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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.

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Comedies

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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Reviews for Monster-in-Law

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

This Monster is ultimately one flat-footed beast.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/12/05
Michael O'Sullivan
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post

An unappealing comedy with a terminal case of bad choices

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
05/12/05
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

What do socio-economic differences, career discrepancies, basic incompatibilities and a teenage wardrobe on a thirtysomething matter when there are movie tickets to sell?

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
05/12/05
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A kind of Meet the Fockers-lite, with bitchy scheming substituted for flushing toilets.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
05/12/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Monster-in-Law fails the Gene Siskel Test: 'Is this film more interesting than a documentary of the same actors having lunch?'

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
05/12/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Elaine Stritch displays the real deal in in-law acid as Viola's late husband's mother in the film's last act

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
05/12/05
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Monster-in-Law proves two things: Jane Fonda can still act and Jennifer Lopez still can't.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
05/12/05
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

The stakes seem so petty and the tactics so unimaginative that it has no more appeal than stale wedding cake.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
05/12/05
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

A slapstick chick-flick that flirts with a real theme before degenerating into the tale of two women playing sadistic tricks on each other.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
05/12/05
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
Slate

Jane Fonda returns to the big screen in a comedy so one-dimensional and craven that it makes Meet the Parents look avant-garde.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/12/05
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If 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.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
05/12/05
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
05/12/05
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

The comedy is shamelessly stupid and flagrantly vulgar by turns.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
05/12/05
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Monster-in-Law, where Bridezilla meets Godzilla, is a comedy so anemic, so toxic, that even Dracula wouldn't bite.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
05/12/05
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

Calm 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.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
05/12/05
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
FilmStew.com

Forgettable fluff.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
05/12/05
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer

Close, but no wad of chewing tobbacco out of the mouth of a Vietnam vet.

Full Review Source: Film Snobs | comment Comment
05/12/05
Jimmy O
Jimmy O
Film Snobs

Fonda and Lopez take a potentially tired concept and give it new life

Full Review Source: Gazette (MD) | comment Comment
05/12/05
Jeffrey Lyles
Jeffrey Lyles
Gazette (MD)

Cette comédie puérile n’offre absolument rien qui n’ait été mieux fait avant.

Full Review Source: EnPrimeur.ca | comment Comment
05/12/05
Nicolas Lacroix
Nicolas Lacroix
EnPrimeur.ca

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.

Full Review Source: State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL) | comment Comment
05/12/05
Nick Rogers
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
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