty.
There ensues frenetic action in a wild sequence of metaphorical backstabbing and actual stabbing. The bad behavior of the Whitfield family is complemented by two sleazy attorneys, Teresa and Warren, seeking to monetize their interests in the family. The gardener Sonny is also busy in hooking up with both Marlena and her daughter Nicole.
The filmmakers didn't quite hit all the right notes with a tongue-in-cheek style appropriate for the romps through the Whitfield mansion. The best character was Marlena, who in the biblical sense "knew" the husband, the son, the gardener, the attorney, and, at the end, a new CEO on the West Coast. The film was a farcical variation on Goldsmith's comedy "She Stoops to Conquer." In this film, the tagline should be "She Strips to Conquer"!
At the Whitfield mansion, the word dysfunction does not go far enough to describe this clan. Not only is every member of the Whitfield family repellent, but the situation is compounded by inbreeding!
Marlena is the scheming matriarch who coupled with both Lionel, the father of Xander, but also Xander himself. A little baby girl, Nicole, was the result of the congress of Marlena and Xander. Yet, Xander is unaware that he is a father.
This moment in which it was revealed that Marlena had conceived a delivered a child fathered by her son-in-law, then covered up the truth from her husband, her young son-in-law, and the daughter was the most chilling in the film. At this point, I felt the need for an intermission ... and a shower!
Audrey shows up on cue to the Whitfield mansion and the subsequent encounter is much worse than "Meet the Fockers." Lionel makes the mistake of lingering at the top on the stairs and becomes the first casualty.
There ensues frenetic action in a wild sequence of metaphorical backstabbing and actual stabbing. The bad behavior of the Whitfield family is complemented by two sleazy attorneys, Teresa and Warren, seeking to monetize their interests in the family. The gardener Sonny is also busy in hooking up with both Marlena and her daughter Nicole.
The filmmakers didn't quite hit all the right notes with a tongue-in-cheek style appropriate for the romps through the Whitfield mansion. The best character was Marlena, who in the biblical sense "knew" the husband, the son, the gardener, the attorney, and, at the end, a new CEO on the West Coast. The film was a farcical variation on Goldsmith's comedy "She Stoops to Conquer." In this film, the tagline should be "She Strips to Conquer"!
