I originally went to the cinema to see the new Batman film, but being opening weekend I should have guessed that it would probably be sold out, and it was. So my friend and I opted for 'Monster-in-Law', the new romantic comedy from Legally Blonde director, Robert Luketic.
= Cast
=Jennifer Lopez - Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini Jane Fonda - Viola Fields Michael Vartan - Dr. Kevin Fields Wanda Sykes - Ruby Adam Scott - Remy Annie Parisse - Morgan Monet Mazur - Fiona Elaine Stritch - Gertrude Will Arnett - Kitt Stephen Dunham - Dr. Chamberlain
= The Story
=
Charlie is an artist, but to earn a living she holds down numerous temping jobs - dog walking being one of them. One day she is on the beach walking her regular dozen-or-so dogs when she locks eyes with Kevin. Several "accidental" meetings later, Charlie realises that Kevin is her dream man. The time has come to meet his mum, Viola Fields, a former news anchor. Viola is of the belief that no woman, especially Charlie "the temp", is good enough for her only child. Kevin, much to his mother's horror, has decided to pop the question.
Viola, with some reluctant help from her long-time, long-suffering assistant, Ruby, sets out to scare off Charlie and make her life hell in the process by being the world's worst future mother-in-law.
= My Opinion
= 'Monster-in-Law' is a lot like a couple of Jennifer Lopez's previous films: 'Maid in Manhattan' and 'The Wedding Planner'. I must admit, I prefer her in the romantic leading-lady type roles to the action stuff.
Michael Vartan (Alias) is the eye candy of the movie. While the chemistry between Lopez and Vartan isn't magic they do a decent enough job.
Jane Fonda, while having not been in a film for some 15 years, does a fabulous job of being the mother-in-law from hell. I wouldn't be surprised to see her in a few more things after this.
The real surprise of the film was Wanda Sykes, who plays Ruby. I'd never heard of her previously but a lot of the funny moments in the film involved her. She was pure comedy.
The storyline is somewhat predictable, these sorts of films usually are. It was a good fun light-hearted film. I'm not sure it was worth the £6.70 it cost me to watch it but I'd definitely recommend seeing it at some point if romantic comedies are your type of film. In fact, if you don't fancy seeing it in the cinema, the DVD is due for release on 26/09/05.
= More Info
=Rating: 12A Director: Robert Luketic Official website: http://www.monsterinlaw.com/
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
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