Netflix has released plenty of new projects this year, but none have shined as bright as War Machine, the epic sci-fi thriller starring Alan Ritchson. Best known for his lead role as Reacher in the hit Prime Video series of the same name, Ritchson proved to be the perfect action star to lead War Machine — the film is among Netflix’s top 10 most-watched titles ever, and the streamer has already confirmed that a sequel is in the early stages of development. Netflix has maintained an edge over other big streaming services like Prime Video due to its commitment to not only releasing fresh new originals but also picking up discarded classics and giving them a new home. Older shows like Dexter and Suits were both in line for revivals after being added to Netflix in recent years, and picking up a larger audience than they ever had while they were on the air.

Netflix has already picked out another series that could be the perfect candidate for a redemption arc, and all episodes of the five-season show are streaming on the platform right now, as of this Monday. The series in question is The Last Ship, the dystopian sci-fi naval thriller led by the late Eric Dane. The show ran for five seasons on TNT between 2014 and 2018, and it even features other notable stars such as Adam Baldwin and Charles Parnell. It’s been only a few days since all five seasons of The Last Ship were added to Netflix, but the show is already climbing streaming charts — it has crept into the Netflix top 10, and it seeks to rise higher in the rankings before it’s said and done.

What Is ‘The Last Ship’ About?

An official synopsis for The Last Ship, which holds a 69% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, reads as follows:

“After a devastating global pandemic wipes out most of humanity, the crew of the USS Nathan James remains one of the last functioning military forces on Earth. Led by Captain Tom Chandler, they embark on a perilous mission to develop a cure, confront emerging threats, and help rebuild civilization while navigating war, politics, and survival on a global scale.”

The show has been compared to The Last of Us due to its dystopian nature, but it also shares similarities to Greyhound, the hit Tom Hanks movie on Apple TV. Fans of either project are sure to find The Last Ship as their next streaming obsession, and if it picks up enough steam in the coming months, it could even be in line for a revival.

Check out all five seasons of The Last Ship on Netflix and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the show.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

2014 – 2018-00-00

Network

Advertisement

TNT

Directors

Paul Holahan, Jack Bender, Peter Weller, Michael Katleman, Bill Roe, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Bobby Roth, Brad Turner, Greg Beeman, Jann Turner, Jonathan Mostow, Kenneth Fink, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Nankin, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Tim Matheson, Nelson McCormick, Reza Tabrizi, Anton Cropper, Mairzee Almas

Advertisement

Advertisement

• 

  Eric Dane

  CO CDR Tom Chandler

  Advertisement
• 

  Rhona Mitra

  Dr. Rachel Scott

• 
• 

  Charles Parnell

  Advertisement

  CMC Jeter

Advertisement

Advertisement

The magical world of spells and potions isn’t always what the children’s books boast. That is the stance that SyFy’s highly underrated dark fantasy series takes during its five seasons of heartwrenching storylines. The Magicians debuted in 2015, adapted from Lev Grossman’s book of the same name. A marriage between Harry Potter and the dark academia genre, the series follows a group of graduate students invited to the magical university of Brakebills.

Viewers came for the magic but stayed for the enduring and sometimes horrifying storylines about adulthood that put a spin on the whimsy of places like Narnia. Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) functions as a proxy for the audience, who is elated to be a magician. He is doused with cold reality, however, when he learns that magic comes with a price, and all the tales he read as a child are more real than they should be.

‘The Magicians’ Is the Antidote To Overly Sentimental Magic Schools

Who hasn’t wished that they would be spirited away to a magical school to learn spellcasting and witchcraft? The Magicians posits that even in students’ twenties, they could still have such a gift – only this one some may want to return. Quentin and his group of cohorts learn how to bend the laws of reality, but that is only so they can defend the school against an entity known as the Beast.

The first season chronicles the Brakebills’ students’ attempt to power up and fight a creature that no one in the history of magic has been able to defeat. The Beast is the gut-wrenching antithesis to Voldemort, whose origins are not easy viewing. The villains of The Magicians cause real-world consequences as the series depicts harrowing issues such as mental health issues and sexual assault.

This series is truly for the older set, as these adult magicians have adult problems. This dark material is perfect for viewers ready for the next level, but it also contains much-needed levity. In addition to trickster gods and infinite time loops, The Magicians also shows what Narnia would be like if it existed.

The fantasy show’s version of Narnia is Fillory, a place Quentin first perceived as fictional. This turns out to be false when the students learn they can visit the inspiration for the in-show books. However, it isn’t the world full of wonder that Quentin grew up with. This Fillory is full of monsters, torture dungeons, and a declining aristocratic state. The Magicians is perfect from start to finish and pokes fun at the C.S. Lewis series while also exploring mature themes that set the story apart from every other magical school narrative.

SyFy’s five-part series was perhaps too brilliant because it missed the attention of many. Similar to AMC’s The Vampire Lestat, which has a niche audience, The Magicians also uses dark humor and in-depth lore to tell incredible human stories. The show may have premiered over a decade ago, but these intense themes hit harder than ever before. A series truly about reaching adulthood, The Magicians is a must-watch no matter what the era.

Advertisement

Release Date

Advertisement

2015 – 2020-00-00

Directors

Chris Fisher, James L. Conway, Joshua Butler, John Scott, Carol Banker, Scott Smith, Guy Norman Bee, Rebecca Johnson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Meera Menon, amanda tapping, Bill Eagles, Jan Eliasberg, Kate Woods, Shannon Kohli

Advertisement

Writers

John McNamara, Henry Alonso Myers, David Reed, Noga Landau, Christina Strain, Leah Fong, Alex Raiman, Elle Lipson, David Reed

Advertisement

Advertisement

• 
• 

  Olivia Taylor Dudley

  Alice Quinn

Advertisement

Advertisement

Sydney Sweeney’s date night loungewear is a must-see.

The Euphoria actress, 28, showed off her curves in a burgundy red set while promoting her lingerie brand, Syrn, via Instagram on Friday, June 19. In the clip, Sweeney panned the camera down to give a glimpse at her ensemble.. She playfully blew a kiss to the camera while clad in matching mid-rise underwear, which she wore with her Lowdown camp featuring a scoop neck and thin straps.

For glam, Sweeney donned a full beat, including dewy skin, filled-in eyebrows, winged eyeliner, blushed cheeks and long lashes. Her blonde hair was parted down the middle and styled in big, voluminous curls.

“Date Night with Syd ✨,” the official Syrn account captioned the post. Her fans were quick to praise her in the comments section.
“OKEY, SHE’S SO CUTE!💗,” one gushed. Another follower commented, “Gorgeous Syd❣️,” while a third commented, “😮 oh My god 😍.”

Sweeney’s sexy snap comes amid her relationship with Scooter Braun. Earlier this month, the actress gushed over the music producer via Instagram while celebrating his 45th birthday.

Thank You!

You have successfully subscribed.

“Happiest of birthdays to the man with the biggest heart I know ❤️,” she captioned a photo of herself kissing his cheek.

The duo was first spotted together in Italy before Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s wedding last summer. A source later told Us Weekly that their relationship was getting “very serious.”

In April, the insider added, “They are the real deal. People around them thought that this would be just a fling, but they are committed.”

The past few months have been stellar on Apple TV, cementing the streamer as one of the very best among difficult competition. Not only have the likes of the comedy-drama Shrinking, the epic Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and the utterly gripping Your Friends & Neighbors delivered hit new seasons, but the streamer has also dropped brand-new success stories, including the Elle Fanning-led adaptation, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, and a fresh, acclaimed new adaptation of Cape Fear.

But can Apple TV continue its near-perfect run of shows? Well, if its latest returning favorite is anything to go by, 2026 hasn’t even reached top gear yet. On June 19, the Colin Farrell-led 2024 series Sugar made its hotly anticipated Season 2 debut, as the titular private eye hiding a blue-skinned sci-fi secret returned. The first season earned plenty of acclaim, being called “exceptionally strong” in Collider’s review. But with such a high bar to hit, could Sugar Season 2 match expectations?

Not only has the series returned with a bang, but Sugar Season 2 has landed a sweet, perfect score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. ScreenRant called it “Apple TV’s best detective series,” whilst CBR said, “Colin Farrell’s Apple TV mystery gets even better.” For Collider, Nate Richard was more reserved in his assessment, writing in his review: “There are moments of pure thrills and intrigue, but Season 2 often becomes bogged down by a story that gets sloppier the deeper it goes.” While the series is Certified Fresh, Season 2’s score is currently down significantly from Season 1’s near-perfect 96% at a still respectable 81%.

Will There Be More ‘Sugar’?

With Sugar‘s return proving a critical smash, and with the show already back near the top of the streaming charts in America, will we see more of the titular private investigator in the future? If Farrell were to have his way, the show would run for many more years, according to a new interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub. “I would love to get four or five seasons out of this,” Farrell openly admitted, before doubling down. “I would love to get four or five seasons. I can’t get a straight answer out of Apple because they pretty much go season to season, which I get, it’s a business, based on the viewership and all that kind of jazz.” Farrell then confirmed that, in August, “we’ll know whether we get a third season or not.”

Sugar is available to stream on Apple TV. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Release Date

April 4, 2024

Network

Apple TV

Advertisement

Showrunner

Mark Protosevich, Sam Catlin

Advertisement

Advertisement

• 
• 
• 

  Miguel Sandoval

  Thomas Kinzie

• 

  Scott Lawrence

  Advertisement

  Dr. Vickers

Advertisement

Advertisement

Romance has existed in literature for centuries, and in mythology for millennia before that, but the twentieth century produced some of the genre’s most enduring masterpieces. The greatest romance books serve up dramatic plots while also exploring deeper themes, like identity, sacrifice, obsession, and loss.

With that in mind, this list attempts to rank some of the finest of them, from intimate character studies to epic historical sagas. Whether tragic, hopeful, or bittersweet, these novels demonstrate love’s power to shape (and upend) entire lives.

10

‘The Thorn Birds’ (1977)

“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life.” The Thorn Birds is a sweeping family saga that spans decades and multiple generations, following the Cleary family as they build a life in the harsh Australian outback. However, the heart of the novel is the relationship between Meggie Cleary and Father Ralph de Bricassart. Their connection is profound and passionate but seemingly impossible, constrained by Ralph’s ambition within the Catholic Church and the demands of faith.

In other words, theirs is a doomed love, one shaped by sacrifice, missed opportunities, and painful choices, and the book is honest about the challenges they face. Unlike most romances, which tend to be optimistic to the point of fantasy, The Thorn Birds is realistic. It acknowledges that love alone cannot always overcome circumstance. Nevertheless, the story resonated, turning the novel into a huge bestseller.

9

‘Outlander’ (1991)

“For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary.” Diana Gabaldon‘s magnum opus blends historical fiction with fantasy, adventure, and intense romance. In it, former World War II nurse Claire Randall is mysteriously transported from 1945 to eighteenth-century Scotland. Stranded in a dangerous and unfamiliar world, she becomes involved with Highland warrior Jamie Fraser. This juicy premise sets the stage for an epic tale of love, war, and political intrigue.

The setting is rich and well-researched, really immersing the reader in the historical details. Claire and Jamie must navigate real issues of the time, like clan rivalries and the looming Jacobite conflicts. That said, the book’s strongest feature is probably the characterization. Claire is an unusually independent and capable person, especially by the standards of the genre. Jamie, meanwhile, is noble and charismatic without feeling idealized.

8

‘Rebecca’ (1938)

Image via Virago

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Most people will be more familiar with Hitchcock‘s movie version, but the original Rebecca novel is a masterpiece in its own right. It follows a young unnamed woman who marries the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter and moves to his estate, Manderley. There, she finds herself living in the shadow of Maxim’s first wife, the seemingly perfect Rebecca. What follows is a romance suffused with Gothic mystery and psychological tension.

The atmosphere is unforgettable. Manderley feels almost alive, filled with memories, secrets, and lingering traces of Rebecca’s presence. A sense of dread hangs over it all. The romance is therefore not simply about falling in love, but about insecurity, jealousy, identity, and the difficulty of truly knowing another person. As the protagonist gradually uncovers the truth about Rebecca, both she and the reader are forced to reassess everything they thought they knew about what devotion really means.

7

‘The English Patient’ (1992)

Image via McClelland and Stuart

“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes.” Set during the final days of World War II, The English Patient follows several characters living in a ruined Italian villa, including a badly burned man known only as the English patient. As his memories gradually emerge, readers learn the story of his passionate affair with the married Katharine Clifton… and the tragedy that followed. Their relationship has all the hallmarks of a classic romance: longing, secrecy, intensity.

However, the novel stands above most stories in this genre thanks to the author’s brilliant prose. Michael Ondaatje’s writing is poetic, filled with evocative imagery and beautifully observed details. The desert landscapes and bombed-out villas are rendered with such richness that they become inseparable from the characters’ emotional lives. The result is a book that feels almost dreamlike and immersive, rewarding careful reading.

6

‘Doctor Zhivago’ (1957)

“Man is born to live, not to prepare for life.” This one served as the basis for David Lean‘s legendary epic. Doctor Zhivago tells the story of Yuri Zhivago, a physician and poet whose life is transformed by the Russian Revolution and Civil War. Amid political upheaval and social chaos, Yuri falls deeply in love with Lara, a woman whose fate repeatedly intersects. The book is an interesting fusion of historical scope and personal focus, serving as a snapshot of a whole country while also going deep into the psychology of the protagonists.

Doctor Zhivago is also deeply philosophical. Writer Boris Pasternak uses the characters to explore themes of freedom, morality, creativity, and individual identity. Many of these reflections come from Yuri himself, who makes for a deeply perceptive main character. Ultimately, the book earned its author the Nobel Prize for Literature, much to the Soviet Union’s chagrin.

5

‘A Farewell to Arms’ (1929)

“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” This Hemingway classic centers on Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver serving in the Italian Army during World War I. Amid the chaos and brutality, he falls in love with Catherine Barkley, a British nurse. Their relationship becomes a refuge from the destruction surrounding them, and the author’s stripped-down approach ensures that it feels intimate and honest.

Hemingway’s famously spare, understated writing conveys enormous emotional depth without sentimentality. Rather than relying on melodrama, he allows simple conversations and quiet moments to carry weight. The lovers are constantly confronted by forces beyond their control, giving everything a sense of impermanence and vulnerability. Through this, A Farewell to Arms explores timeless ideas: love as a sanctuary, the inevitability of loss, and the struggle to find meaning in an indifferent world.

4

‘Gone with the Wind’ (1936)

“After all, tomorrow is another day.” Yet another classic that was turned into an equally impressive movie. Gone with the Wind introduces one of literature’s most vivid heroines in the determined, ambitious, and sometimes selfish Scarlett O’Hara, who struggles to survive the American Civil War and its aftermath. Once again, the sweep of the story is epic, but the centre of gravity is the protagonist’s complicated relationship with Rhett Butler.

Their romance is compelling precisely because it’s so combustible. Scarlett and Rhett are passionate, stubborn, proud, and deeply flawed individuals whose desires and ambitions frequently place them at odds with one another. Their relationship unfolds over many years, filled with misunderstandings and missed opportunities, mirroring the social turbulence around them. In the end, while aspects of the book are controversial today, its influence on romantic fiction is undeniable.

3

‘The End of the Affair’ (1951)

“A story has no beginning or end.” This one was written by the influential British journalist and novelist Graham Greene, and it ranks among his very best work. The End of the Affair begins after the collapse of a passionate affair between writer Maurice Bendrix and Sarah Miles, the wife of a British civil servant. Unable to move on, Maurice becomes obsessed with understanding why Sarah ended their relationship. His search for answers uncovers secrets involving faith, sacrifice, jealousy, and love.

While the plot itself seems simple, Greene handles it with unusual psychological depth. Maurice is a compelling narrator because he’s so three-dimensional, simultaneously intelligent, witty, bitter, and painfully self-aware. His jealousy drives much of the story, and, through him, Greene fearlessly examines the darker aspects of romance, including possessiveness, resentment, and despair. Here, love can be inspiring or endlessly destructive.

2

‘Love in the Time of Cholera’ (1985)

Image via Gabriel García Márquez/Vintage

“It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.” One of Gabriel García Márquez‘s masterworks, Love in the Time of Cholera tells the extraordinary story of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, whose youthful romance is interrupted when Fermina chooses to marry another man. Refusing to abandon his feelings, Florentino spends more than fifty years waiting for another chance to be with the woman he loves.

Márquez spins this setup into a moving slice of magical realism, buoyed along by his rich prose. The emotions are heightened, and there’s a kind of grandeur to even the everyday moments. It makes for a beautiful examination of love’s contradictions. All this culminates in a brilliant final chapter, ranking among the very best in all of fiction.

1

‘The Great Gatsby’ (1925)

Image via Scribner/F Scott. Fitzgerald

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” The Great Gatsby is like a talisman of the 1920s, preserving that decade in amber, while also serving up one of the most influential love stories ever. Narrated by Nick Carraway, the novel centers on the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his obsessive devotion to Daisy Buchanan, a woman he has loved for years despite her marriage to another man. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Gatsby’s pursuit of Daisy to comment on idealism, longing, memory, and the American Dream.

Gatsby’s romance is not simply about winning back a lost love. It becomes a symbol of his desire to recapture an imagined past and achieve an impossible ideal. This makes his devotion admirable in some respects and deeply tragic, even repulsive in others. Here, romance gets entangled with wealth, status, nostalgia, and illusion. A classic.

By Robert Scucci
| Published 55 seconds ago

I recently had the displeasure of watching Coyote Ugly for the first time ever after my friends said that I’d love to hate on it, but I can see why this film was an absolute commercial hit in the year 2000. While romantic comedy-dramas aren’t typically the kind of films I seek out for leisure viewing, I’m always intrigued by films that have a massive disconnect between their critical and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

Coyote Ugly is a perfect film to dissect because its 23 percent critical score against its 71 percent audience score tells me that either critics completely missed the point, or that audiences are simply enjoying the film by letting their guard down and not watching it critically. However, I find that I fall somewhere in the middle because it’s a fun movie, but not without a lot of problems that are hard to overlook.

Just A Small-Town Girl…

Coyote Ugly centers on Violet Sanford (Piper Perabo), a small-town girl from South Amboy, New Jersey, who has always dreamed of moving to New York City to pursue her dreams of becoming a famous singer-songwriter.

Her confidence is quickly shaken when she realizes that nobody is interested in her demo tape, mostly due to the fact that she doesn’t want to perform her music herself because of her stage fright. An emotional throughline is established when it’s revealed that she’s trying to follow in her late mother’s footsteps and that her father, Bill (John Goodman), doesn’t necessarily approve of her big-city aspirations.

Becoming A Coyote

Down on her luck and in serious need of steady employment, Violet overhears a bunch of “Coyotes” at a diner who are just getting off their shift and counting the money they earned while working at the notorious Coyote Ugly Saloon. Violet seeks out the owner, Lil (Maria Bello), lands an “audition” for a bartending job, and proves herself to be a valuable asset to the club that’s known for its female staff setting the bar on fire, swinging from the rafters, and breaking up fights when drunken patrons get too rowdy.

After Violet belts out a blistering rendition of “One Way Or Another” to subdue an unruly crowd, she finds her new home at Coyote Ugly, but still can’t shake her stage fright when it comes to performing her own music.

Violet And Kevin

Everything changes for Violet when she forms a romantic relationship with Kevin O’Donnell (Adam Garcia), a working-class man who wants to help her push her music career to the next level. Coyote Ugly truly gets ugly when Violet diverts all of her time and attention to her bartending cohorts, much to the disapproval of her father and Kevin. Just as quickly as Violet makes a name for herself as a Coyote, she burns every single bridge that once held her up as she loses site of her goals.

Patently Unlikable Protagonist

While Coyote Ugly has all the elements of an effective rom-com, it’s not without its shortcomings. The biggest issue I have with the film is that Violet is a patently unlikable protagonist, as she pushes away every single person who is actively trying to help her realize her life-long dream. She has no problem standing on top of a bar singing along with the jukebox, but repeatedly refuses to perform at open-mic outings that Kevin’s gracious enough to book for her.

Violet’s shifts in personality also lack subtlety because she goes from naive to overconfident at the drop of a hat, all while lacking the self-awareness she needs to have to become the redeeming character that I’d actually want to root for. To put it bluntly, Coyote Ugly plays out like a PG-13 version of Showgirls.

Fun If You Don’t Take It Seriously

At the end of the day, Coyote Ugly does exactly what it sets out to do. It tells a simple story about a young woman trying to follow in her mother’s footsteps. But Violet’s character is written so poorly that I found myself gritting my teeth instead of hoping she’d succeed.

However, the scenes set in the Coyote Ugly bar itself are high-energy, packed with humor, and paced in a way that makes for a solid viewing experience if you allow yourself to have just a little bit of fun. As of this writing, you can stream Coyote Ugly on Hulu, but I strongly recommend that you put on your dancing shoes first.

By Robert Scucci
| Updated 17 seconds ago

While I spend most of my time watching bargain-bin, straight-to-VHS trash that’s typically found streaming on Tubi, I’m not averse to the occasional rom-com that the whole family can enjoy. Meet the Parents (2000) came out when I was 12, and I fondly remember watching it in theaters with my parents and eventually getting some reps on it when it was added to our DVD collection. I had similar feelings about Meet the Fockers for the same exact reason. They’re the kind of comedies that border on awkward and raunchy, but you could have your girlfriend or a group of friends over, watch it with your boomer parents, and have a good laugh.

Here’s what’s strange about the Meet the Parents franchise, though: I have fond memories of the first two movies and the people I watched them with, but I actually had to undergo hypnosis (read: fire up Netflix) to remember what even happened in the third film, 2010’s Little Fockers. It’s a total nothingburger of a movie that doesn’t come close to capturing the charm and charisma of its predecessors.

I’ll approach the release of this year’s Focker-In-Law with guarded enthusiasm. If it’s anywhere close to the first two movies, I think it’ll fare well. If it’s more like the 2010 film, however, the franchise is as good as dead.

Two Near-Perfect Escalations

In Meet the Parents, Gaylord “Greg” Focker (Ben Stiller) is dealt the worst hand imaginable, making for a fantastic comedy of errors. He has to ask his girlfriend Pam’s (Teri Polo) father, Jack (Robert De Niro), for his blessing to marry her, only to find out that he’s a retired CIA agent with serious trust issues. To make matters worse, Pam’s ex-fiancé Kevin (Owen Wilson) is like the final boss of ex-lovers who are still adored by your partner’s family. It’s a total nightmare situation for Greg, who gets caught in one little white lie after another. It’s exactly what anybody would do in his situation, but it’s also what prompts Jack to keep him under heightened scrutiny in search of bigger, more life-ruining lies.

The main source of comedy in Meet the Parents comes from the walls of insecurity that both Greg and Jack have in spades, and how that has a hilariously adverse effect on their willingness and ability to communicate with one another when they both have the same exact goal in mind: making sure Pam is happy.

Meet the Fockers is a perfect continuation of the franchise that keeps things fresh by adding new characters. The wedding date is six months out and Greg and Jack are on friendlier terms, so the film has to pivot with its humor. This time, it’s sourced from the addition of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand’s Bernie and Roz Focker, Greg’s parents. Bernie and Roz are free spirits, warm, compassionate, and just a little too intrusive. When thrown into a room with Jack, who spent most of his adult life closing himself off from the people closest to him for the sake of national security, the clash of personalities alone is enough for some truly legendary moments.

The film adds depth to Greg’s character because we learn how he was raised and why he’s so reluctant to open up to his future in-laws. The fact that he loves his parents but is simultaneously embarrassed to death by them tells you everything you need to know.

There Is A Such Thing As Too Reliable

Which brings us to Little Fockers, a film that now has to work with the above-mentioned dynamics that have already demonstrated themselves to resonate with audiences. Bernie and Roz are reliably Bernie and Roz. Jack reliably reacts to how reliably Bernie and Roz act, and hilarity ensues (allegedly). Kevin reliably gets under Greg’s skin, while Pam reliably gets caught in the middle of this weird, one-sided love triangle.

Jack is reliably tight-lipped about some of his health issues, and Greg is reliably put in a tough spot because he needs to respect his father-in-law’s wishes for secrecy while withholding important information from the rest of the family. Jack is also reliably suspicious of Greg when he assumes he’s having an extramarital affair, and those suspicions reliably spiral to ridiculous proportions when Jack pursues every lead like a secret agent instead of just having a frank conversation with his son-in-law.

This flash flood of reliability is exactly why Little Fockers failed to resonate with audiences. Every setup and bit of wordplay feels borrowed from the previous films, to the point where Greg and Pam’s kids, Henry (Colin Baiocchi) and Samantha (Daisy Tahan), feel like an afterthought. It’s as if the studio was looking for a reason to justify bringing everybody back together, and the solution was, “Throw some kids in the mix.”

Having rewatched Little Fockers on Netflix for the first time since its initial theatrical release, I can safely say I waited 97 minutes for almost nothing to happen. I’m not even mad, and I was too underwhelmed by the film to feel disappointed. It’s just … nothing, which is an absolute shame because the first two films still hold up shockingly well.