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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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141 - 160 (sorted by date)
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This shrill, undermotivated, feature-length catfight between Jennifer Lopez's demure prospective bride and Fonda's unhinged prospective mother-in-law makes sure to underline, boldface and exclamation-point every plot turn and line of dialogue.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/12/05
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even when Monster-in-Law becomes a rote, predictable ride, you want to watch it just to see what the actress will do next.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
05/12/05
Phoebe Flowers
Phoebe Flowers
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

For all the frenzied (and badly staged) I Love Lucy-style slapstick, the movie's core conflict is just a marketing concept, a fluffy showcase of dueling auras with nothing much at stake and nothing really imperiled.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/12/05
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Why Fonda chose this embarrassing project for her first film in 15 years is, as they say, a puzzlement. She's the best thing in it; at times, it seems she's the only thing in it.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
05/12/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This isn't a very smart movie, rattling along as it does in the bright, superficial, meaninglessly expert way of too many modern romantic comedies -- and definitely of too many Jennifer Lopez comedies.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
05/12/05
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...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

Lopez chooses to declaw herself and play a sweet milquetoast, a mouse showing up for a catfight.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment Comment
05/12/05
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

Fonda doesn't work out.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
05/12/05
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Taken as a whole, this dark comedy from Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde) is torturously slow, stupid, shallow and predictable. But there are a few shining components.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
05/12/05
Lindy T. Shepherd
Lindy T. Shepherd
Orlando Weekly

No Amityville horrors, no murderous little girl phantoms and not even Paris Hilton can contend with the likes of Fonda.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
05/11/05
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Is it worth 10 bucks to watch Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda retread the same sitcom territory trampled twice by Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro? The short answer is 'No.'

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
05/11/05
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Fonda: pushing, pushing up daisies.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
05/11/05
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

The laughs are as scarce as Coke machines in the Kalahari.

Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | comment Comment
05/11/05
Matt Brunson
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing

I know Monster-in-Law is just a slapstick comedy, but is it too much to expect the characters to exhibit routine intelligence?

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
05/11/05
David Denby
David Denby
New Yorker
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Fonda joins a select sorority of mature, serious actresses made silly by the movies.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
05/11/05
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Somebody help me – I’m turning into Roger Ebert.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
05/11/05
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Filmcritic.com

How can you not admire a movie that might find itself picketed by veterans groups and PETA at the same time?

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
05/11/05
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A fingers-across-the-blackboard sitcom.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
05/10/05
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

it’s safe to say there is not one surprising or memorable moment in the bland “Monster-In-Law.”

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
05/10/05
Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies

Essentially Meet the Parents redux with Fonda in the scarifying De Niro role.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
05/10/05
Jessica Winter
Jessica Winter
Village Voice
 
 
141 - 160 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Monster-in-Law

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