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Q: I saw part of a movie the other day with Michael Douglas playing the father of Ryan Reynolds. What can you tell me about it so I can find the whole thing?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

I can tell you the name of it: "The In-Laws."

The film, released in 2003, was actually a remake of the 1979 classic of the same name. It's about a mild-mannered foot doctor (played by comedic great Albert Brooks in the remake) who, before his daughter's wedding, learns that her future father-in-law is somehow involved in an arms deal with a French smuggler. He, of course, becomes increasingly wrapped up in his in-laws' new, comically dangerous world.

Michael Douglas plays the arms-dealing father, with Ryan Reynolds as his son, who is engaged to Brooks' daughter, played by former teen star Lindsay Sloane (of "The Wonder Years" and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" fame).

The original starred Peter Falk as the dangerous father of the groom and Alan Arkin as the increasingly terrified father of the bride (he's a dentist in the original, rather than a podiatrist).

Reynolds' role was originally played by Michael Lembeck, who had a go at acting but never quite made it. He turned to TV directing in the late '80s and has since made a much more successful career out of it, most recently helming most of the episodes of the ABC Family comedy "Baby Daddy."

 

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