Chapter 3 in the misadventures of Gaylord Focker is a slog through the same ol’ gags and a reminder of how low Robert De Niro’s standards have fallen.

Has there ever been such a phenomenal waste of talent in the one film? Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Harvey Keitel, Barbra Streisand, legends one and all sharing equal billing in one of the worst films of the year.

De Niro especially disappoints, since he is also listed as producer. One time his decree was “the talent is in the choices”. Exactly how that applies to Little Fockers is anyone’s guess.  

Ben Stiller returns as tortured son in law Gaylord “Greg” Focker, now a head nurse at the local hospital and father of two children with devoted wife Pam (Teri Polo).

Again it is her father, the ever intimidating ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) who is making waves, this time scaring Greg with talks of family legacy after invincible Jack finds a recent episode with his bum heart a little too close for comfort.   

It is indeed ironic that a movie which speaks highly of legacy has gone out of its way to tarnish the very legendary names which adorn its flimsy premise. De Niro’s spoofing of The Godfather doesn’t help much, while watching him and Keitel in a shouting match that only brings back the painful realisation that, yes, these two men did indeed star in Mean Streets.

What Little Fockers really needed was a pick me up from its new additions, much in the same way that Hoffman and Streisand carried the load in prior sequel Meet the Fockers. Yet neither Keitel not Jessica Alba bring anything of worth, the former disrespectfully wasted in a throwaway role, and the latter painfully annoying as a pharmaceutical representative named Andi Garcia (yes, they drain that joke dry).

Even series regulars Stiller and Owen Wilson, who usually churn the dullest of crud into comedy gold, couldn’t get anything going here.

Perhaps it was replacing regular director Jay Roach with the underwhelming Paul Weitz that doomed the film. Yet even if Martin Scorsese was roped into doing a solid for his old buddies, it couldn’t hide the fact that the Meet the Parents series was played out a long time ago.

All that is left is the same idiosyncrasies and conflicts which refuse to be resolved, or for the sake of another Focking sequel.