An unappealing comedy with a terminal case of bad choices
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05/12/05
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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
What do socio-economic differences, career discrepancies, basic incompatibilities and a teenage wardrobe on a thirtysomething matter when there are movie tickets to sell?
05/12/05
Top CriticA kind of Meet the Fockers-lite, with bitchy scheming substituted for flushing toilets.
05/12/05
Monster-in-Law fails the Gene Siskel Test: 'Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?'
05/12/05
Top CriticElaine Stritch displays the real deal in in-law acid as Viola's late husband's mother in the film's last act
05/12/05
Monster-in-Law proves two things: Jane Fonda can still act and Jennifer Lopez still can't.
05/12/05
Top CriticThe stakes seem so petty and the tactics so unimaginative that it has no more appeal than stale wedding cake.
05/12/05
A slapstick chick-flick that flirts with a real theme before degenerating into the tale of two women playing sadistic tricks on each other.
05/12/05
Jane Fonda returns to the big screen in a comedy so one-dimensional and craven that it makes Meet the Parents look avant-garde.
05/12/05
Top CriticIf you’ve ever wondered what Jane Fonda would look like while scaring off a bear, the ghastly Monster-In-Law is the movie for you.
05/12/05
The intentionally over-the-top, at times cheerfully wicked, streak is greatly harmed by a cop-out conclusion that pushes the tone toward falsely uplifting mawkishness.
05/12/05
The comedy is shamelessly stupid and flagrantly vulgar by turns.
05/12/05
Monster-in-Law, where Bridezilla meets Godzilla, is a comedy so anemic, so toxic, that even Dracula wouldn't bite.
05/12/05
Top CriticCalm and collected, even when going stark-raving mad, Fonda has the veneer of a true movie star and sells her title character through the sheer virtuosity of her performance.
05/12/05
Forgettable fluff.
05/12/05
Top CriticClose, but no wad of chewing tobbacco out of the mouth of a Vietnam vet.
05/12/05
Fonda and Lopez take a potentially tired concept and give it new life
05/12/05
Cette comédie puérile n’offre absolument rien qui n’ait été mieux fait avant.
05/12/05
The movie could have sunk its claws deeper, but Fonda floors her comeback vehicle and you'd have to go to pre-pop diva days to find Lopez this effortlessly appealing.
05/12/05
If the screening I attended is anything to go by, this is a gay men’s movie whose primary function is to doll Fonda up like a drag queen and let her rip.
05/12/05
Latest News for Monster-in-Law
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