1. The Dinner Scene – Meet The Parents (2000)
When it comes to uncomfortable and awkward movie scenes, it seems that Ben Stiller is the king. Nowhere is this better displayed than in Meet the Parents, when Stiller’s Greg Focker meets his prospective bride-to-be’s parents. Despite heading in with an optimistic confidence, Greg soon learns that his future father-in-law is more than a little hostile.
What follows is by far the most awkward movie scene of all time. Greg tries desperately to impress his girlfriend’s family, only to be rebuffed at every turn. Floundering, he begins to assert that he can milk cats, even miming a small demonstration for the family. It’s so awkward that it’s practically painful.
Stiller’s discomfort is plain throughout the scene, as is Robert De Niro’s disdain. Watching Greg squirm as he succumbs to his father-in-law’s thousand-yard stare is a thing of beauty. That is, as long as we don’t ever have to experience it for real. That would be utterly horrifying.
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