Monster in Law is a reasonable comedy starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda. It was made in 2005 and is available on Amazon.com for £4.99 although you can also buy it a lot cheaper via Marketplace or watch it on satellite television.

Whats it about:

Basically in a nutshell its a screwball comedy about the girlfriend and mother of a man who both want to be the most important person in his life. Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) is a woman who feels she will never find love until she meets Kevin (Michael Vartan), they fall in love and Kevin proposes, however at this point Charlie meets her future Mother-In-Law Viola (Jane Fonda), a successful writer and professional dragon.

Viola is determined to stop the wedding going ahead and her battles with Charlie make up the main part of the film as these two women fight over who is really the most important person in Kevin's life.

Cast:

Jennifer Lopez ... Charlotte 'Charlie' Cantilini
Jane Fonda ... Viola Fields
Michael Vartan ... Dr. Kevin Fields
Wanda Sykes ... Ruby
Adam Scott ... Remy
Monet Mazur ... Fiona
Annie Parisse ... Morgan
Will Arnett ... Kit
Elaine Stritch ... Gertrude
Stephen Dunham ... Dr. Paul Chamberlain
Randee Heller ... Beverly Hills Dog Owner
Mark Moses ... Coffee Shop Customer
Tomiko Fraser ... Coffee Shop Clerk
Rochelle Flexer ... Dr. Patel's Nurse
Wayne Nickel ... George

What is it like:

Its actually a fairly good film, Lopez plays the wide eyed girl who has to contend with this mother in law from hell, she seems to enjoy herself in the role and her sparring with Fonda is good fun with lots of slaps and underhand tricks from both parties.

Fonda is really good as the horrible mother in law, she revels in being sneaky, horrible and cutting in every sense, her chats with her assistant (The hilarious Wanda Sykes) are one of the highlights of the film.

Overall I enjoyed the film because of the two main characters and their constant sparring, i'd never seen the actor who plays Kevin before and being honest his part in the film is fairly small it is all about Lopez, Fonda and the wise cracking Sykes.

The film is a bit cheesy at times and some of the jokes are a bit overstretched, but the leads throw themselves into the action with gusto and really seem to enjoy it, Fonda is happy to make jokes about her plastic surgery whilst Lopez seems happy to get her hands dirty and not play the princess.

Its a funny film with some laugh out loud moments, it can be watched by the whole family and is a pretty decent example of how not to start family life, but the end is enjoyable and settles things fairly well.

Extras:

The dvd includes:

Feature Length Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Ruby's Make Up Bag
Gag Reel
Documentary
Soundtrack
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailer