Monster-in-Law
| Monster-in-Law | |
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Promotional poster
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| Directed by | Robert Luketic |
| Produced by |
Chris Bender J.C. Spink Paula Weinstein |
| Written by | Anya Kockoff |
| Starring | |
| Music by |
David Newman Rosey |
| Cinematography | Russell Carpenter |
| Edited by | Scott Hill Kevin Tent |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
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Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
| Country | Australia New Zealand United States |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Budget | $44 million |
| Box office | $154,749,918 |
Monster-in-Law is a 2005 Australian-American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Vartan and Wanda Sykes. It marks a return to cinema for Fonda, being her first film since Stanley & Iris 15 years earlier. The screenplay is written by Anya Kochoff. The original music score is composed by David Newman. The film was negatively received by critics but was a huge box office success.
Charlie Cantilini (Jennifer Lopez) is a temp/dog walker/yoga instructor and aspiring fashion designer from Venice Beach, California, who meets doctor Kevin Fields (Michael Vartan). She thinks he's gay at first, based on a lie Kevin's former girlfriend Fiona (Monet Mazur) told her. But then Kevin asks her out, and Charlie believes that she's finally found the right man.
Things start to go wrong when Kevin introduces Charlie to his mother, Viola Fields (Jane Fonda). Viola is a former newscaster, who has recently been replaced by someone younger, and is in the midst of a meltdown. Loathing Charlie from the outset, Viola becomes even more distraught when Kevin proposes to Charlie. Fearing that she'll lose her son the same way she lost her career, she sets out to ruin Kevin and Charlie's relationship. With Ruby (Wanda Sykes), her assistant, she tries everything possible to drive Charlie away.
Charlie eventually catches on to Viola's plan and fights back. On Charlie's wedding day, Viola turns up wearing a white dress instead of the peach-colored dress specially made for her. This leads to a violent stand-off between the two, leading with Viola refusing to accept Charlie and states she'll never be good enough for Kevin. Suddenly, Viola's own dreadful mother-in-law, Kevin's grandmother, Gertrude Fields (Elaine Stritch), appears and they have an indignant argument, while Gertrude takes a liking to Charlie, saying she is stunning, her grandson is a lucky man, that she is an "exotic Latina", and if only her son, Kevin's father, was as lucky to find a woman like Charlie. Gertrude's resentment of Viola bears a strong resemblance to Viola's feelings of animosity toward Charlie. Gertrude even believes that Kevin's father had died years ago of "terminal disappointment", for which Gerturde holds Viola responsible. Viola counters stating Gertrude "smothered him to death", because she thought nobody was ever good enough for him (basically similar to how Viola is). Gertrude, satisfied she got her last word in, leaves; showing she still favors Charlie. Charlie decides to back down as she witnesses Gertrude and Viola's relationship. "Nothing's going to change", she laments to Viola after Gertrude leaves the room, "In thirty years that will be us".
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