The often terrifying ordeal of meeting the in-laws-to-be made for great comedy in Meet the Parents.
In Why Him?, Ned (Bryan Cranston) and Barb (Megan Mullally) fly across the country at Christmastime to meet their daughter’s Silicon Valley multi-millionaire boyfriend, Laird, played by James Franco. Cranston’s straight-laced family man immediately clashes with the vulgar, impulsive Laird. Why Him?’s cast also features Keegan-Michael Key (Keanu) as Laird’s estate manager, Griffin Gluck (Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life) as Ned and Barb’s son, Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some) as the daughter, and Cedric the Entertainer (The Steve Harvey Show) as Ned’s friend.
Also showing up in the movie much to the delight of KISS fanatics Ned and Barb: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.
Now that 2000 movie’s co-writer, John Hamburg, is covering similar ground in the director’s chair of this year’s Why Him?, though with the Meet the Parents dynamic “turned on its head,” as he told us.