Weddings can be stressful. The planning of the actual event, along with facing the responsibilities surrounding a life-long commitment to another person, creates both an exciting and terrifying experience for the couple involved. But all of the wedding nonsense can’t compare to the stress of the couple’s parents meeting for the first time. In Arthur Hiller’s 1979 comedy THE IN-LAWS, we witness this first meeting, over an awkward dinner filled with tall tales and bizarre behavior. Alan Arkin is Sheldon “Shelly” Kornpett, a successful dentist whose daughter is a day or two away from tying the knot. Shelly is supportive of his daughter and her fiancée, but has doubts about his daughter’s future father-in-law, Vince Ricardo, played by Peter Falk; an enigmatic character who has yet to set aside the time to meet the Kornpett family. Shelly has concerns about Vince, specifically in relation to his career as a so-called international consultant. After receiving a bit of unsolicited advice from one of his dental patients, Shelly is convinced that Vince is a shady character and is seriously considering calling the wedding off altogether.
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