Customer Reviews

Monster-in-Law [VHS]

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(42)
3 star:		(43)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

"Monster-In-Law" is not the train wreck I was expecting, but it could've been so much more.

Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) works a series of temp jobs and enjoys everything she does, making ends meet. It makes life interesting. One day, she meets Kevin (Michael Vartan), a doctor, and they quickly fall in love. Kevin's Mom is Viola Fields (Jane Fonda), a successful Barbara Walters-like network news anchor, with problems of her own. Kevin brings Charlie to his mother's estate to meet her. Kevin decides to propose, in front of his mother. Viola clearly disapproves and sets about breaking them up. As she and Ruby (Wanda Sykes), her assistant, set a series of events in motion, Charlie gradually begins to realize what she is working against and fights back.

"Monster-In-Law", directed by Robert Luketic ("Legally Blond", "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!"), frequently veers into sitcom territory.

The acting is very broad and cartoonish. At one point, Charlie, having pulled one off on Viola, shakes her head and sniggers, much like a Hanna Barbera cartoon character. Lopez's character is all over the place. At one moment, she appears to be normal and caring and sympathetic, the other, she is acting like Peg Bundy from "Married with Children". Fonda, returning to feature films after 15 years, is clearly having fun chewing the scenery. And it is fun to watch her. But she is so over the top and Lopez is over the top only part of the time, that it seems like a bad sitcom. Wanda Sykes is very funny as Ruby. Her natural allegiance is with Viola, someone she has worked with for years, maybe decades, but she isn't beyond dressing down her boss, pointing out the problems with her theories. When she realizes that this isn't going to stop her boss, and Charlie is a stronger adversary, she begins to root a little for her. Michael Vartan (from TVs "Alias") is a very handsome guy, but he is virtually non-existent in this film. He is such a flat, boring character that he gets completely lost in the wake of Hurricane Fonda and Tropical Storm Lopez.

The film would've worked better if the two lead actresses were more complimentary. As Fonda chews the scenery, Lopez moves from trying to portray a real woman to matching the overblown antics of her co-star. It might have been more successful if one of the two were cartoonish while the other was more natural. Providing more balance to the proceedings. Or, if they were equally outlandish. As it is, the film seems unbalanced. Strange.

This sort of story naturally lends itself to a darker tone, but the filmmakers have steered clear of that. If the story moves slightly towards "dark territory", it quickly veers back into the safe and sunny territory everyone feels was necessary to earn the film mass acceptance. At one point, Viola is so fed up with Charlie that she is about to smash up some almonds and slip them into Charlie's food. Earlier, Charlie remarked that she was allergic to nuts. Ruby talks her out of it. Why does she have to talk Viola out of it? The story sets up that Viola is more than a little egomaniacal, more than a little crazy, more than a little excessive. It seems like her character would go through with something like this, no matter what. They pull Viola back because they want her to remain sympathetic, for the sappy, sweet ending.

I did laugh. More than I expected to. Much of this laughter was created by Wanda Sykes. Ruby is the type of all-knowing character every lead used to have. Think Thelma Ritter in the 50s. A couple of her one-liners made me laugh out loud.

Because the filmmakers pull the punches, they rob the film of any dark humor and relegate it to the annals of forgettable comedies on the shelf of every video store throughout the country.

From all of the horrible reviews I have read, I was expecting "Monster-In-Law" to be completely dreadful. I was surprised that I found myself laughing at the absurd situations. Certainly worth checking out on video, but a bargain matinee is pushing it.

This movie isn't as bad as a lot of reviewers make it out to be. In a sea of unrelenting bad box office movies, this film at least keeps it's head above water. For Jennifer Lopez fans, there is enough sweetness factor to keep them happy. The plot is familiar and formulamatic, yet light and often funny. Charlie (Lopez) has lead a life of many part time jobs and is getting along just fine till she has a chance meeting with Dr. Kevin Fields (played a bit woodenly by Alias' Michael Vartan)and falls in love. Things couldn't be better until Kevin arranges for Charlie to meet his mother, Viola Fields (Fonda)a talk show host put out to pasture by her network and recently released after a break down from a hospital who has nothing left in life but making her son's prespective dates miserable. Kevin chooses to ask Charlie to marry him in front tof his mother and the hijinks begin. Viola has other plans and is hell bent to break them up. But as misery loves company, Charlie decides to fight back. Throw in Wanda Sykes as Viola's personal assistant who wants no part in this struggle and this makes for some very comical moments. Sykes is great in her small role but really chews on the scenery and makes the most of a role written far to small for this large comedic talent. The movie is largely entertaining but you may want to rent it before actually making the purchase. Worth a viewing at least.

Great from start to finish. The story fallows Charlie (Jennifer Lopez)one day, she meets Kevin (Michael Vartan), a doctor, and they quickly fall in love. Kevin's Mom is Viola Fields (Jane Fonda), a successful Barbara Walters-like network news anchor, with problems of her own. Kevin brings Charlie to his mother's estate to meet her. Kevin decides to propose, in front of his mother. Viola clearly disapproves and sets about breaking them up. As she and Ruby (Wanda Sykes), her assistant, set a series of events in motion, Charlie gradually begins to realize what she is working against and fights back. The acting is great all the characors do great jobs. Theres Jennifer Lopez who is innocent and then fights back and it's hallarious when she fights back. Then theres Jane Fonda who is perfect as the mother in law from hell. Wonda Sykes dose a great supporting role. the movie has reat one liners that will elave you laughing. The movie is predictable but it's still lots of fun froms tart to finish.

I have read many reviews and cant believe this is the same movie I saw!!!! I LOVED the movie and cant wait to get it on DVD. I took all my girls ages 16 to 25 and we all laughed so hard.I took mu husband the week later and he enjoyed it and laughed. JANE FONDA was so funny and I was so glad to see her back in a movie. It's a movie people-some people think the world had to move to make it great. And what made it even funnier is as we were watching it was we all realized she's MY mother in law, to the tee. Rent it- buy it. IT IS FUNNY!

MONSTER IN LAW represents Jane Fonda's return to the movies for the first time in fifteen years. The role is a genuine departure for her, for she plays an aging TV host and mother who has lost her job and is losing her son to Jennifer Lopez in marriage. She was fifty-two at the time of her previous film, so this is the first time on screen where playing an older woman has arisen. So, how did Jane do? First, anyone would have to grant that she is aging with grace. Yes, she looks older, but she has also obviously worked hard at taking care of herself, and I only pray that when I reach her age I am even remotely in as good a shape as she is now. Unfortunately, I am not sure that the role was completely appropriate for her. She basically has to play an extraordinarily shallow, selfish, self-absorbed jerk, and though she throws herself into this wholeheartedly, she isn't completely believable. Nonetheless, there are still a host of very funny scenes, and while the part might not be perfect for her, it certainly wasn't an utter mistake.

The real problem with the movie is that it is utterly predictable. Before it starts, you know pretty much everything that is going to happen. You know that it will start off at Point A and end up at Point Z, the only question being some of the variations along the way. There is nothing necessarily bad about being predictable, as long as one makes up for it by being creative within that framework. And indeed many of the jokes here are quite funny, and there are a number of nice moments. However, almost all of the key transitions are rather tired and true. By the end of the film, the viewer is left with the distinct impression of having seen it all before.

Jennifer Lopez has one of the most negative public images of any actor or actress in America, but however she might be as a person face to face, I have always like her film persona. She projects as a very sweet, very nice individual on screen, and one of the regrets I have had about her career is that she hasn't made enough films like THE WEDDING PLANNER and MAID IN MANHATTAN. This isn't as good a movie as either of those films, but as in those I enjoyed the moments she appears on screen. I very much regretted, on the other hand, the relatively small amount of time that Michael Vartan had in the film. I was worried that I was going to have trouble accepting him in the film, being a big fan of ALIAS. I wasn't sure that I could accept him as anyone except Vaughan, but it turned out to be remarkably easy to do so. It would have been hard in a film structured around Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda squaring off, but I wish he had had a larger role, even though he was third billed as it was. The other major presence in the film-and a highly welcome one-was stand up comedienne Wanda Sykes as Ruby, Jane Fonda's assistant. She if a fundamentally funny person, and is delightful in delivering her lines whether they are strictly funny or not.

All in all, this is a fine comedy as long as one keeps one's expectations somewhat muted. After I saw it at a preview, I replied to friends who asked about it, "I'd wait for it on DVD." I think that is about right. It is a pleasant film, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to see a film in a theater. For that, there are probably better options.

On a side note for those interested in celebrity gossip (and come on, even Franklin Delano Roosevelt delighted in it) should take note the irony of having Jennifer Lopez and Michael Vartan teamed together as a romantic couple in a film. Jennifer Lopez was, of course, famously linked with Ben Affleck, who went on after the breaking off of their engagement to become involved with Jennifer Garner, who was involved with Michael Vartan shortly before dating Affleck.

I loved this movie. Sure it is predictable, but it was funny and each time I see Jennifer Lopez in a movie, I'm not disappointed. While she'll never win an Oscar, she can make you laugh. She's pretty and she has good timing. Jane Fonda makes a departure from her previous efforts. She's also not bad, but for an actress of her calibre, maybe it was a little low for her (whilst also fitting the role pretty well). As for Michael Vartan ... well he's just hot. Really nice looking and you kind of felt sorry for him to have lived with his mum all his kid life.

Go and see this with an open mind and you'll like it. Especially if you love romantic comedies. This is funny and a general feel good movie you'll want to watch again and again.

This is just a funny romantic comedy. You will laugh off and on thru the whole movie. This was so enjoyable to watch...especially if you have a monster mother in-law!!!
Worth seeing, you will be glad you did.

I did not find this movie the least bit entertaining. I felt it was cheap comedey. I would of thought Jane Fonda would pick better scripts than this.

Yes that's right IF YOU HATE YOUR MOTHER IN LAW AND WANT TO DO HARMFUL THINGS TO HER THIS MOVIE IS FOR YOU!!!!!

I thought J.Lo's movie "Enough" had fighting and violence, this movie is just a battle royal between J.lo's and jane fonda's character.

The Plot is charlie(jennier lopez) is getting married to jane fonda's character's son.But it's a pretty bad time to do so since she is a barbara walters type tv host and assaults a female pop singer on stage for being so ignorant plus she likes to hit the bottle.When J.F's character comes out of Rehab she finds out her son is getting married to charlie she doesnt like it. And she will risk going to jail to get her out of the picture.

The way these two females duke it out throughout the movie and you see the ways they try to make each others life hell is entertaining alone.See poisoning attempts, expensive clothes destroyes, insults, and so many more entertaining scenes.

I highly recommend this movie for a rental, and if you get alot of pleasure of seeing movies over and over again well then buy it.
This is jennifer lopez's best movie(thats saying alot) and it shows jane fonda to a younger generation.
Just please Dont try the stunts you see in this movie on your mother in law or daughter in law, you might go to jail!

--The Opinionated One Has Spoken

I know alot of critics and reviewers here haven't been kind to this movie but I saw it in the theater and bought a copy of the DVD and I really liked it. You have to take the movie for what it is...a romantic comedy not a potential Oscar winner.

This is basically a Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez movie. I'm not a huge fan of either actress but they were both good in their roles. You could tell that Fonda really enjoyed playing the part of the crazy mother-in-law to be. Michael Vartan as Kevin is very handsome and charming but like I said this movie as basically about Fonda and Lopez so he isn't given alot to do. Wanda Sykes as Ruby is hilarious.

It's worth purchasing the DVD for just the extra's. The gag reel is hilarious and they do some entertaining "featurettes" on each actor. Some of the deleted scenes were actually very good and should have been left in the movie.

I would definitely recommend buying this movie...it's one you can watch over and over again.