Monster-in-law REVIEW | Fonda meets Jenny from the Block.

If you think the line “I think you dislocated my Vagina” is funny, Monster-in-law may be for you.

Fonda in Monster-in-law, 2005.

Starring Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan, and Wanda Sykes, it’s a bit like a long sit-com, which isn’t necessarily a criticism.

It’s a predictable comedy that pits sweet Charlie (Lopez) against her fiancee’s seemingly-demented (in a ‘this bitch is nuts’ sense, not in a ‘this elderly woman is actually suffering from dementia’ sense) mother Viola (Fonda).

Their battle is largely slapstick.

It comes complete with pratfalls, pie-in-the-face-style food gags, and amusing lines delivered by Wanda Sykes’ character. Sadly, Sykes is in a classic Black-friend role, playing Viola’s friend/assistant. Happily, she plays it like a Black badass Ethel from I Love Lucy.

There are only a couple of cheese-ball romantic moments, and everything is wrapped up tidily in the end.

Think ‘laugh-track’ and you’ll know what you’re in for.

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A version of this mini Monster-in-law review published in Dose on May 13, 2005, shown below. I screened the film on May 2, 2005 at the 5th Ave. Cinema in Vancouver.

Published in Dose magazine, May 13, 2005.