DE NIRO A DELIGHT IN DROLL 'PARENTS'.

Byline: Rob Lowman Entertainment Editor

Jim Carrey probably has nothing to worry about. It's unlikely you'll see Robert De Niro as one half of ``Dumb and Dumber II,'' but the man who's played Travis (``You talking to me?'') Bickle in ``Taxi Driver,'' the creature in ``Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,'' the psychopath Max Cady in ``Cape Fear,'' Al Capone in ``The Untouchables,'' mobster Jimmy Conway in ``GoodFellas'' and the young Vito Corleone in ``The Godfather: Part II'' seems to be developing a sense of humor.

Last fall's comedy hit ``Meet the Parents'' follows the 1999 big laugher ``Analyze This.'' In between, De Niro even did a turn as Fearless Leader in last summer's silly but somewhat cute ``Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.''

Of course, even in comedies, De Niro plays off of the intense characters he has played in the past. In ``Meet the Parents,'' which comes out on video and DVD on Thursday, De Niro plays Jack Byrnes, a retired CIA agent who is the father of the woman that Greg Focker (Ben Stiller, note the pun in the name) wants to marry. The tagline for the movie is, ``First comes love, then comes the interrogation,'' which is where the plot goes as Byrnes plays the overprotective father as only a former spy can do - complete with a lie-detector device.

The DVD is filled with plenty of cool extras, including commentary from director Jay Roach, Blythe Danner (who plays Byrnes' wife), Stiller and De Niro. But don't expect a lot from De Niro, who on a recent ``Inside the Actor's Studio'' was deadly serious about his craft. As the other three talk amusingly about the film, De Niro pretty much only volunteers something when he's asked a question.

But there are some interesting moments with De Niro nevertheless. There's a funny scene in the film where Greg and Jack are driving together when the song ``Puff the Magic Dragon'' comes on the radio. When Jack comments that he likes the song, Greg starts talking about how some people think the tune was about smoking marijuana. Jack is appalled that a children's song would contain a drug reference and becomes suspicious that Greg is some kind of user.

As the scene plays out in the commentary, the 57-year-old De Niro is asked if he had ever heard the rumor. Though he is definitely from the ``Puff'' era, his answer was a terse, ``No, no I hadn't.''

OK, so maybe the scene was a stretch for the Oscar-winning actor, but it's still hilarious, as is the rest of ``Meet the Parents.''

NOT SO BEDAZZLING: The best thing going for the remake of ``Bedazzled,'' which came out on video and DVD Tuesday, are its leads, Brendan Fraser - who plays the sad-sack Eliot and Elizabeth Hurley - who plays the devil.

The story roughly follows the premise of the 1967 film, directed by Stanley Donan (``Singing in the Rain'') and written by Peter Cook and starring Cook as the devil (known as George Spiggott) and Dudley Moore as the hapless Stanley Moon.

While it's hard to think of a Satan more tempting than Hurley, who vamps up the role, and Fraser again proves his versatility, it's hard to see why the filmmakers tamper so much with the story in their update.

The 1967 version is much more sophisticated than the 2000 film. In the original, Stanley is a short-order chef, hopelessly in love with his waitress, Margaret Spencer (Eleanor Bron), but he can't find the courage to tell her. Despairing, he tries to hang himself. Enter the devil, who offers Stanley seven wishes in return for his soul.

Thinking that he will win Margaret, he agrees, only to be foiled over and over again by Satan, who puts some wicked twist into each of Stanley's wishes. What makes the 1967 ``Bedazzled'' so much fun is its surreal comic take on modern life. Even if the outfits are dated, it's more on target in its satire.

``There was a time when I used to get lots of ideas. I thought up the Seven Deadly Sins in one afternoon. The only thing I've come up with recently is advertising,'' laments Spiggott as a sort of low-rent devil doomed to creating minor mischief, like putting scratches in records because mankind has already become so adept at making its own evil.

The 2000 version has little subtext. The filmmakers, including director Harold Ramis, only seemed to go for the jokes, and even in that they didn't do as well as the 1967 version. The final twist in Cook's version leaves Stanley in a diabolical state, from which he is extricated only through another twist. ``Bedazzled'' 2000 just seems to run out of creative steam. There are a few laughs in it, but it pales compared to the original.

``Meet the Parents'' (Universal) is S22.98 on VHS and $26.98 on DVD, which includes the commentary, outtakes, deleted scenes, a featurette on the making of the film and games. The 2000 ``Bedazzled'' (Fox) is listed for rental on VHS and is $26.98 on DVD, which includes commentary by Harold Ramis and Hurley and a making-of featurette. The 1967 ``Bedazzled'' is available only on VHS - and good luck finding it.

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Photo: Retired CIA agent Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) develops an interesting relationship with his daughter's cat in ``Meet the Parents,'' available Thursday on video and DVD.