Monster-in-Law Reviews

Jane Fonda used to be one of the best actresses around and I still have to see most of her classics (so many movies, so little time…) so when I heard she would come back from retirement after 15 long years, I was rather thrilled. But why on earth did she choose this flick?!? Couldn't she get anything better than this?!? I mean, to make a romantic comedy with her and Jennifer Lopez was actually a pretty good idea but the plot was just really moronic and actually rather annoying. Basically, it is one of those romantic-comedies with some phony and pointless conflict which is of course solved fairly easily at the end. After watching this movie, I had a terrible feeling of waste… Maybe she had the De Niro syndrome. Indeed, Robert De Niro has made quite clear that, at his age, he is not looking for challenging parts anymore and basically take the jobs without going all method acting on us, making some fairly mediocre features and cashing his paycheck at the end. To be honest, I have seen worse romantic comedies but it remains a very average flick and it is not really worth a look. Hopefully, the great Jane Fonda will get some better parts in the future (unfortunately, it has not happened yet…)

"Marriage is a sacred union which must only be entered with the utmost care."

Despite their immense popularity, romantic comedies are a difficult genre to nail. Excellent rom-coms are few and far between, while the cinematic landscape is cluttered with rom-coms that are either mediocre or just plain bad. 2005's Monster-in-Law falls into the mediocre category. It's also a movie which marked Jane Fonda's return to the screen after a self-imposed 15-year absence. Her last movie was Stanley & Iris in 1990 opposite Robert De Niro, and hence this Jennifer Lopez vehicle is a bit of a step down. Yet, it's Fonda who manages to make this Meet the Parents clone watchable, and the film might have been superior if there was less of Lopez and more of Fonda.

The plot of the movie involves Charlie (Lopez), who is a workaholic single girl seeking her knight in shining armour. She eventually finds him in the form of a doctor named Kevin (Vartan), who is instantly smitten with Charlie. (No detectable chemistry exists between the leads, but this doesn't matter because we're dealing with the rom-com genre.) Once the romance becomes serious, Kevin decides to introduce Charlie to his mother; ex-TV talk show personality Viola Fields (Fonda). For reasons only known to those who wrote the script, Viola is horrified that Kevin has fallen for Charlie, and immediately takes an intense dislike to her. (Supposedly, Viola's reasons relate to a recent nervous breakdown coupled with her belief that no girl is good enough for her son. To put it another way, it's a plot device we should not question). The remainder of the movie concerns Viola's attempts to break up the happy couple in a variety of ways.

Unfortunately, the opening segment depicting the beginning of Charlie & Kevin's relationship is dull and utterly predictable, and no chemistry is evident between the protagonists. Thankfully, the romance is placed on the backburner once the feud between Viola and Charlie takes centre stage. Due to the uninteresting romance, it probably would have been better if Monster-in-Law followed more closely in the footsteps of Meet the Parents and cut to the chase by having the couple already formed at the movie's beginning. The growingly malicious battle between Viola and Charlie fortunately supplies a few big laughs and a number of energetic moments, but the shining gags are interspersed with stale, hit-and-miss jokes. For example, Charlie has an allergy to nuts, and the predictable payoff will trigger eye-rolling. Even more discouraging is the fact that the plot could have been solved in a matter of minutes if only the characters were smart enough to say the necessary things to clear up all of the problems. If the characters were smart, however, there would not be enough material to fill a feature-length movie, which is perhaps a warning signal that the story was not ready to be green-lit.

Nevertheless, Monster-in-Law is more enjoyable and amusing than it has any right to be. The film may be loaded with endless clichés of the rom-com genre (including a quirky best friend and a feisty black assistant, just to name a couple), yet - against all odds - some of these elements are amusing rather than grating. Director Robert Luketic (Win a Date with Ted Hamilton, Legally Blonde) managed to make the most of the sitcom-minded screenplay from first-time screenwriter Anya Kochoff, but alas there are not enough memorable laughs or witty lines of dialogue to distinguish the film above other similar vehicles about disapproving parents. Also, due to the PG-13 rating, the laughs are not overly edge. Expectedly, the film eventually culminates with a predictable finish that wishes to pluck some heartstrings, but none of it is earned. The cop-out conclusion pushes the tone toward treacly, falsely uplifting mawkishness. Everyone loves each other and the attempted murder that was perpetrated earlier in the movie is swept under the rug.

Jane Fonda is a show-stealer as Viola. Despite this being her first film role in 15 years, she did a marvellous job with the character. Fonda gave the material her all; screaming, mugging and giggling through the entire performance like a crazed maniac. She's a hoot, and her energy levels are off the charts. Beside her, Jennifer Lopez could only pray to keep up. While there's nothing intrinsically wrong with Lopez's performance, it's not outstanding either - she's just there, and at no point comes across as either poor or excellent. Also in the cast is Wanda Sykes who's a scene-stealer as Viola's assistant. Since Sykes has a background in stand-up comedy, she was well aware of how to nail every one-liner perfectly (though the movie's PG-13 rating forbade her from going as far as she could have). Meanwhile, Adam Scott is highly amusing as Charlie's gay friend, and Michael Vartan is so bland and interchangeable that he barely registers.

If you enjoy romantic comedies that are breezy and at times amusing, then Monster-in-Law should satisfy you. It will pass 90 minutes quite pleasantly without rising to any great heights. It's just a shame that the weak script snaps back to mediocrity whenever there are flashes of brilliance. File it under "guilty pleasure" and move on.

5.1/10