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.

Then she sees and is attracted to Kevin (Michael Vartan), a young doctor who’s very popular. She doesn’t expect him to take any notice of her, but they keep bumping into each other. A friendship develops, and quickly turns into a romance - there’s a lot of chemistry between them, and plenty of humour too. Charlie is nothing like any of his previous girlfriends.

Unfortunately, Keven has a very strong-willed and possessive mother, Viola (Jane Fonda is wonderful in this role). She phones him several times per day, and wants to know everything about her. And because he loves her, and is essentially a kind person, he lets her control almost everything in his life. When he meets Charlie, Viola has been at an anger-management retreat, after freaking out on a live TV show. She’s quite certain that she’s overcome all her anger issues, but she’s not ready for her son to fall in love with a nonentity…

A lot of the film sees Charlie and Viola in conflict. It could have been stressful, but it’s so exaggerated that it feels amusing rather than uncomfortable. There are some apparently violent scenes, although they turn out to have been fantasy… until a real physical battle happens towards the end of the film. 

The acting is excellent, the characters well-rounded (if a tad caricatured at times), and the dialogue very clever. The pace was just right for our tastes, too. We smiled several times and laughed more than once. There are amusing scenes with dogs, there are misunderstandings… and there’s a nicely done climax where Viola suddenly sees herself in a different light. A bit clichéd, perhaps, but so well done that it makes a positive and hopeful ending to the film.

It’s not intended to be taken too seriously. I’m sure most mothers-in-law are a great deal more pleasant than Viola, and those that aren’t are unlikely to watch this. But as an enjoyable evening’s viewing, we would rank it highly. 

The rating is 12, which seems about right. There’s nothing explicit (other than some dogs on the beach), but a fair amount of innuendo and discussion about sex. There’s some bad (and strong) language, but we didn’t find it excessive, and the violence is mild, mostly for comic effect.  It’s not the kind of story that would appeal to children anyway.

Recommended if you’d like romantic comedies, as a light, undemanding evening’s viewing.  Our DVD has some amusing extras which we also watched: a gag-reel selection, some deleted scenes (at least one of which could well have been included in the film, in our opinion) and some features with the main three actors.  

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