Fritz's Monster-in-Law Review.....

Barbarella versus Butt-barella, originally uploaded by thadonkey.

Fritz here - I was in a pretty foul mood Tues. and Wed. and saw this screening on Wed. night. So, you might want to take the ensuing vitriol with a grain of salt. To everyone who listened to me rant and rave the past 48 hrs., much love. Should have a review of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room up this weekend. On with the review.

Director Robert Luketic's (Legally Blonde) comedy Monster-in-Law is a shrill, forced effort that nonetheless seemed to delight the audience of mostly middle-aged women at the screening this critic attended.

Jennifer Lopez plays Charlotte, a young temp who finds herself in a whirlwind romance with a handsome doctor (Alias' Michael Vartan). After the perfunctory courtship scenes, Vartan's mother Viola (Jane Fonda), a disgraced daytime television interviewer, comes into play. After being released from a mental health facility after an unfunny, unrealistic on-air breakdown, she immediately takes a dislike to Charlotte and attempts to sabotage the relationship.

The film is notable for being Fonda's first on-screen appearance in fifteen years (since 1990's Stanley and Iris). As cinema comebacks go, it is not nearly as memorable as James Cagney in Ragtime or even Jon Voight in Heat. Fonda's character is a one-note nutcase and she fails to bring any nuance or subtlety to the character. While Tea Leoni's character in Spanglish was also a one-dimensional witch, her scenes of cruelty in that film were at least compellingly written. No such luck here.

Vartan has nothing to do in the boyfriend role other than smile and try to look handsome. Ever since Out of Sight, Lopez has been increasingly uninspiring in films and the trend continues here.

A potentially interesting film could have been made about a washed-up television diva who disapproves of her son marrying a temp. However, Monster-in-Law always settles for the easiest and most obvious payoffs. Many laugh lines are predictable well in advance. In fact, many times the film goes for a laugh by merely having a character roll his or her eyes and curse.
If nothing else, this film will make viewers appreciate the relatively modest charms of A Lot Like Love.

F.E.

FGE413 at aol dot com