There are usually several comedy movies made each year. Some have been very good and others have been very bad. I do enjoy comedies, including some others haven’t liked, but I do get disappointed by some of them. I thought that the previews for Monster-in-Law looked interesting and decided to go see it.
Charlie was happy with her life even though she worked temporary jobs. She ended up running into Kevin Fields a few times before she was actually able to talk to him. When their relationship was staring, Kevin’s mother Viola was having a bit of a crisis. She had been a successful reporter for many years and then suddenly found out that she was being replaced by a much younger woman. Viola stayed calm at first, but she lost it during a live interview with a very young female pop singer. She spent a few months receiving extensive therapy before her assistant Ruby took her back home.
Viola was very attached to her only son and was shocked when she found out he was involved with Charlie. Ruby wanted Kevin to wait longer to introduce the two women because she felt that Viola was still fragile after her break down. Kevin didn’t agree and went on with the meeting and even engagement announcement. Viola acted happy around Kevin and Charlie, but she was not happy and felt that Charlie wasn’t good enough for her son. She started plotting how she could break them up. Charlie was left trying to take care of Viola on her own since Kevin had to go out of town. Charlie eventually figured out what Viola was doing and then started to fight back.
I was entertained by Monster-in-Law. In some ways the movie did remind me of Meet the Parents or Meet the Fockers, but there were different things in the movie as well. Viola did remind me a bit of Jack from those movies. I ended up liking Viola a bit more than I did Jack. She did love her son and did what she did because she felt that was best for him. She did do one or two things that were a bit extremes, but overall I felt that she didn’t go as far as Jack did. It was very close though. She didn’t have the resources that Jack had. Viola had recently suffered a breakdown, so she was in a more fragile mental state which could have explained why she went as far as she did in trying to break up the relationship. Jack wasn’t in the same situation when he did what he did. For him, it seemed to be normal behavior to act that way when his daughters got involved with someone. Viola really wasn’t shown before her break down, so I don’t really know how she was normally. She had barely been back home and Kevin showed up, springing a new relationship on his mother. She had already lost the career that had meant to so much to her, and she was probably feeling like she was going to lose her son as well. Kevin really did seem to be clueless about certain things. He could have been more sensitive to what his mother had gone through and found a better way to let her know that he was engaged. I still found the movie to be enjoyable and entertaining even though it was similar to Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. I thought there was enough different to keep it from being exactly like those movies.
The plot was very straightforward and not complicated. Charlie and Kevin did meet and start their relationship during the movie, but I really don’t feel like this was a romantic comedy. Very little of the movie actually focused on Charlie and Kevin’s relationship. Their first few meetings were shown before Viola was even introduced. Then she had her fit on live televison and the movie jumped forward several months to show Viola heading home. By that time, Charlie was moving in with Kevin. The growth of their relationship wasn’t shown, so anyone looking for a romantic movie won’t find it in this one. Instead, it focused on Viola and her attempts to meddle in her son’s relationship with Charlie. The couple was shown kissing a few times, and some conversations included some sexual references, but there were no sex scenes in the movie. Kevin was shown running without his shirt once. Charlie did wear a few low cut things, but she was never topless. There was some swearing in the movie, but the word that rhymes with luck was never used. Most children probably wouldn’t be interested in this movie.
I thought that Monster-in-Law was a good comedy. The movie made me laugh several times. It was a bit silly when Viola launched herself out of her chair after the young singer, but it was really funny too. Really much of what happened was silly, but that was fine with me. I don’t mind silly movies at times. The way Viola acted for most of the movie was very funny, including some of the things she did to try to annoy Charlie. Viola’s exchanges with Ruby were hilarious. Once Charlie figured out what was going on and started to retaliate, the movie did get a bit childish. Here were two grown women acting like a couple of children. They at least resisted having a food fight, though Viola did imagine smashing Charlie’s face into a cake. Something else did happen that caused Viola to end up with some kind of food all over her face, but it wasn’t from a food fight. There was nothing serious about the movie. Even with the silly, somewhat childish things that happened, I still really enjoyed the movie. I did enjoy it more than Kicking & Screaming, another comedy I saw recently. This movie will probably be too silly for some viewers.
Monster-in-Law had a very good cast. Jane Fonda made her first movie appearance in fifteen years. I have seen a few of her movies and while she was in some comedies like 9 to 5, I think most of her roles were more serious. That was certainly the case with the part she played in The Morning After. I think she did very good with the part of Viola. The character did some silly things, but Fonda didn’t look stupid doing them. She was very funny in the part and kept the character from being completly unlikeable. Viola really relied on Ruby, her assistant, and pulled her into her plans. Ruby had worked with Viola for years and also knew Kevin well, so she did seem to be stuck in the middle. Wanda Sykes was wonderful as Ruby and had all the funniest lines, including one where she said Viola was going for a ride in the crazy mobile. I’ve seen Sykes a few times before on television and I didn’t like her that much. She annoyed me, so I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her in this even after I read many good things about her performance. I was pleasantly surprised by her in this movie and loved her character. She didn’t go over the top with her performance. After seeing her in this movie, I am much more interested in seeing her in other movies. She and Fonda worked very well together in their scenes and the two of them did have some of the funniest moments in the movie.
There are many people who probably won’t want to see this movie because Jennifer Lopez is in it. I’ve never had a problem with her, though it did get old hearing all the details about her personal life every time I turned on the television. I have enjoyed several of her other movies, even The Wedding Planner. I only watch that type of movie when I’m in the mood for it, so that might be why I did end up finding it entertaining. People that can’t stand Lopez may want to avoid this movie though since her part is one of the main characters and in many of the scenes. I did think Lopez was fine in the part and pulled off the funny scenes well. In one of them, she even poked fun of something about herself. Kevin was missing for much of the movie. He ended up leaving town for some kind of medical conference, leaving the two women in his life to deal with each other. I did think that Kevin could have been a bit more understanding about his mother’s condition. He always had stubble, making it seem like the man didn’t own a razor. Michael Vartan was fine in the part. Kevin was a very different kind of character from the one he played in One Hour Photo and the part he has on Alias.
Elaine Stritch showed up briefly as Gertrude, Viola’s mother-in-law. It was interesting to see Viola in a different role. Stritch was only in a few scenes, but she was good in them. Remy and Morgan were Charlie’s friends. Remy was a gay neighbor that walked into Charlie’s place whenever he wanted. Adam Scott was fine in the part. It turns out that I have seen him in a few other movies, including High Crimes, though I don’t remember seeing him before. Annie Parisse, who was also in National Treasure, played Morgan. She and Scott were fine in their parts, though nothing outstanding.
CAST
Jane Fonda - Viola
Jennifer Lopez - Charlie
Annie Parisse - Morgan
Adam Scott - Remy
Elaine Stritch - Gertrude
Wanda Sykes - Ruby
Michael Vartan - Kevin
Robert Luketic - Director
I thought that Monster-in-Law was entertaining and it is worth seeing, unless you just can’t stand Fonda or Lopez. If that is the case, you would be better off picking a different movie. It was rated PG-13, so it really isn’t meant for younger children. I thought it was a very funny movie. Fans of Fonda and Lopez may enjoy it. This isn’t a movie for everyone.
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