Monster-in-Law
If your future daughter-in-law was Jennifer Lopez, you'd probably welcome her with open arms. But if you're Viola Fields (Jane Fonda), it's a whole different story. Her talk show has just been canned and at one of her low points in life, she decides to pick herself up by spending more time with her son, Kevin (Michael Vartan). One problem. Kevin just got engaged to Charlie (Lopez). So instead of getting along with her, Viola tries to push Charlie away by being needy and overbearing. Will her childish behavior be enough to drive Charlie crazy or does love truly conquer all?

It's hard to pinpoint what was going on with this film. You've got the Meet the Parents blueprint down pat but without the predecessor's aura of hilarity and lack of seriousness. You never get the sense to feel sorry for Charlie, like you do for Ben Stiller's character in Meet the Parents since he never gets a chance to fight back the way Charlie does, and that occurs pretty suddenly. Vartan and Lopez have a lot of chemistry when they're actually on-screen, which is not too often. Fonda certainly looks the part but doesn't feel right for the part. She never gets too comfortable, though none of the characters to varying degrees looked comfortable. Probably the only shining star to produce laugh-out-loud moments is Wanda Sykes in the role of Viola's assistant. 1.5 stars