YMMV / Meet the Parents (1992)

• Adaptation Displacement: Very few people are aware that the 2000 Meet the Parents was based on this indie feature. It doesn't help matters that this earlier film has rarely been distributed.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Greg a hapless and sympathetic Butt-Monkey who can never catch a break, or is he purposely trying to ruin the weekend so everyone in the Burns family will die?
  • When Irv attempts to shoot Greg after seeing Fay's hung corpse with a "Greg killed me" sign around her neck, does he actually believe Greg killed her, as he didn't witness the hanging, or does he know Fay hung herself and is in a fit of blind rage because of that?
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The film was shown in scattered arthouses across the US and a handful of film festivals in London and Edinburgh. Interestingly, some of the most favorable responses came from British viewers, who likened the dark humor to some of their sitcoms such as Steptoe and Son or Fawlty Towers.
• Unintentional Period Piece: The movie captures the early 1990s, especially with the video rental store and the references to Star Search and Ed McMahon. Marijuana is also now legalized in Indiana, where the Burnses reside, but only as far as CBD oil.
• The Woobie: Greg. Nothing EVER goes right for him until the very end, when, per the gas station owner's words, he narrowly avoids being murdered by Irv.