Monster-in-law (Jennifer Lopez)

(Amazon UK link)

Someone recommended the 2005 film ‘Monster-in-law’ to my husband some time last year. So he put it on his wishlist, and was given it for Christmas. It claims to be a romantic comedy, and features a rather young-looking Jennifer Lopez. It also stars Jane Fonda, in what turns out to be her return to acting after a break of fifteen years.

Charlie (Charlotte) is the main character, portrayed extremely well by Jennifer Lopez. She has a series of different jobs, some of them temporary, all of them part-time. We see her walking dogs, working as a waitress, and working in a doctor’s office. She hasn’t had much success with romantic relationships but she has two very close friends who are convinced she needs a man in her life.

The Back-Up Plan (Jennifer Lopez)

(Amazon UK link)

Sometimes Amazon recommends a film to me that sounds very appealing, so I add it to my wishlist. That was the case with ‘The Back-up Plan’, and it was given to me by a relative for Christmas. It looked like a light-hearted rom-com, ideal for a relaxing evening’s viewing.

Jennifer Lopez stars as Zoe, a young and fashionable woman who’s surprisingly insecure. We learn early on that her mother died when she was a child, and her father wasn’t in the picture, so she was brought up by her grandmother (Linda Lavin). She is very independent and finds it difficult to trust anyone.

We meet her first in a hospital, where she is being inseminated artificially; she has decided that she’s not going to wait any longer for the right man. Instead she will have a baby with a donor whom she won’t meet. She feels very positive about this, and jumps into a taxi at the same time as Stan (Alex O’Loughlin). They argue briefly over whose taxi it is, and then both get out at the same time…

Zoe has no interest in a new relationship but Stan is quite taken with her, and they keep bumping into each other. They decide to be friends, but there’s a mutual attraction. She doesn’t expect her first attempt at insemination to be positive, but to her amazement, she finds that she is pregnant. All is going well with Stan, if a bit rapidly, until she decides that she must let him know about her baby…

It’s obvious where the story is going, but the way it gets there is both poignant and, at times, amusing. There’s great chemistry between the two principals, but also some disasters. At times it seems as if their relationship is doomed, as things keep going wrong. Zoe’s pregnancy causes her to be very hungry, and there are some scenes that would have been rather gross if they hadn’t also been amusingly done.

The script is clever, the pace is good, and the supporting cast are excellent. There’s a side story involving Zoe’s grandmother and her elderly fiancé of over twenty years, and there are some interludes with Zoe’s best friend Mona (Michaela Watkins) who has four extremely riotous children. There are more serious moments, albeit tinged with humour too, in a playground, where Anthony Anderson provides some good advice to a worried Stan.

There are also some amusing scenes with a very earnest single mothers’ group, who are exaggeratedly into natural childbirth and supporting each other in their femininity. It poked fun, somewhat, at women who prefer to keep everything natural - but they are warm and friendly women, and I thought it was done well.

The rating is 12A (PG-13 in the US) which seems about right to me. There’s some ‘strong’ language, but it’s not too excessive. There’s plenty of discussion about sexual matters, and we see the aftermath of intimate scenes, but the only nudity - or partial nudity - is connected with childbirth.

The ending is a tad cheesy - almost literally so, as it happens in a cheese showroom - but that’s not a problem. I like a happy ending. And while there’s nothing to make the film stand out amongst other romantic comedies, it’s certainly one we’ll watch again at some point.

There are some amusing outtakes over the end credits, and a brief documentary about the making of the film.

Definitely recommended to adults and older teenagers who don’t mind a story about pregnancy and childbirth.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

Maid in Manhattan (Jennifer Lopez)

(Amazon UK link)

We wanted to watch something light, not too deep and not too long. We hadn’t seen ‘Maid in Manhattan’ since 2011, shortly after we acquired it, and although we had entirely forgotten the storyline, it looked as though it would meet our requirements.

The main character in this film is Marisa (Jennifer Lopez) who works as a maid at a hotel in Manhattan. She is a single mother raising her son Ty, who must be about eight or nine. His father is notoriously unreliable, regularly promising to do things with him and then letting him down at the last minute. Ty is a likeable boy, very realistically played by Tyler Posey but quite lacking in self-confidence. We see him, early in the film, forgetting a speech he has been working on, as he becomes nervous.

Marisa works hard and conscientiously, and is very good at her job. So when a position comes up in management, her colleagues think she should apply. She’s not at all sure, and is distracted by one of her friends persuading her to try on an extremely expensive outfit belonging to a wealthy socialite called Caroline who is staying at the hotel.

We had remembered this scene, and some of the story started to come back to us as Marisa is mistaken for the wealthy lady in question, after Ty meets another guest - a guy called Chris Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) who is hoping to become a senator. Chris has a large and friendly dog, and Ty loves dogs. The two form a surprising bond, and Chris then sees Marisa dressed up and persuades her to go out for a walk…

In a nutshell, it’s a predictable rom-com, with a strong Cinderella theme. But there are a great many stumbling blocks in the romance, with Caroline (Natasha Richardson) playing the part of a pushy, arrogant ‘ugly sister’. There are some one-liners that made us smile, and some quite poignant scenes too, particularly one where Chris takes the time to help Ty understand how he too becomes nervous when he makes speeches.

But it’s extremely well done, with a good pace, and some excellent supporting cast including Stanley Tucci as Chris’s harassed press officer and Bob Hoskins as the hotel butler. There's good chemistry between the two main characters, and the scenes involving Ty are delightful. There are some thought-provoking comments about how hotel staff can seem invisible, and are sometimes considered inferior to wealthy socialites, but it's not done in a heavy way.

All in all, it was the perfect film for our requirements, and we enjoyed it very much.

Although apparently it was previously rated 12 in the UK, it’s now PG, which seems about right. There’s minor bad language and hints of nudity, but nothing explicit. However I can’t imagine it would be of any interest to anyone under the age of about fourteen or fifteen. In the US it’s rated PG-13.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's DVD Reviews

An Unfinished Life (Jennifer Lopez, Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman)

(Amazon UK link)

I expect Amazon recommended this film to me because Morgan Freeman is one of the main characters, and I’ve very much liked other DVDs where he has starred. I put it on my wishlist a couple of years ago, and was given it for Christmas last year. It’s taken this long to decide to watch it, and we liked it very much.

The story starts with the aftermath of domestic violence. Jean (Jennifer Lopez) finally makes the decision, pushed by her eleven-year-old daughter Griff (Becca Gardner) to leave her boyfriend. They make their way to her father-in-law Einer’s ranch, but he is still grieving the loss of his son, and blames Jean….

It takes a while for the movie to get going, after the initial drama, as there’s a lot of backstory to understand. But I like a gentle pace, developing characters and rounding out the past. Einer is brilliantly portrayed by Robert Redford, and his only friend Mitch, who is seriously injured, is played by Morgan Freeman.

The plot itself is perhaps predictable: ‘Heidi’ is probably the story best-known for a crusty old man who has his heart melted by his granddaughter. But the circumstances are very different in this film. Griff is interested in farming, riding and even car mechanics. The close friendship between Einer and Mitch works well and is quite moving at times. It’s a good device to show Einer as a likeable person underneath his bitterness.

Overall it’s a story about coming to terms with the past, about forgiveness, and emotional healing. It's also about the need to live life as it is, rather than continually regretting the past. But the direction and the acting make it above average. We were particularly impressed with Becca Gardner as Griff, which was apparently the actress’s debut in films.

There are places where the story becomes quite tense: a bear is stalking the neighbourhood, and, mirroring this, Jean’s ex-boyfriend is trying to find her again. The contrast is shown between the natural tendencies of a wild animal and the cruelty of a human. There’s more violence than I’m comfortable with, although it’s necessary for the story and there’s nothing too gory.

The rating is 12 (PG-13 in the US) which is probably due to the violence and some instances of ‘strong’ language. There’s nothing else that would make this unsuitable for children, and the inclusion of a child may make this more appealing to younger teens.

Definitely recommended.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's DVD Reviews

Maid in Manhattan (Jennifer Lopez)

(Amazon UK link)

'Maid in Manhattan' was one of the films that Amazon 'recommended' to me a while ago - so I put it on my wishlist, and was given it at Christmas. We finally had an evening to ourselves where a light 'chick-flick' film seemed like a good plan.

Marisa - Jennifer Lopez - works as a maid in an up-market hotel in Manhattan, in the USA. She is motivated, and reasonably popular, and sometimes thinks of applying for a management role, but never quite dares to apply.

Marisa is a single mother, and manages to combine her two roles well. She has a delightful son, Ty (Tyler Posey) who loves history and politics but becomes nervous when speaking. In the course of her cleaning work, while trying on some posh clothes (which she should not have done), Marisa happens to meet a senatorial candidate. Chris Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) mistakes her for a wealthy visitor...

Marisa throws caution to the winds, and agrees to go for a walk with him. Her friends and colleagues encourage her... and one date leads to another. It's a classic case of a small initial deceit spiralling out of control, becoming increasingly complex… until the truth, painfully, comes out.

I felt that this film took a while to get going, and was a little heavy, politically speaking, in places. However, there were some humorous moments towards the end and it was a pleasant lightly romantic story. Jennifer Lopez is excellent, as is Tyler Posey, and their scenes alone made it well worth watching. Above average for the genre, though it wasn't going to win any awards.

Rated 12 in the UK, PG-13 in the USA, as there were some instances of bad language, and a few sexual references. Nothing explicit - hence parental guidance recommended for those under about twelve or thirteen.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews