Review of Monster-in-Law (2005) by Manny C — 23 Apr 2011
In 2005 Jane Fonda made a big comeback and entered farce territory. Fonda plays a mom, and one hell of a mom. She's Viola Fields, a talk-show queen, and she's about to be replaced by a total bimbo. Her sassy and hilarious assistant (Wanda Sykes) can remember when Viola fainted at the sight of seeing The View in an Emmy. On her final show Vila strangles a blonde airhead who proudly declares she's never read a newspaper.
Viola is in a bad place, made worse by the fact that her doctor son, Kevin (Michael Vartan) is going to marry Charlotte (Jennifer Lopez), a Latina babe. Director Robert Luketic, working from a script by Anya Kochoff, can't quite turn this situation into classic farce, but still, it's an absolute joy to see Fonda let her comic flag fly. It's even better seeing Broadway legend Elaine Stritch show up as Viola's own mother-in-law from hell. Fonda steals the show, more power to her.
This review of Monster-in-Law (2005) was written by Manny C on 23 Apr 2011.
Monster-in-Law has generally received mixed reviews.
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