Starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Barbra Streisand, and Dustin Hoffman. Rated 14A.

Sequels often betray whatever ideals were originally present in movies, generally by sucking.

Conversely, good sequels identify, extend, and comment upon themes found in the first product. Combined with inspiring (or at least competent) direction, performance, and editing, these sequels are valuable in and of themselves. They're not simply reaching into your wallet.

Meet the Fockers would not seem to be a likely candidate for being considered good, or even decent. It's the sequel to Meet the Parents , which was popular but far from cutting-edge. Ben Stiller perfected the Disaster Magnet character in There's Something About Mary . He's done lots of other types, of course, but because of Mary and Flirting With Disaster and that Jennifer Aniston movie, Along Came Polly , Gaylord "Greg" Focker seems overfamiliar, especially on this second time around.

Predictably, there's been a tepid response from the so-called critics. Indeed, Meet the Fockers is broad comedy that cruises on star power. But for whatever reason, it hangs together with the scatology, sex farce, misunderstandings, amnesia, and even the bastard child. They're all gags as old as pantomime, and there's a reason why these plots are so old: they work. They give the actors a reason to be there without hurting (or engaging) your mind.

The talent is kind of unbelievable. Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand (in her first movie since 1996) play the elder Fockers. Robert De Niro is back. Blythe Danner is there. Randy Newman scores. There are funny cameos for Tim Blake Nelson and Owen Wilson. Plus, there are gross baby gags and, most excitingly to this new-style breeder, parenting jargon ("continuum concept" battles "Ferberizing" for the soul of De Niro's retired spook). Meet the Parents was about one man meeting in-laws; the sequel is about the clash of ideologies.

Where the film fails (or, for me, succeeds) is in sparing the hapless hero the degree of torture he previously endured. Embarrassment is a low form of humour, but lots of people like it. However, I dig that Gaylord is less abused this time around and that the worst-case-scenario father-in-law turns his wrath onto others.