Jay Roach Movies

Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and Zach Galifianakis star in this remake of director Francis Veber's César award-winning 1998 comedy concerning a renowned publisher who encourages his friends to find the most pathetic guests possible for their weekly dinner party. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Borat trickster Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the big screen to offer yet another stinging dose of sociopolitical satire in this comedy that finds him assuming the persona of gay fashionmonger Bruno, the self-proclaimed "voice of Austrian youth TV." Originally conceived as part of Baron Cohen's cult television series Da Ali G Show, the character of Bruno offered a cleverly costumed Baron Cohen the opportunity to highlight the absurdities of the fashion industry by interviewing unsuspecting fashion icons and other haute couture hangers-on. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Master of disguise Sacha Baron Cohen hits the road to explore America as the crude Kazakstani reporter Borat in a feature mockumentary that brings one of the Da Ali G Show star's most popular characters to life on the big screen. Sent by the Kazakh Ministry of Information to gain a better understanding of American culture and bring his findings back home, Borat and faithful producer Azamat (Ken Davitian) set their sights in New York City. When the citizens and interview subjects of the Big Apple seem less than receptive to Borat's distinctively unrestrained approach and the curious Kazakh television personality stumbles across an episode of Baywatch while channel-surfing in his hotel room, he becomes instantly smitten with screen siren Pamela Anderson. Now confident that the only way to discover the true essence of America is to travel to California and make the bikini-clad beauty his bride, Borat purchases a ramshackle ice-cream truck in which he and Azamat will make their way across the Great Plains and on to the sunny West Coast -- all the while coming into contact with a wide variety of "typical" Americans. Within this loose, scripted framework, Borat engages in his usual misbehavior with unsuspecting strangers, from accidentally releasing a chicken from his suitcase on a New York subway ride to a formal interview with Alan Keyes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When an everyday thirtysomething is fired from his job, his unemployment woes are soon compounded as the ticking of his wife's maternal clock reaches a deafening pitch, and his overbearing mother announces plans to move in with the struggling couple. Dax Shepard, Liv Tyler, and Diane Keaton star in a film directed by Vince Di Meglio, co-scripted by Di Meglio and Tim Rasmussen, and produced by Rasmussen, Bill Johnson, and Jay Roach. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

After suffering the humiliation of being given the third degree by his girlfriend's father, one man now faces the even more embarrassing task of introducing his own mother and father in this star-studded sequel to the box-office smash Meet the Parents. After getting off on the wrong foot (to put it mildly) with his prospective in-laws, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) has finally won the grudging approval of Jack and Dina Byrnes (Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner) to marry their daughter Pam (Teri Polo). But after clearing the first hurdle, now Greg has to face an even bigger challenge -- introducing the straight-laced Byrnes family to his folks, free-spirited sex therapist Roz (Barbra Streisand) and eccentrically open-minded Bernie, who blend with Pam's parents not quite as well as oil and water. Meet the Fockers was directed by Jay Roach, who handled the same chores for Meet the Parents. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy from Austin Powers director Jay Roach, Ben Stiller plays a young man who endures a disastrous weekend at the home of his girlfriend's parents. Greg Focker (Stiller) is completely in love with Pam Byrnes (Teri Polo), and views their upcoming trip to her parents' house on Long Island (where her sister is to be married during the weekend) as a perfect opportunity to ask her to marry him. Once Greg is introduced to Pam's parents, however, things stampede steadily downhill. Pam's father, Jack (Robert De Niro), takes an instant and obvious dislike to his daughter's boyfriend, lambasting him for his job as a nurse and generally making Greg painfully aware of the differences between him and Pam's family. Where Greg is grubby, relatively unambitious, and Jewish, Pam comes from a long line of well-mannered, blue-blooded WASPs. Things go from bad to worse in less time than it takes to spin a dreidel, with Greg incurring the wrath of both Pam's father -- who, it turns out, worked for the CIA for 34 years -- and the rest of her family, and almost single-handedly destroying their house and the wedding in the process. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Less a parody of the early James Bond film than a parody of the films that parodied the early James Bond films, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery stars Mike Myers as Austin Powers, by day a hipster fashion photographer in mid-'60s swingin' London and by night a crime-fighting secret agent. Austin's wardrobe is pure Carnaby Street at its most outrageous, his vocabulary is crowded by the cool lingo of the day ("Groovy, baby! Yeah!!"), and he's irresistible to women, despite the fact that he can be charitably described as "stocky" and has teeth that strike fear into any practicing dentist. When his nemesis, the arch-enemy Dr. Evil (also played by Myers), has himself cryogenically frozen and sent into space, Powers also has himself put on ice so he can be thawed out when Dr. Evil returns. Come 1997, Dr. Evil returns to Earth and is back to his old tricks, so Austin is thawed out and returned to active service -- though he soon discovers his style doesn't play so well 30 years on. The supporting cast includes Elizabeth Hurley as Austin's sidekick, Vanessa Kensington; Michael York as his boss, Basil Exposition; Robert Wagner as Dr. Evil's assistant, Number Two; and Seth Green as Dr. Evil's troubled son, Scott Evil. Ming Tea, the swingin' pop band that periodically backs up Austin, includes real life pop-rockers Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was a mild box-office hit but an even bigger success on home video, which led to the 1999 sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide