OK. Here's what you want to know. "Meet The Parents" is the No. 1 movie in the country for a good reason: It's hilarious.

This was just a great movie, absolutely great. It was even funnier than the last big Ben Stiller comedy, "There's Something About Mary."

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Ben Stiller does a wonderful job of making you totally feel for him as he tries to impress his girlfriend's parents -- a situation at least half of us can sympathize with. ”

Stiller does a wonderful job of making you totally feel for him as he tries to impress his girlfriend's parents, a situation at least half of us can sympathize with. As hard as this may be for you to believe, I actually was once the outsider boyfriend trying to woo the darling daughter. I totally related.

I tend to enjoy situational comedy. The premise is set up and then they run with it. A bad movie is when the premise is set up but there's nowhere to go. In "Meet The Parents" there are a lot of comedic opportunities that are natural, not forced and really funny.

I also enjoy slapstick comedy and there are plenty of really funny, over-the-top scenes. Ben Stiller is a gifted comedian and he just shines as this nerdy guy whose father-in-law proves to be one tough sell.

Robert De Niro is also hilarious in this movie, which can't really be called a stretch for him anymore. After the light comedy of "Midnight Run" with Charles Grodin and then again with Sean Penn in "We're No Angels," it is no surprise to see De Niro more than hold his own in a comedy.

De Niro was superb in last year's "Analyze This," just as funny as Billy Crystal -- which is not easy to do. They say dying is easy but comedy is hard. De Niro does both better than anyone alive, if you know what I mean.

All of those movies are worth renting, by the way. Just think that the actor from "Raging Bull" or "Casino" or "Heat" is up there hamming it up as a super-intense father-in-law. His range is mind-boggling.

And I mean "hamming" in the nicest possible way, as in playing lightly along with the exaggerated characters that comedy sometimes calls for. That's what I meant by hamming. OK? You got that? I did not mean to imply that Robert De Niro would ham it up in a movie in a bad way, giving a bad performance. He wouldn't do that and, if he did, the film would just melt anyway so you could never prove it.

Anyway, Blythe Danner plays De Niro's wife in the movie. She is quite beautiful and a great counterpart to De Niro. She is also Gwyneth Paltrow's mom in real life. Don't say I never taught you anything.

Go see the movie. You'll love it. A must-see.

Dibble's scorecard: Four out of four baseballs.