Monster-in-law

Monster-in-Law
rated M

reviewed by Sarah Barnett

When one of the key actors involved in a film advises that audiences shouldn’t “think too much, just grab a big bag of popcorn and have a good time” you know that you’re in for some vacuous entertainment. And that can be ok, as long as there’s enough humour to offset the silliness. Alas this is not the case in the matrimonial comedy Monster-in-Law.

Starring Jane Fonda – her first film in 15 years – and the reigning diva of vapid romantic comedies, Jennifer Lopez , Monster-in-Law is about the personality clash between future inlaws Charlie Cantilini and Viola Fields.

Charlie (Lopez) is not looking for a relationship when she’s swept off her feet by charming doctor Kevin Fields. Kind, funny and very interested in her, Kevin is the sort of man Charlie has been looking for her whole life and so doesn’t hesitate when he pops the question. His mother, however, almost has a seizure.

Recently sacked from her long running TV show, Viola (Fonda) is teetering between sanity and insanity. News of her only child’s engagement to the free spirited (some would say directionless) Charlie pushes her over the edge. She makes it her project to split them up.

Through various contrivances Viola ends up moving in with the besotted couple just as Kevin departs for a conference. With ‘doctor’s orders’ insisting on constant care it falls to Charlie to look after the grandiose Viola. Predictable hi jinks ensue.

Viola’s chief objections to Charlie involve her work. Holding down half a dozen part time jobs including dog walking and catering indicates a lack of commitment, Viola reckons. Or maybe it’s just an excuse. Sometimes mothers believe that no one can be good enough for their son.

On the surface there’s not much to object to in Charlie. She’s easygoing, friendly and girlish with an obligatory gay friend and another who likes gothic makeup. She’s “spiritual not religious” – whatever that means – and seems thoroughly dull. But then so is her betrothed. In fact the only interesting character in the film is Viola herself. Early in the film we witness Viola’s on-air meltdown as she berates a gormless teen singer for being a poor role model. I don’t blame her for wanting to strangle the creature. But from then on Fonda’s Viola is stripped of sense and forced to ham up the vitriol.

Will Charlie survive Viola’s wiles? Can her love for Kevin overcome his mother’s malice? It’s hard to care but of course it all works out in the end. As with every other Lopez romance this one is a train wreck of gush and Hollywood moralising, the sad thing is Ms Fonda has been dragged into the catastrophe.

In-law relationships can often be fraught and tense. While the resolution in this film is impossibly neat it is worth noting that forgiveness is at the heart of the reconciliation.

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