Fonda as a dominatrix in the will-she, won't-she shallows of entertainment, with Lopez her match in campy mindlessness.
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05/15/05
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Monster-in-Law (2005)
16
%
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan, Wanda Sykes
Director: Robert Luketic
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Reviews for Monster-in-Law
There's only one reason I'm giving this three stars, and that's Jane Fonda, whose talent is, well, monstrous.
05/15/05
If Director Luketic and Writer Kochoff have to fall back on these unfunny, antediluvian routines, they should learn another trade.
05/14/05
Something Patriotic Inside Me Prevents Me From Seeing This Movie.
05/14/05
Click to read the article
05/14/05
A one-joke comedy that achieves the oxymoronic feat of being fluffy and flat at the same time.
05/14/05
It’s finally happened. Jennifer Lopez has finally made a film that doesn’t make you want to chew off your own arm inside of about 20 minutes.
05/14/05
The humor of this movie has been pitched at the wrong level...it’s just 100 minutes of women being cruel to each other.
05/13/05
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.
05/13/05
The run-of-the-mill comedy might not be the Monster hit Jennifer Lopez is seeking, but it opens up the possibility of seeing more of the talented Jane Fonda.
05/13/05
Reviled for selling themselves, for wielding power, Fonda, Lopez, and to an extent, Sykes have turned their seeming threats into commodities.
05/13/05
In a movie about diva-to-diva warfare, each diva is miscast.
05/13/05
Top CriticIt takes awhile for `Monster-In-Law' to bare its teeth, but once the movie does...everything on the screen begins to click.
05/13/05
Fonda and Sykes are made for each other, and their incessant bickering and arguing are about the only things that give Monster-in-Law any life.
05/13/05
Top CriticFonda, who returned to movies after a 15-year absence only to find herself facedown in a plate of tripe, handles her on-screen humiliation with considerable grace.
05/13/05
Trust me, Monster-in-Law not only makes more sense as an Unforgiven-ish parable of old-school Hollywood feminism's wrath, it's worlds more fun.
05/13/05
Top CriticIn any case, the news here is not the movie but the movie star. Jane Fonda is back, and let's hope the movies can figure out how to plant her somewhere she can flourish.
05/13/05
Monster-in-Law is a comedy without laughs and a catfight without claws.
05/13/05
It's a crude, obvious comedy, which occasionally clunks, but it's often very funny, as well as being a really shrewd bit of popular entertainment.
05/13/05
Top Critic[Sykes] can get a little nasty for the sake of a joke - something Lopez and Fonda, protective of their images, aren't willing to do.
05/13/05
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