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Movies / On DVD / Monster-in-Law
Monster-in-Law

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Monster-in-Law (2005)

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Reviews Counted:161

Fresh:25

Rotten:136

Average Rating:4.2/10

Consensus: While Jane Fonda steals the movie in her return to the screen, a tired script and flimsy performances make this borderline comedy fall flat.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sex references and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:2005

Box Office: $82,820,167

Synopsis: Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) is looking for a nice guy who will appreciate her, as well as her myriad of interests and jobs. From walking dogs to painting to designing clothes to answering phones at a... Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) is looking for a nice guy who will appreciate her, as well as her myriad of interests and jobs. From walking dogs to painting to designing clothes to answering phones at a doctor's office, Charlie does it all. Keith (Michael Vartan) seems to fit the bill as a perfect match for her: he's charming, handsome, a successful doctor, and he is completely smitten with her. And now, he has proposed and wants to marry her. There's just one problem: his mother, Viola (Jane Fonda), is a nightmare. A legendary television journalist who has an on-air breakdown after being replaced by a much younger woman, Viola virtually lives for Keith, especially now that her career is apparently over. She doesn't think Charlie is good enough for her son, and she plans to do everything she can to break them up. Enlisting the help of her assistant, brutally honest Ruby (Wanda Sykes), Viola plots ways to drive Charlie crazy--and get her away from her son. She feigns illness, belittles her future daughter-in-law's jobs, and invites her son's old flame to visit at inopportune moments, among other things. But Viola underestimates Charlie, who isn't about to give up a happy future with Keith without a fight. Directed by Richard Luketic (LEGALLY BLONDE, WIN A DATE WITH TAD HAMILTON!), MONSTER-IN-LAW marks Fonda's return to the big screen following a 14-year absence. Elaine Stritch appears as Viola's own former monster-in-law. [More]

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan, Wanda Sykes

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan, Wanda Sykes, Adam Scott, Will Arnett, Annie Parisse, Monet Mazur

Director: Robert Luketic

Director: Robert Luketic
Screenwriter: Richard LaGravenese, Anya Kochoff
Producer: Paula Weinstein, J.C. Spink, Chris Bender
Composer: David Newman
Studio: New Line Cinema

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Release:

May 6, 2008

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Reviews for Monster-in-Law

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N/R

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Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
N/R

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Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
05/14/05
Boston Phoenix
N/R

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Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

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Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
07/29/05
Sydney Morning Herald
N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
N/R

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Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
11/01/07
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

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Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
06/07/05
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
N/R

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Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

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Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
N/R

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Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

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Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
05/13/05
Hollywood.com

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Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine

We liked this better when it was called Meet the Parents and had that peeing cat.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
05/13/05
E! Online

This horribly unfunny comedy is downright embarrassing to everyone involved, especially Fonda, who gives a screeching, one-note performance.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
05/13/05
Los Angeles Daily News

The phrase 'chewing the scenery' never made much sense to me (is this a phrase used in normal human conversation? Ever?), but I know it when I see it. And Jane Fonda gnaws it to the bone in Monster-in-Law.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
05/13/05
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

a particularly uninspired sitcom that's desperately recycling hack-material at cyclone speed to no avail

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/05/05
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

...a film that occasionally rises to the level of Merely Unfunny before lapsing back into Excruciating and Offensive.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
05/12/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Let's see how long this one stays at number one with the release of "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" on its heels.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
05/17/05
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

I think if 'Monster-in-Law' had been a horror flick instead of a comedy it might have worked for me. As is, it's just a horror of a movie.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/13/05
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Billed as a comedy, this low-wattage sitcom is both ill-tempered and mean-spirited -- not least when it's cracking anti-gay jokes and making snide suggestions about incest.

Full Review Source: Dallas Observer | comment Comment
05/13/05
Bill Gallo
Bill Gallo
Dallas Observer
 
 
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