'Little Fockers' is not Great, But Tops the Box Office

Little Fockers debuted at the top of the box office Wednesday but marked the beginning of sluggish movie returns for the holidays.

The movie brought in $7.2 million to $7.3 million range as it debuted domestically in 3,536 theaters. The third installment in the popular series has a long way to go before it meet’s distributor Universal’s expectations of $60 million.

In 2004, Meet the Fockers debuted to more than $12 million on the same Wednesday on its way to a $70 million five-day opening.

In this installment, Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller) continues to go at it with his distrustful ex-CIA father-in-law Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro).

Now a proud and trusted father of twins, Samantha (Daisy Tahan) and Henry (Colin Baiocchi), Focker must contend with the responsibilities of their schooling (how to get his twins into the hot local private school?), their upcoming fifth birthday party and renovations to the family home. A lot is going on here, when Jessica Alba appears playing drug rep Andi Garcia.

Is Focker man enough to lead the family once heart patient Jack has departed? Is he a good provider? Does he still fancy his wife? Or, as Jack puts it: "Are you still sexually attracted to my daughter?" In other words, can he be the "God Focker."

Teri Polo, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand are back and Owen Wilson gets many of the best lines as his ditzy rich pal and love rival Kevin, who Jack believes would make a much more suitable son-in-law.

There’s also a fun performance from Jessica Alba as the sex-bomb who could undermine Focker’s marriage but the possibility generates little suspense. Misunderstandings rather than genuine temptation remains Focker’s undoing.

The Little Fockers get some laughs, but this movie appeared quickly put together to make money during the holiday season. It will, and it's fun in parts.

Relax and go see it, but don't expect a deep plot and great acting.